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Did We Overreact?

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Rotherham United lost their first away game of the season on Saturday to neighbours Doncaster Rovers despite taking a first-half lead – and Millers fans, on social media, have been very vocal.

There are a lot of ‘Warne Out’ posts with some saying he’s ‘inept’, ‘too nice’, while Jim on Vital Rotherham’s Facebook page posted ‘in a club not obsessed with saving money your team would have been OUT by now.’ and on the front page of Vital Rotherham Kevin says he can’t accept some of the ‘guff’ that the manager says quoting him as saying ‘For whatever reason it isn’t coming off for us’ and answering, ‘A manager should bl**dy well know the reason.’

Most of the moaning (for want of another word) was said straight after Saturday’s game so it could be that some were letting off steam but some have held their thoughts for a couple of days and still feel aggrieved at losing from being one-up. Maybe it could be that there was a bit of over-reaction?

Now I’ve held off with most of my views and tried to get my thoughts together. Yes, I was peed off on Saturday and yes I was pretty annoyed at the way we seemed to lie down and die when Rovers equalised. But then I thought about the first half of that game when we were well on top and, to me, our players were playing well and as a team – our passing was possibly the best so far this season and our balls into the box often found a purple shirt. Plus we defended like a team when Rovers did break. Even the start of the first half we looked the stronger. Then Ennis, who had come on at the start of the half, suddenly found his feet plus Sadlier came on from the bench and Rovers seemed transformed and the Millers didn’t have an answer. They scored and we looked startled and then our energy levels fell and Doncaster were all over us.

We put subs on too but they didn’t have the same impact as their counterparts did.

Football is a strange game and for forty-five minutes our fans were happy to be singing ‘We’ve got Warnie-ola’ but as soon as the play changed and we went one down it was all moaning and groaning and Warnie-ola was suddenly the ‘bad guy’.

This was our first away loss – yes, we’ve lost and drawn at home – but two away wins (in league and cup) can’t be forgotten.

Although I was never actually against Paul Warne being made Manager I always had the thought that he might have been better as a number two with someone with experience coming in to aid him. That wasn’t to be and so I fully gave my support to Warney.

This summer we lost a lot of our players – yes, some I wish had stopped, some I think we could have tried harder and persuaded to stay (I’m not really sure whose job at the club that would be to be honest). We know it’s going to take a team time to gel and even when we’ve won games there has still been parts of the play that have looked sloppy and needed work.

There are still things that we need to work on. And I’m just thinking that perhaps we should give this team ten or twelve games to see how it’s going.

These are just my thoughts and I’m wondering what others are thinking.

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16 comments

  • Darren says:

    Look at the start of 2017/18 yes promotion year think we were mid table for first half these players will need a few weeks t gel & fight the miller’s way, all I will say t so called supporters that want warney out, get a grip & yes he will make mistakes, don’t forget what’s happened in recent weeks, would sooner av rotherhams position than burys & Bolton utm

    • Caz Neale (Herringthorpe) says:

      Yes, Darren, I was looking at that season too – I thought we struggled for the first three months or so.

  • carlton in lindrick says:

    some good players in there cas but they need to learn each others strenghs and weakneses they need time to gel lets give them time i think they will come good

    • Caz Neale (Herringthorpe) says:

      It’s just a shame, carlton in l, that all these injuries seem to have come at once.

      • Barry says:

        My concern is MUST WIN games last year were lost as a direct result of management decisions – either substitutions and player selection. We were relegated by the points lost directly by these decisions. These were the MUST WIN games where points were thrown away by poor tactics or decisions.

        This year we have been dominant and wining games that were totally changed after the manager changed players / formation to the detriment of the teams performance. Performances have been so so but undermined by the managers decisions. The Wednesday loss was similar to Evans snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Playing Wood caused the Doncaster equaliser – should have been a penalty v Burton and many other Wood centered defencive faults. Misplaced loyalty or poor management decisions cost us the championship (twice now) and thus far in a poor league one the managers are losing games.

        • Caz Neale (Herringthorpe) says:

          I think our players are frightened to lose at the moment. They win and the fan think they are the best thing since sliced bread but lose and they are called inept and shouldn’t be wearing a Rotherham shirt. Social media, in my humble opinion, has a lot to do with that and even though I do this job I do wonder if the players should be banned from reading what fans say? Until the equaliser I thought Woody was having a good game on Saturday actually Barry – should he have been replaced five minutes earlier do you think? Would that have stopped the equaliser? We shall never really know.

  • Ian says:

    We’ve had a big turn around of player this summer and yes they need time to settle down and play the way we all know that they can. The first 10-15 mins of the second half at Doncaster was really good. I couldn’t understand the substitutions he made and for me that was the turning point. Let’s give them some time, I’m sure it will come good

    • Caz Neale (Herringthorpe) says:

      I didn’t understand the last two subs either, Ian, unless it was for injuries or tiredness (in the case of Hastie).

  • kevin says:

    I don’t understand why fans who question the manager are constantly derided as “so called supporters.” Nor do I see the relevance when discussing the merits of the manager in drawing parallels with Bolton and Bury. Many fans who are supporting PW through thick and thin were happy to call for the heads of previous managers. Of course there are excuses, new players, injuries etc but these do not in my opinion explain poor game management, constant negativity, odd use of substitutes, playing players out of position and the almost instant abandonment of the “no wingers” philosophy. Perhaps PW does not explain himself well but I am not happy with a manager who repeatedly states he cannot solve perceived problems of poor finishing, lack of mental toughness, inability to defend a lead and a variety of other problems. I also note that several people who were confident we’d get automatic promotion, even win the title are now saying a mid-table finish would be good. You really can’t win against this stuff.

    • Caz Neale (Herringthorpe) says:

      I think everyone is entitled to their opinion, Kevin. Coming into this season I was wary of the opinion of people who thought it was going to be an easy ride for us, but would never have dissed their views. If memory serves Steve Evans and Ronnie Moore played players out of position (wasn’t Rob Scott a forward when he brought him in??) Our poor finishing has been one of my bug bears for a few seasons now. I like wingers and hope the ones we have are soon fit and that the pitch at the NYS isn’t too small for them (is it me, or has the pitch been narrowed?) If we are fetching subs on to try and either hold onto a lead or take the point we have then, to me, that is a bit negative and, to be honest, I don’t think we’ve got the players who can do that. But, time may tell.

  • Stuart webster says:

    Overreact Warne the clown is now changing dugouts starting with the Bolton game, what is this berk playing at, apparently the thinking is that he can direct is hopeless team when they are under siege defending the away end, let’s hope Mr Stewart doesn’t let this clown be ring master for much longer, the party is over Warne and it’s time the curtain fell on your tenure at the new york stadium ????

  • Darren says:

    Sept 10 & fans calling for managers heads an absolute joke, sure warneys making decisions for long term issues, knocks, illnesses, most miller’s managers r hardworking just a fact they av tbe, we’ve never had a budget, opinions are not we r in sept

    • Caz Neale (Herringthorpe) says:

      We’ve had a bad start with injuries Darren – let’s hope when they all come back they are the best we’ve ever seen on the New York pitch

  • carlton in lindrick says:

    stuart webster talks a load of tosh

  • carlton in kindrick says:

    maybe stuart webster might eat is words now

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