Rotherham make an eighth
attempt to win a league game this season when Cardiff visit New York on
Saturday.
The game takes on extra significance given the Millers' plight at the bottom of the table while uncertainty still remains over boss Steve Evans’ future.
Here’s five things to look
out for.
Is this the day the wait ends?
Those spine-tingling memories
of beating Reading to secure their Championship safety back in April don’t half
seem a long time ago for the Millers and they have become fader with every game
that has gone by this season without winning. This is their longest winless
start to a campaign since the ill-fated 2004/05 Championship, where
hardy fans were kept waiting until November for a first taste of success, while
the memorable 2001/02 season started without a victory in 10 games for Ronnie
Moore’s men. However, you can’t help but get the feeling that the visit of
Cardiff, who have enjoyed a fine start to the campaign, is a must-win for Evans' side to not only stop the rot but also to ensure they don't start getting cut adrift at the bottom of the league. Will this
be the day the Millers get back to winning ways? It has to be doesn’t it?
Will the fans turn on Evans?
There was just something not
quite right about the atmosphere during the Millers’ last outing on home soil
against Fulham two weeks ago and there was a definite sense of the tide turning
in terms of the support Evans is receiving as unrest from the terraces at the club’s poor start started to manifest itself. They were
roundly booed off at half-time and full-time and the fans will definitely be
demanding the type of all-action, fight-to-the death performance that has been
missing so far. Evans’ position, regardless of any speculation over a move to Peterborough, is under more scrutiny than ever before and there could be little
tolerance for another defeat – especially if it comes in the same manner as the
ones suffered against MK Dons and Fulham.
Will the old Rotherham be on show?
Part of the reason why the
Millers faithful have had it so good over recent years is they have been
watching a team who attacked, fought to the death and showed a relentless
desire to win the game. The stark reality is that, especially in the clash against Fulham, those qualities have been missing this season and the side
looks to be a shell of the one previously seen – irrespective of supposed added
quality. Even if the Millers go a goal down on Saturday, they need to show that
willingness, that desire, that fighting spirit which has epitomised the
previous three squads that Evans built. The boss has always prided himself on
having a team that works harder than everybody else and has often said that
quality only shines through if you win the battle. Saturday is the perfect time
to return to that mantra.
A pressing issue
Allied to that fine spirit
within the camp over the years, an Evans team has always been about high-energy
pressing and getting the ball from back to front quickly. It got them to the
Championship and kept them there, albeit leaving them exposed at the back as a
result. Things have been different this season and one of the key buzzwords in
the pre-season was ‘shape’ as new coach Eric Black tried to make them more
solid without the ball. Unfortunately that has seemed to have a negative affect
as they have not only conceded more goals than anyone else in the division, but
they have also looked a shadow of their former selves in attack. Could it be
worth releasing the shackles and returning to that pressing, energetic game
that has served them so well?
We're okay with ambitious but less of the brilliant please Alex
If this season is anything to
go by, the chances of Alex Revell returning to his former stomping ground and
scoring a crucial goal for Cardiff are probably quite high. It would follow on
from fellow former favourite Ben Pringle, who bagged for Fulham, and would give
everyone a reminder of the good times the big striker was part of at the club.
It’s not his first return to South Yorkshire of course, having played for the
Bluebirds’ in last March’s encounter where he had a goal disallowed. If he is
to go one better this season, he will probably have to do it from the bench as
he has been an unused substitute in the last three Cardiff games as Russell
Slade’s men have hit the ground running this season. Oh yeah, we forgot to mention earlier, the Bluebirds are in the top six and have taken 12 points from their first seven games. Easy job for the Millers, eh?
