Rotherham United: A week in review

Well, the week didn’t exactly start off great, with the news breaking that manager Steve Evans and chairman Tony Stewart had agreed to part ways after Evans lasting three and a half years at the club – and what a time it was.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Evans is the best manager in the history of Rotherham United FC, and the journey the club have been on is remarkable. From fans storming the pitch at Aldershot to an unbelievable comeback at Wembley, life under Steve Evans was never dull.

The future plan:

Now that Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has committed to staying at Burton Albion, there’s no obvious choice for the new manager that excites me. So, rather than talk about who I want and why, I’ll talk about what I want the new manager – whoever they are – to do.

Firstly, on the pitch. If Rotherham start to try and park the bus and relying on long balls like we’ve seen at times, they’ll go down. There’s no question about it. Their defense is almost certainly the worst in the league, and putting extra strain on it isn’t smart. Jonson Clarke-Harris is good in the air but not a real targetman, and the more Rotherham get the ball on the floor, the better our performances tend to be.

However, just as crucially is what he does off the pitch – and there are two mistakes Steve Evans made that the new manager simply has to avoid.

The first is with regards to new signings. Steve Evans was only here for three and a half years, but in that time he bought in a staggering 88 new players. Far too many of those came in, never played a game and were eventually shipped out after half a season. With the tiny wage budget available to Rotherham (they spent just 4.8m on player wages last season) they can’t afford to give out wages to new signings who just aren’t good enough. Less is more in this case, and players like Ryan Hall and Febian Brandy have really hurt the club financially.

Secondly, the youth academy has to be a bigger part of the plan. Again, Rotherham can’t compete with the other Championship teams financially. Signing players for millions of pounds who have proven themselves at this level won’t happen, and the club need to focus on developing their own players. I can’t remember the last player to come out of Rotherham’s academy and earn a place in the first team, and they’re the only Championship club who currently don’t have a single academy product anywhere around the first team. For the club with the least money in the entire league, that’s unacceptable. There needs to be much more time and care spent on the academy, in order that promising players like Jerry Yates have the ability to actually play for the club in competitive matches.

With regards to the new manager, would I want Eric Black to take the job full time? I’m not sure. He knows the club and he has a very good reputation as a coach/assistant, but he hasn’t managed a club full time since 2004 after getting fired from Coventry. I don’t think he’ll get the job, but it’s worth thinking about.

Talking of Eric Black, the first game under him went rather well. It’s impossible to be happy after a loss, but this is probably the least disappointed after one I’ve been for a while. Rotherham gave Burnley a tough game, ultimately forcing Burnley to grab a late winner to take all three points. Onto the players performances:

How are the players performing?

Lee Camp might be Steve Evans’ best ever signing, even if he didn’t get the chance to play under him for long. I don’t understand how such a good goalkeeper was available on a free, and I can only assume that he must be one of the highest earners at the club. He deserves it, as he was fantastic again on Friday night. I like Adam Collin, but Lee Camp wouldn’t be out of his depth in the Premiership.

Joe Mattock and Lewis Buxton are fine, but they’re not going to set the world alight. Both do a job defensively and offer a little bit going forward, but I’d be interested to see if there were any good fullbacks available on loan, as Rotherham previously had lots of success with James Tavernier and later Jack Hunt.

Centre back is the position that poses the greatest cause for concern. Danny Collins is poor, prone to too many costly mistakes at bad times. Farrend Rawson looks quite good, but is still inconsistent and needs help from an experienced centre back to perform at his best. Kirk Broadfoot formed an excellent (if short-lived) partnership with him last year, but looked awful in his return from his ten-game suspension, reacting slowly to a loose ball and allowing Sam Vokes to poke home the winner. Greg Halford is awful and may not be at the club for much longer – more on that later. That leaves Tom Thorpe and Richard Wood, and I’d like to see either be given a chance. Thorpe came on a free from Manchester United in the summer, and wasn’t given much gametime before being dumped into the reserves. Richard Wood is a mysterious case. Joining Rotherham last year he was only played as a last resort but did excellently every game, and deserves to at least get a look in once his loan at Fleetwood ends.

Richard Smallwood is one of the most underrated players in the Championship. He does so well every game for Rotherham in that centre midfield role, always being around the ball and putting in challenges. Lee Frecklington is solid enough, but it’ll be interesting to see if he can reclaim his starting spot from Tony Andreu once he returns to fitness. Andreu is the exact type of player Rotherham needs – playing in the hole between the two strikers with lots of creativity to unlock the defence. However, he’s too wasteful in possession currently, taking wild shots and constantly misplacing five yard passes. Will Grant Ward keep his place in the starting team? He was fairly quiet on Friday before unleashing an absolute screamer to equalize. I like Ward more than Andreu, although I doubt the current Rotherham coaching staff see it that way.

Joe Newell is pretty good on the left, but I’d like to see Aidan White being given a chance off the bench. White is electric and was incredibly dangerous in his limited action (albeit missing an open goal from about four yards out). Chris Maguire should be getting a look in upfront, but will probably see a lot of starting time on the wing after Vadis Odijia-Ofoe returned to Norwich. He’s an experienced Championship player and excellent in front of goal, but it remains to be seen if he’s better out wide than, say, Grant Ward.

Jonson Clarke-Harris is fantastic, and going to be a top-class player one day. He plays taller than the 6’0 he’s listed at, winning more than his fair share of balls in the air. Combined with his strength and pace, and he’s got the potential to get 15 goals a season easily. Remember his name, because you’ll be hearing it a lot in the future. Jordan Bowery is in the exact same mould, but has yet to put it together. 6’2 and with electric speed, Bowery seemingly just doesn’t have the aggressiveness or desire to be as dangerous as Clarke-Harris is. I’d like to see him in the squad more, because a partnership of Bowery and Clarke-Harris could potentially be deadly. Matt Derbyshire currently partners Clarke-Harris, but he’s incredibly hard to work out. His workrate is second to none, and his movement to get into space is fantastic – but he can’t seem to finish his chances. He’s almost an automatic choice on the teamsheet, but I’d like to see more of the other strikers if his form drops off. Danny Ward is currently being used as a supersub, after constant niggling injuries cost him his place in the team. He’s fairly quick and has a good shot on him, but I’m not sure he’d be able to form a great partnership with Clarke-Harris.

Trouble in the camp?

Remember how I said I’d come back to Greg Halford? He’s had a turbulent start to life at Rotherham, being stripped of the captaincy barely a month after he’d been given it after several lazy performances. Eric Black’s first game in charge was the first time he’d ever been left out of the squad completely, however, and Halford wasn’t best pleased about it, tweeting the following:

Greg Halford's twitter 'rant' after being dropped by Rotherham.
Greg Halford’s twitter ‘rant’ after being dropped by Rotherham.

There might be something more problematic, but my initial instinct is that Eric Black and Halford don’t get on, meaning that Halford lost his place in the squad. It’s a highly unprofessional tweet (he quickly deleted them) but Halford hasn’t exactly endeared himself to Rotherham fans so far, and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if he was released from the club, with Eric Black only saying that “I’ll look at it on Monday.”

Anyway, I’m not letting Halford dampen my spirits. It was a good performance against an excellent Burnley side, and the international break gives us a chance to find a new manager. I trust Tony Stewart’s judgement, and believe that whoever he chooses will be able to keep Rotherham up and build for the future.

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