Familiar faces helping Millers towards survival target - Interview

Some familiar faces lie in wait for QPR at Rotherham this weekend with the Millers bolstering their ranks in January in an attempt to halt the annual yo-yo between Championship and League One - Ross Middleton is cautiously optimistic.

How would you assess Rotherham’s season so far?

Personally, I class it as a massive improvement on previous Championship seasons due to the fact that we haven’t been in the bottom three once.

I think we should be higher in the table after a solid start, as we’ve thrown away a lot of points, but I suppose most teams would say that wouldn’t they?

Considering the massive upheaval when Paul Warne and all his staff left, we’ve competed well and been in most games and actually strengthened the squad so looking forward not backwards at the minute.

Rotherham league games so far…
Rotherham 1-1 Swansea Ogbene 16 — Darling 38
Rotherham 4-0 Reading Wood 7, Washington 15, Lindsay 18, Ogbene 45
Preston 0-0 Rotherham
QPR 1-1 Rotherham Willock 43 — Ogbene 33
Rotherham 2-0 Birmingham Wood 28, 71
Sunderland 3-0 Rotherham Stewart 52, 65, Clarke 70
Rotherham 1-1 Watford Wood 2 — Bayo 33
Rotherham 3-0 Blackpool Ogbene 34, Harding 82, Kelly 85
Boro 0-0 Rotherham
Rotherham 0-2 Wigan Keane 12, Naylor 84
Rotherham 1-1 Millwall Barlaser pen 9 — Flemming 42
Blackburn 3-0 Rotherham Brereton pen 21, 63, Szmodics 75
Rotherham 2-1 Huddersfield Washington 25, Kelly 61 — Ward 29
Stoke 0-1 Rotherham Rathbone 6
Rotherham 2-4 Hull Barlaser 45, Kelly 89 — Greaves 44, Christie 52, Longman 59, Tufan 85
Coventry 2-2 Rotherham Hamer 76, Gyokeres pen 90 — Bramall 43, Washington 79
Cardiff 1-0 Rotherham Philogene-Bidace 65
Burnley 3-2 Rotherham Rodrguez 35, Benson 90, Dervisoglu 90 — Wiles 3, Ogbene 64
Rotherham 1-2 Norwich Rathbone 49 — McLean 17, Ramsey 50
Sheff Utd 0-1 Rotherham Wiles 38
Luton 1-1 Rotherham Berry 90 — Lindsay 1
Rotherham 1-3 Bristol City Ogbene 25 — Harding og 14, Williams 30, Pring 73
West Brom 3-0 Rotherham Wallace 20, Diangana 57, Thomas-Asante 70
Rotherham 2-2 Stoke Thompson og 45, Washington 70 — Campbell 61, Peltier og 80
Huddersfield 2-0 Rotherham Holmes 31, Rhodes 56
Millwall 3-0 Rotherham Bradshaw 4, 81, Humphreys-Grant og 66
Rotherham 4-0 Blackburn Odofin 1, Rathbone 52, Ferguson 76, Washington 90
Watford 1-1 Rotherham Ferreira 53 — Ferguson 20
Rotherham 0-0 Sheff Utd
Blackpool 0-0 Rotherham
Reading 2-1 Rotherham Carroll 52, Fornah 90 — Peltier 37
Rotherham 0-2 Coventry Allen 46, Gyokeres 90
Rotherham 2-1 Sunderland Rathbone 19, Ferguson 56 — Gelhardt 61
Swansea 1-1 Rotherham Piroe 42 — Ogbene 52

The Paul Warne era is over; feelings about that departure?

I have to admit I was really naffed off at the time with the way it was done. Him and his mate Barker were going to leave in the summer when Derby were being taken over and (allegedly) were going to take Michael Smith and Michael Iheikwe with them, hence the (very very) late moves to Sheffield Wednesday when they knew their mate wasn’t taking over at Derby at that point in pre-season. On reflection it can’t be argued with the job that Warne did in uniting and improving the club, and to allegedly triple your wages and move to a club that has a better structure with a thriving academy and training ground was a bit of no-brainer really.

What did you think of the Taylor appointment? How’s he done? What’s he changed?

Well he was second choice (Cambridge’s Mark Bonner was first and had accepted the job but had a change of heart) but I’m so glad he did as it looks like a good appointment. It was good to get someone with no affiliation to the club who could look at the squad and squeeze out the lads who aren’t going to play a part for us going forward without the Millers-tinted spectacles that Paul Warne used to have.

Although we haven’t won a massive percentage of the games we have played under Matt Taylor, the players he has brought in have been of Championship quality (and experience) and the football is better (in my opinion), with an ability to have a go away from home, which under the previous management didn’t always happen. Certain players have dropped out of favour (Richard Wood for example) but the fact that we are now capable of going to Swansea and be disappointed with a draw speaks volumes.

I know some money came in form Barlaser, but January felt like Rotherham, really for the first time, pushed the boat out to try and stay at this level. Hugill certainly won’t have been cheap, as we found out ourselves. Is that how it’s viewed up there? How did you rate the window?

Barlaser was always going to leave this January and I’m surprised Chieo Ogbene didn’t go too, but it was the best transfer window we’ve had in many a year. I think that the chairman looked at the standard of the Championship this year (which I think is really poor) and thought that with a bit of investment in January we could stay up. Bringing in Hugill was a massive surprise, especially on a three-and-a-half-year contract, and adding the likes of Tarique Fosu and Conor Coventry was a good statement and, more importantly, Championship experience. The best signing for me though was Viktor Johansson, our goalkeeper, the most worked goalkeeper in the Championship, who signed a new contract. Added to Ogbene staying made it the best window ever for us really as this is the best squad we have had in a long while.

Summer Ins >>> Peter Kioso, 22, RB, Luton, Undisclosed >>> Cohen Bramall, 26, LB, Lincoln, Undisclosed >>> Cameron Humphreys, 23, CB, Zulte Waregem, Free >>> Connor Washington, 30, CF, Charlton, Free >>> Tom Eaves, 30, CF, Hull, Free >>> Jamie McCart, 25, CB, St Johnstone, Free >>> Lee Peltier, 36, RB, Boro, Free >>> Robbie Hemfrey, 20, GK, Stoke, Free >>> Grant Hall, 30, CB, Boro, Loan >>> Brook Norton-Cuffy, 18, RB, Arsenal, Loan >>> Scott High, 21, CM, Huddersfield, Loan

Winter Outs >>> Dan Barlaser, 26, CM, Boro, £1m >>> Jamie McCart, 25, CB, Orient, Loan >>> Tolaji Bola, 24, LW, Bradford, Loan >>> Jake Hull, 21, CB, Buxton, Loan >>> Mackenzie Warne, 19, AM, Bridlington, Loan >>> Ciaran McGuckin, 18, CM, Scarborough, Loan

Stand out players and weak links in the side?

Stand out player by a mile is Viktor Johansson, who will no doubt be a Premier League player in the near future. Hugill is beginning to find his feet but would benefit from having a partner up front. Conor Washington is a clever player for us and although doesn’t score frequently (as you well know) is a good option up top. Grant Hall was another excellent addition until his probably season-ending injury (again you know what I mean) and was a good partner for Cameron Humphreys (ex-Man City youngster). Ogbene will run up and down the line all day long and captain Ollie Rathbone is having a great season also. The main weakness for us is the injuries we seem to sustain every game which hamper us and maybe we run out of steam in certain games due to this.

Revised expectations for the rest of the season?

Just stay up for once please. It could have been a comfortable season had we converted more draws into wins but we are where we are and considering our next few games are against yourselves, Birmingham, Preston and Cardiff this is the best chance we’ve had in a long time to stay up, but we don’t do things easily.

Links >>> Rotherham United official website >>> Sheffield Star — Local Press >>> Millers Banter — Forum

The Twitter @loftforwords, RossMid38810197

Pictures — Action Images

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