Rotherham United’s key players are set to leave and with the club struggling under new boss Matt Taylor, F365’s resident Millers fan is concerned.
As a Rotherham supporter, you are aware that a lot of pain will come from a season in the Championship.
The Millers’ lack of investment in a league full of ex-Premier League clubs often leaves them playing catch-up without an abundance of quality in their squad.
The South Yorkshire outfit have been promoted or relegated in each of the past six seasons as they have yo-yoed between the Championship and League One.
This has mostly come during Paul Warne’s reign in charge. The lovable former player-turned-fitness coach-turned-manager learned on the job and with his supreme man-management skills, he built a squad that gave everything for their manager.
The club’s previous three seasons in the Championship under Warne all ended in relegation. But there was gradual progress each term and in 2020/21 they might have survived had it not been for obscene fixture congestion triggered by a severe Covid-19 breakout in the squad.
The Millers had the personnel to stay up that season and that would help them enjoy a remarkable campaign under Warne last year with automatic promotion and a win at Wembley in the Papa John’s Trophy final.
Rotherham’s pursuit for survival in the Championship is often difficult and it was made tougher before this season started as Michael Smith and Michael Ihiekwe jumped ship to join rivals Sheffield Wednesday after their contracts expired.
This was a bitter blow as both players had been supreme assets under Warne and were key to their success in League One.
Warne operated on a shoestring in the transfer market with Grant Hall (loan from Middlesbrough), Conor Washington (free from Charlton) and ex-Man City youngster Cameron Humphreys (free from Zulte Waregem) among their notable additions.
Despite Smith and Ihiekwe leaving, belief among the supporters was high that this could be a special season with full trust in Warne that he could lead Rotherham to safety with the standard in the Championship not what it once was.
The Millers enjoyed a brilliant start to the season as they sat eighth in the table after nine games and a win in their game in hand would have carried them into the play-off places.
It was an unthinkable position and the club were in dreamland. But this is Rotherham and this is the Championship, so things have since unravelled.
Warne was rightly earning plaudits…
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