Brian Barry-Murphy has expressed his confidence that he can get the best out of Rochdale’s players after being appointed as the club’s manager on a two-year deal.
Barry-Murphy has been in caretaker charge of the Sky Bet League One outfit, who are second bottom, since the sacking of Keith Hill last month.
The 40-year-old former Dale player won two and drew two of his four games in temporary charge and the club are only in the drop zone on goal difference.
Barry-Murphy said on Rochdale’s official website: “The challenge for us is to produce that consistent run of performances, and I’m certain results follow.
“I know this group of players is of an exceptional standard and my challenge is to get the best out of them, and I can do that.
“The players are really excited. They are behind me. I’ll be continuing to push them hard.
“I believe we still have a core group of players that are hugely exciting moving forward and should give everyone associated with the club a great sense of hope and excitement, irrespective of what division we’re in.
“We’ll be doing everything we can every day to try to make sure we retain our League One status.
“If we can’t, we can’t. We’ve still got the same group of players, who will provide a very exciting summer for the supporters and going into next season I think a lot of hope, and something to be proud of.”
Rochdale chairman Andrew Kilpatrick said: “Brian Barry-Murphy is, without doubt, the right person to take Rochdale forward. He is young, hungry for success and extremely talented.
“As has been apparent from his four games in temporary charge, the squad are fully behind Brian and this has been fully reflected in their commitment and performance on the pitch.
“This appointment is singularly well-merited and, we hope, ushers in a new and exciting chapter for Rochdale AFC.
“We have seven vital games remaining this season. I hope that everyone will get behind Brian and the team, giving them our full support for the rest of the campaign and beyond.”
Rochdale’s next match is Saturday’s home clash with Sunderland.
Barry-Murphy, who has been part of the Dale coaching staff since 2013-14, will not be appointing an assistant for the time being.
He said: “I just thought to make someone assistant manager just for the sake of it wouldn’t be right and I didn’t want to disrupt what we have going on at the moment.
“It is something we will revisit in the summer.”
