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08:31:00

Alan Stubbs' in-tray at Rotherham

Alan Stubbs has become Rotherham's new manager after he left Hibs, signing a three-year deal at New York Stadium.

The 44-year-old has to hit the ground running as the Millers players are less than a month away from returning to pre-season training.


Here's what is waiting for Stubbs in his in-tray when he settles into his new office.

Assess the offers made to the out of contract players

This is one of the issues that Stubbs is attending to first as he imminently plans to talk to all five of the players who were made offers of new deals by the club on the advice of former boss Neil Warnock. Kirk Broadfoot, Matt Derbyshire, Stephen Kelly, Leon Best and Richard Wood were all handed offers by the club but have yet to sign and Stubbs has hinted that he will re-assess those offers.

Sort backroom staff out

Stubbs has brought his trusted right-hand man John Doolan down from Edinburgh with him but their could be further additions to his backroom staff. Stalwarts Paul Warne and Andy Dibble are likely to stay in the reckoning, while Gee Evans is set to remain as head of recruitment. Poor Nicky Eaden is currently left without a position, but Stubbs is to address that while he may be keen to bring further reinforcements in with some of his staff still at Easter Road.

Prepare pre-season plan

Under Steve Evans, Rotherham annual pre-season tour to Scotland was a case of 'booked it, packed it' before the previous season had even finished, but the Millers are behind the eight-ball this year. They have just one friendly in the bag, a yearly contest with Parkgate FC, but need to get things moving soon. A tour - Scottish or otherwise - looks unlikely, but Stubbs will want to get at least five fixtures lined-up against some testing opposition.

Assess current squad

The new manager will not get his players altogether until pre-season training starts on June 30, but he will want to get a full grasp of their game before then. He has revealed he has already seen clips of his players and will evaluate their strengths and weaknesses but he will have to have plenty more DVD sessions to get fully up to speed before the players return at the end of the month.

Begin recruitment

Attention has already turned to strengthening his squad, even before Stubbs has assessed what is at his disposal and this is arguably his most important job. How the Millers will fare next season could be decided by the business the new chief performs over the next two months. He says he has some targets identified and while ruling out a return to Hibs for his star players, he admits that Scotland could be a market he taps into. He will have money to spend for the right player and he simply has to perform better than the incumbent of the job 12 months ago did.
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