in the Shakers' engine room". He also won the club's Goal of the Season award for his long-range goal at Darlington on 22 April – his only goal of the campaign. He signed a new one-year contract in June 2006. He left Bury, his last professional club as a player, in November 2006 after falling out of favour with manager Chris Casper and admitted it was "a massive wrench" to leave, saying that he had been focusing too much on mentoring youngsters during the 2006–07 season and had neglected his own performances. Hyde United Flitcroft joined Conference North club Hyde United and made his debut for the "Tigers" in the FA Trophy on 28 November 2006, playing "a superb game" in a 3–0 win at Chasetown. He made his home debut at Ewen Fields on 9 December, picking up an assist for Paul Gedman's equalising goal in a 1–1 draw with Scarborough. He played his final game for the club on 1 January, in a 7–3 victory at Stalybridge Celtic. He played a total of seven games for Hyde, three of which ended in victories. Return to Rochdale Flitcroft returned to Rochdale as assistant manager to Keith Hill midway through the 2006–07 season. Rochdale lost the 2008 League Two play-off final at Wembley Stadium and Flitcroft later said that "the feeling was that we had let everyone down". Towards the end of the 2008–09 season Flitcroft came on as substitute in the last scheduled game of the season at home to fellow play-off rivals Gillingham. The following season, he started a Football League Trophy game against Bradford City in what proved to be his final match as a professional. After retiring as a player, Flitcroft joined the coaching staff at Rochdale. Rochdale were promoted out of League Two at the end of the 2009–10 campaign and posted a club record high finish of tenth in League One in the 2010–11 season. Style of play Flitcroft was a tough tackling midfielder. His limited skill set meant he rarely featured above the fourth tier, though his work-rate and consistency kept him in the professional game. He was nicknamed "Flicker". Managerial career Barnsley On 1 June 2011, Flitcroft was appointed assistant manager at Barnsley, following manager Keith Hill from Rochdale to Oakwell. He was made caretaker-manager of Barnsley after Hill was sacked on 29 December 2012. He said "Hilly getting sacked... really floored