How Did February Pan Out For The Millers

Rotherham United went into February in the last place of the relegation zone on twenty-three points with just neighbours Sheffield Wednesday and Wycombe Wanderers behind them.

The month began with the Millers being firstly linked with Nnamdi Ofoborh of Bournemouth, sending Jamie Proctor back out on loan this time to Wigan Athletic and fetching in Lewis Wing on loan from Middlesbrough who the Gaffer said was ‘right up his street’.

Our first game of the month was the re-arranged game against Derby County at the New York Stadium which was called off again due to snow and a waterlogged pitch.

But the game did go ahead the following evening which saw goals in the final fifteen minutes from Michael Ihiekwe, Michael Smith and Ryan Giles giving the hosts a three-nil win and a second win of the season against the Rams. After the game Rams’ Boss Wayne Rooney said he thought our Chairman, Tony Stewart, ‘lacked respect’ after he said he heard some ‘bad language’ coming from him which Mr Stewart disputes saying it was just ‘friendly banter’.

The next game saw the Millers travel to Preston when a fifteen second own goal from Joe Rafferty got the visitors off to a great start. A cross from Lewis Wing on fifty-five minutes to Ben Wiles saw the Rawmarsh born player double the score with Ched Evans making it two-one and Viktor Johansson making some brilliant saves to make sure the Millers got all three points and move them up to twentieth.

Another Tuesday night at home came next when Cardiff City were the visitors which was another re-arranged game. The weather started off fine but the game ended in a blizzard in which a goal from Ojo gave the Bluebirds the lead just before half-time. Rotherham pulled one back just after the hour mark thanks to a Matt Crooks tap in but a late header from Joe Bennett gave Cardiff all three points.

During this month Matt Crooks was voted Sky Bet Championship Player of the Month for January.

Queens Park Rangers were next up but a frozen New York Stadium pitch saw the game called off.

We also saw Billy Jones back from his loan spell at Crewe although only for rehab on a knee injury.

Our next game saw us take the long trek to Bournemouth who were in the top six and rumours were rife that Thierry Henry would be in the stands waiting to take over as manager – well, I think if he had been there he would have been easy to pick out and he obviously wasn’t appointed as manager. An early Philip Billing goal made it an uphill battle for Rotherham although only a superb save from Cherries’ ‘keeper Asmir Begovic from Ben Wiles stopped the Millers bringing home a point.

Top of the table Norwich City were next up for the Millers meaning a second long trip in three days. Teemu Pukki’s fifteenth goal of the season on seventeen minutes saw the Millers come back from Norfolk with nothing although Lewis Wing saw a shot hit the post and Clark Robertson had a goal chalked off.

Next up was fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest at the New York Stadium where a Ryan Yates’ strike on sixty-seven minutes was the only goal of the game making it four straight defeats for the Millers.

This was followed by a fifth when the last game of the month saw Reading the visitors when a Michael Morrison twenty-sixth minute goal saw them hold on for all three points.

All in all a very disappointing month for Rotherham United and their fans although I do think we have to look at who we have played and where they were in the table. Did we really expect to pick up anything away at Bournemouth or top of the table Norwich? I don’t think so. Perhaps we could have got something from the Cardiff City game although they were on a bit of a revival since Mick McCarthy took over towards the end of January. The game we probably really should have got something from was against Nottingham Forest who started the month just a few places above us but fourteen points in the month has seen them rise to mid-table.

So we ended February in the same position as we started and just six points better off and a goal difference of minus nine when we started the month on minus five, which, to be honest could have been worse. Looking at the two below us we see that Wycombe have pulled their socks up a little and got seven points from the month while the Owls, like the Millers, got three points.

Up The Millers.