Rotherham United

Last Season at a glance

23rd in League One

Relegation was almost a certainty for the Merry Millers from a very early stage. Certainly by the time that Mark Robins was appointed as manager, it was very much mission impossible, and even an upturn in fortunes was not enough to avoid the drop.

Robins was appointed as manager at Rotherham at the beginning of March, taking over from Alan Knill. Robins had been at Milmoor for a number of seasons, primarily as a player, before moving to become assistant manager.

He had great spell as caretaker manager with the Millers, winning three of his six games in charge, which given the season they were having, was a major step in the right direction.

However, he finished the season with four consecutive defeats, and he has a major job on his hands to turn things round at Rotherham. He's certainly made a start at it, with a huge turn round of players since the back end of last season. At time of writing, there has been 15 departures and 10 new arrivals.

Well they've got rid of most of the dross which was afflicting their club. Fifteen players have been let go, and I'm sure many Rotherham supporters will claim that it hasn't been a moment too soon for some of them, after suffering relegation last time round.

One of the biggest problems a relegated side often faces is having to turn things round with the same bunch of players who got you into that mess in the first place. There will be no such issues with Rotherham this time round as far as that is concerned. Robins has been given an opportunity to give the place a clean sweep, and that's exactly what he's done.

And the remaining players will be up against a lesser standard of opposition this time round. I don't think its too much to say that there won't be a great deal of quality around in the division so whilst they might not have been good enough for League One, League Two shouldn't constitute too much of a problem.

Out of the new signings, defender Graham Coughlan stands out head and shoulders above the rest. He's a very good central defender, and beyond that, he's a natural leader, and will no doubt acquire the captaincy this season. He's just the sort of character that Robins will need in the dressing room this year.

Rotherham are on the slide, and there's not been any evidence or the slightest hint to suggest that their decline is close to coming to a halt.

There's changes to the squad, and fair enough the changes were needed, but they're going into the season with a whole bunch of new players and there's no idea at the moment how these new players will gel. It's been a big advantage to us that our squad has only had minor tweaking over the Summer, but its for Rotherham its like the Dale of the 80's where the team in August was unrecognisable from the one which finished the previous season.

So far, the jury is still out. Pre-season has seen Altrincham stick five goals past them, and whilst I usually go along with the pre-season counts for nothing, that has to be bring a worry to the minds of many a less than Merry Miller.

And the jury has still to be out on Mark Robins as a manager. Whilst he's only been in the job for five minutes, he's been part of the management team at Rotherham for some time, and you have to question what fresh ideas he can bring if he wasn't previously able to do so. As a player, he promised much, yet never built on that initial potential. This could repeat with his management career.

We think that Mark Robins has a huge job on his hands at Rotherham. This "season depends on" section is primarily aimed at a particular player who we think could be the making or the breaking of a season, but with Rotherham we think their issues will all lie in the dug out and its Robins himself who will determine the season.

Of course, you could quite rightly say that about any club in the division but we think Robins has the biggest challenge out of any of the managers in the division in stopping the rot which has without question set in at Rotherham.

You look at the Rotherham squad, and there's nothing there which jumps out at you, and Robins will be tested to the best of his ability to get the most out of his squad. If he can make a success of Rotherham this season, then he has a very bright future as a manager in the game.

Right we appreciate that this will probably be the biggest call of any of our predictions this Summer. Having Macclesfield down to finish bottom of the league was hardly sticking our neck out on the line, but having Rotherham down to be relegated from the Football League is a long shot, but its one I can see happening.

It's a hunch as much as anything. My reasons for this are numerous: the club, the manager and the players. Hey, what else is there? But I just have this feeling that Rotherham will continue their descent make their stay in the division a temporary one for all the wrong reasons.

As a club, Rotherham appear to be in terminal decline. They've suffered two relegations in the past three seasons, and that losing mentality has set in, averaging less than forty points per season in the last three years. There's nothing to show that they have stopped the rot, and losing has become far to easy as a club to accept.

And we've seen this before. It's not unknown for teams like Rotherham who have punched above their weight in what is now the Championship, suffering relegations in a short space of time. And more often than not, whilst they probably assume that League Two will allow them to find their feet, the opposite proves to be the case, and a relegation battle ensues.

It may have only been a couple of years since the Millers were fighting it out with West Ham, Wigan and Reading, but if they're not ready for fixtures against the likes of Morecambe, Accrington and Hereford, then they'll be taking their 25,000 strong away following to such exotic locations as Drolysden and Ebbsfleet.

And is Mark Robins really the man to turn things round? What has he got about him that he will succeed where Harford and Knill failed? He could well prove to be a successful manager, but even that initial upturn in fortunes that a new manager brings with him only led to relegation.

In his favour, Robins has drafted in a lot of new players so far, but there's no names on there which will raise expectancy.

We've seen it so many times before, the likes of Southend, Bristol Rovers, Brighton, Stockport and Grimsby coming down to this division just a short while after playing just outside the top flight, with an assumption that everything will be okay in the Rochdale division, without the possibility of relegation even entering their minds. That arrogance has often been their downfall, and whilst no one has actually dropped straight through to the Conference, it has been flirted with many a time, and I guess its got to happen at some stage. I think Rotherham will prove that point.