Rotherham United, currently managed by new boss Neil Warnock, have today announced the signing of free agent winger Jerome Thomas. This signing is subject to acceptance and ratification by the relevant footballing authorities in the shape of the Football League and FA.
By committing his name to paper, Thomas becomes the first signing of the Neil Warnock era at Rotherham and signs on at the New York Stadium after a successful trial at the club.
32-year-old Thomas, who most recently was playing in the Premier League with Crystal Palace and has worked under current boss Neil Warnock there, began his footballing career at Premier League giants Arsenal, being promoted from the youth ranks at what was then Highbury into the Arsenal first team in 2001. Since then he has bounced around clubs, initially signing on at Charlton in 2004 where he had four years of playing time before moves to Portsmouth, West Brom and Crystal Palace; whilst at West Brom he had a value of £2.25m according to website Transfermarkt.
Speaking to the Rotherham club website, Thomas said of signing, “The manager and Kevin have come in and they wanted to get the deal done, I have signed until the end of the season and we all share the same common objective which is to try and keep the club in The Championship. Initially it looked as though I was going to the USA or Asia but the opportunity arose to come and train here and to see if both parties were happy. I have kept myself fit, the training has been very good and Warney the Fitness Coach has been great with me helping me do extra. I managed to get 90 minutes under my belt in the reserves last week, and I will be looking to get as many minutes as possible.”
It seems that Thomas is under no illusions as to what faces him at Rotherham and his previous experience in this division, 66 games and eight goals, complemented with 155 Premier League games, 11 goals and 12 assists is something that Rotherham will be looking to harness as they attempt to pull away from their current 22nd place in the Championship, the last of the relegation places and five points from safety.
