JOHN Coleman admits he admires the way Brian Barry-Murphy has his Rochdale side playing football.

The pair will be in the opposite dug-outs on Saturday as Accrington Stanley travel to the Crown Oil Arena.

Barry-Murphy played under the management of Coleman when he was the Rochdale manager in 2012.

"It’s admirable. I saw that goal; it was a fantastic goal. I think Brian Barry-Murphy is a smashing fella.

"To turn them round last year and win as many games as he did, in the end he was showing Championship form and you can’t knock that.

"He’s tried to develop a style of play over the summer that initially didn’t pay off, but when you bring a different style in you have to go through the good and the bad times.

"I remember when we first brought in the 4-2-3-1 in, I think we were the first team to use it in League Two and we set out to do that, it was our blue print.

"It took us until probably the last five, 10 games of the season to actually nail it. It will be a work in progress.

"They went to Old Trafford and played this way so that’s testament to them believing in what they do. I love it, I love teams who try and play football, get the ball down and pass and move.

"I was brought up watching the great Liverpool teams of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Playing good, attacking, vibrant football. Fair play to Brian for doing that."

Coleman likes his teams to play good football and entertain the crowd, but, at the end of the day, results are all that matter.

"Sometimes you’ve got to stick to your guns, it’s nice to entertain, but we aren’t an entertainment business," said the Stanley boss.

"In some ways people have to enjoy their experience of coming to the game, but it’s not all football in that respect. If you want to get entertained, got to the pictures or the opera.

"We’re here to win games and how you win them doesn’t have to be pretty. When they start giving points for artistic impression then that might change, but they don’t at the moment.

"As much as I love football, it is all about winning."

The Rochdale boss was one of Coleman's midfielders in the year he had at the club almost eight years ago and the Reds boss is fond of his former player.

"He played for me. He’s a cracking lad. Very knowledgeable and a great temperament," added Coleman.

"I think the players will buy into him because he’s not a ranter or a raver, but I’m sure he can get angry. He’s quite logical in his approach.

"You’re more likely to listen to someone who isn’t shouting and balling at you all the time."