Things could not have gone much better for Rotherham over
the last three years, but assistant boss Paul Raynor believes greater things
could be on the horizon.
Under Steve Evans and Raynor’s leadership, which began in
2012, the Millers have said goodbye to League Two and playing at Sheffield’s
Don Valley Stadium and are now beginning their second year in the Championship
in their state-of-the-art new stadium in the heart of the town.
That has been some rise for the Millers and the ride may not
be over for the fans yet as Evans and Raynor plot to become an established
second tier outfit, something that has never been done in the club’s history.
The signs over the summer have been impressive.
The Millers have added experienced coach Eric Black to their
backroom staff, they are set to announce a stadium expansion to 16,000 in the
near future while the player recruitment has seen some quality additions to the squad, which should make them a stronger outfit.
And Raynor is excited about the journey ahead.
“We want to improve. We're not going to sit here and say, 'We're
going to the Premier League; we're going to do this, we're going to do that',”
he said.
“That would be absolutely stupid. What we're trying to build
here is a solid Championship football club with the potential to move forward.
“You've seen the chairman talking about expanding the
stadium. The longer we can stay in the division, the better the club will be,
the stronger the club will be.
“There will be more supporters, better infrastructure,
better players recruited. It's an exciting period for the club.
“We've gone up to the Championship, had a little look at it,
and now we want to grow.
“It's not just the playing staff, it's the infrastructure
off the pitch. The chairman is working hard to make sure the stadium can hold
more fans which hopefully give us a little bit more money to spend.
“It is an ongoing process to make this club a little bit
better so it is fantastic to be around.
“We couldn't have dreamt when we came to out first game
against Cheltenham at Don Valley that we would be sitting here talking about
the calibre of players we have signed in the last week or so.”
