It’s perhaps
fitting that the final words that ring out before Rotherham get going on home
soil are ‘It’s up to you New York, New York’.
Frank
Sinatra’s iconic lyrics can definitely be applied to the Millers this season,
it is what they do on their home soil which will decide their Sky Bet
Championship fate.
And if
recent results are anything to go by then things might just be okay.
Saturday’s win over Millwall, vital in giving the Millers a bit of breathing space, extended
their unbeaten run at the AESSEAL New York Stadium to four games, with three of
those being wins.
It is
their joint-best run of the season, matching the sequence earlier in the campaign
when Charlton, Blackburn, Leeds and Fulham all failed to win at the Millers’
home.
It also
represents a revival as they endured a real sticky run in the autumn and early
winter, as if you include the draw against Fulham they went eight games without
success in front of their own supporters.
While the
Millers’ cannot call on the features that helped make Millmoor such a difficult
place to come last time they were at this level, their ability to get the best
out of their new home was always going to be vital.
Kari
Arnason’s 85th-minute header at the weekend gave them their sixth
win on home soil, an impressive amount compared to just two on the road.
They have
taken 64.9 per cent of their total points tally on home soil (24), which is the
sixth best in the division, while scoring 67.6 per cent of their total goals (34)
in front of their home fans.
That scoring
stat is only bettered in the league by Bolton, but could also highlight exactly
where the club’s problems on the road have laid.
No other
teams have turned around half-time deficits to win at home more than the two
times Rotherham have done it, while the three times they have gone in at the
interval in front have ended in home wins.
It all
points to the Millers having enough clout on their own patch to be able to get
the points on the board and keep them in this division, even if they lose all
of their remaining away games.
In the
three seasons where Ronnie Moore kept the Millers in the second tier against
all the odds they registered eight, seven and eight home wins in respective
years.
With
Cardiff, Wigan, Sheffield Wednesday, Brighton, Reading and Norwich still to
come to South Yorkshire, the Millers should definitely be looking to eclipse
that figure of eight, which will take them to the magical 46-point figure which Steve Evans has targeted.
And if
they do that, then there should be Championship football at New York again next
season.
