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We raised questions at Mark Robins' abilities twelve months ago, when
previewing Rotherham for the 2008-9 season. Not that we had him
pinpointed as being a bad manager, far from it, but we just felt that
his experience from running Rotherham up until that point had left it
almost impossible to judge him given the number of off the field issues
which had thwarted his efforts so far.
Take last season's points deductions away, and no doubt we'd have
been talking about a manager who had rescued a side from the depths of
going bust to assembling a squad that had made the Play Offs. Throw in
the ball and chain of the points deductions which once zero points had
been achieved must have robbed all motivation for the season away, and
you start to wonder what could have happened had Robins been given a
fair hand to play with.
Perhaps Robins time as manager will mirror his Man Utd experience of
taking them to the lowest point and bringing them back from there. Given
the extra funds he's been given to play with, its easy to see that
happening for him with the Millers this time round.
There is certainly a feeling of discontent about Rotherham's spending
this Summer, not just around these parts but in many a League Two town.
It's only been twelve months since they were in administration and not
knowing whether they'd even have a club to support last season. They
came out, upped sticks to the running track ground, and have never
looked back.
They already incurred the wrath of our boss Keith Hill, when they
pipped us for the signing of Jason Taylor with the offer of higher
wages. And the cat was really put amongst the pigeons with the £150,000
capture of Tom Pope this Summer.
Of course, Rotherham did nothing wrong in making these signings. The
new board rescued the club from administration, weren't responsible for
running those debts up that led to administration and why should they
then have to watch their spending because of something which happened
before they came to the club?
There's not a lot to argue with that, but the crux of the matter is
as follows: almost without exception clubs at this level will make a
loss every year, with those losses eventually paid for player sales or
cutting the cloth somewhere. Administration takes away the need to do
that.
Avoiding administration for us has meant selling Glenn Murray and
David Perkins in the past eighteen months or so - two players who
retaining would have certainly allowed us to finish higher up the
division. On the field success has been sacrificed to play within the
financial rules. It pains even more knowing that this was their second
administration in the past three years. It is for reasons like that for
which success for Rotherham this season will be viewed across all clubs
in the division with more than a touch of bitterness.
Sticking to simply on the field matters so far, Robins has been precise
with his signings over the Summer, and its no surprise that his
Rotherham side have been listed amongst the favourites to be promoted
this season.
In many ways, its very difficult to actually realise just what a
great job Rotherham did last season. Obviously wages help, but it must
be extremely difficult trying to recruit players to a side without a
ground, two administrations in the previous three years and a seventeen
point penalty to overcome. "Come and help us secure a positive points
total" can't be the most enticing request to a potential signing.
But recruit well they did, finishing as previously mentioned with
enough points to have made a pretty significant promotion push last time
round, and they have only added to last season's squad.
They have lost Reuben Reid to West Brom for a sum rumoured to be
around £300,000 but the quality of their signings dictates that they'll
be even stronger this time round.
One signing which stands out for me is Kevin Ellison drafted in from
Chester City. Ellison's quality has never been in doubt over the years,
but his career stagnated with the Cestrians as they drifted from one
crisis to another. His form suffered but a move to another club never
materialised due to the high wages he was on at the Deva Stadium.
This Summer's move to the DVS should give Ellison's career the shot
in the arm that it required. On form, he's strong, mobile and a great
leader to have in the team, and he knows where the back of the net is,
and with fresh impetus, he could be one of the signings of the Summer.
The other stand out signing is the controversial capture of Tom Pope.
The Millers splashed out £150,000 to bring him from Crewe in the Summer.
It seems an incredibly large amount of money for someone who played in
only around half of Crewe's games last season, though his goals per game
record is enough make you stand up and pay attention.
Another query over this signing was his recent court conviction. The
Millers had forked out that much money knowing that there was a risk
that he may have been sent down, a huge risk for any side. Robins
obviously thought it was a risk worth taking, and his goals in
pre-season suggest that Robins might just be right.
Another controversial signing was the capture of Nicky Law from under
the noses of Bradford City. Law had been the one shining light for the
Bantams in the past couple of years and it had been expected that he'd
have made a permanent move to Valley Parade. Unexpectedly, the son of
the former Chesterfield manager of the same name, he opted to join the
Millers.
Perhaps citing a touch of inexperience within the camp, Robins has
also drafted in former Rotherham favourite Paul Warne from Yeovil and
Andy Liddell from Oldham via a two week stop at Bradford Park Avenue.
These signings will be the difference for Rotherham. Losing Reid was
a blow, but its not like a Chesterfield losing a Lester, or a Holt
leaving Shrewsbury sort of blow. It's a blow that they'd most
likely prepared and planned for, and will happily cope with. Reid was
good, but he wasn't their team.
So with the calibre of their signings, the huge strides forward made
last season and the excellent management by Robins, I think that
Rotherham will be able to mount and sustain a successful Championship
campaign. They won't have the pressure on them that other sides in the
division may have, which could work to their advantage. Nothing is
really expected of Rotherham, and anything top seven will be seen as an
improvement rather than a disappointment.
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