Rotherham United announced their ninth and tenth signings of the summer, as Farrend Rawson and Kelle Roos have joined The Millers on loan from Derby.
The 19 year old Rawson plays as a CB, and was on loan at Rotherham for a brief period last season. He played in four games before being sent back to Derby – unfortunately, one of those was a game he was ineligible for, costing The Millers a vital three points. Rotherham survived the drop, however, and Rawson’s now a Rotherham player for the next six months. He was excellent in the short time he was at the club, growing in confidence with each passing moment. It’s a real coup for Rotherham, and arguably their best signing out of the ten.
Roos is a little disappointing at first – Rotherham fans were hoping that Emiliano Martinez, who was excellent in goal for them when he joined last season – would be available on loan from Arsenal once more. However, it was just wishful thinking, as Martinez looks destined for bigger and brighter things. Roos looked set to be Derby’s #2 goalkeeper and possibly challenge Lee Grant (who was shaky at times last season) for the number 1 shirt. However, the signing of Scott Carson put paid to that, and Roos has moved somewhere where he may see more playing time – may being the key word there.
Rotherham have been in the market for a goalkeeper since Martinez went back to Arsenal, but that doesn’t mean Roos will automatically win the job. Adam Collin fell out of favour with Steve Evans late in the season, but it’s a fresh season and a chance for him to win his job back. Collin is an excellent goalkeeper with tremendous reflexes, capable of making the most dramatic of saves – it’s just the easy ones that trouble him.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCOv6TKl6RU]He made one too many mistakes in parrying a ball he should have caught, or straying too far off his line. While many Rotherham fans don’t rate him as a result, there’s no denying he did a tremendous job in the majority of games he started. If he can avoid the mistakes that plagued him last season, Roos might be set to spend yet another season as a backup GK – just at a different club.
