‘Evolution Not Revolution’ – Rotherham Under Richardson

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‘Evolution Not Revolution’ – Rotherham Under Richardson

There’s a new man at the helm of Rotherham United and David Beddows from the Rotherham Advertiser assesses Leam Richardson’s start to life as Millers manager.

2023-12-23T08:38:00.000Z

by Sam Jones

Published

23 Dec, 2023

‘Evolution Not Revolution’ – Rotherham Under Richardson

There’s a new man at the helm of Rotherham United and David Beddows from the Rotherham Advertiser assesses Leam Richardson’s start to life as Millers manager.

Sam Jones

2023-12-23T08:38:00.000Z

‘Evolution Not Revolution’ – Rotherham Under Richardson

There’s a new man at the helm of Rotherham United and David Beddows from the Rotherham Advertiser assesses Leam Richardson’s start to life as Millers manager.

Sam Jones

2023-12-23T08:38:00.000Z

‘Evolution Not Revolution’ – Rotherham Under Richardson

There’s a new man at the helm of Rotherham United and David Beddows from the Rotherham Advertiser assesses Leam Richardson’s start to life as Millers manager.

Sam Jones

2023-12-23T08:38:00.000Z

‘Evolution Not Revolution’ – Rotherham Under Richardson

There’s a new man at the helm of Rotherham United and David Beddows from the Rotherham Advertiser assesses Leam Richardson’s start to life as Millers manager.

Sam Jones

2023-12-23T08:38:00.000Z

- Rotherham United are the visitors to King Power Stadium on Saturday (3pm kick-off)- The Millers currently sit bottom of the Sky Bet Championship after 22 matches- Leam Richardson replaced Matt Taylor as manager earlier this month- Rotherham Advertiser reporter David Beddows gives his take on the situation

Top plays bottom in the Sky Bet Championship this weekend with Rotherham due on Filbert Way on Saturday (3pm kick-off). The south Yorkshire side are currently on a run of 10 games without a win and have a number of tough fixtures against teams gunning for promotion ahead of them.

“It’s been a difficult, testing season,” Beddows explained. “No one was under any illusions before the season kicked off; it was going to be a challenge, as it always is in the Championship for Rotherham United. It’s relentless with one tough match after another. They have Leicester on Saturday and then Middlesbrough on Boxing Day.

“The previous manager, Matt Taylor, brought in a lot of experienced players in the summer and was unlucky that a lot of those suffered injuries, which has disrupted the flow and made getting results difficult.

“It’s all about the small margins. What Rotherham don’t have at this level is a 15-20 goal-a-season-man who can make the difference in those tight games. It’s been the same situation on and off for the last eight to 10 years at this level.

“The £1M record signing, Sam Nombe, has come into a bit of form. He’s been doing well and had another decent game on Saturday. Down the left, Dexter Lembikisa has been showing up lately, but it has been a struggle for goals.

“There’s no lack of endeavour but a general lack of quality. The players are putting a shift in for the manager and for the supporters, but it’s regularly not quite enough. We haven’t really had an unbeaten run to really start moving up the table. Hence where the team are, nine points adrift of safety.”

Richardson was appointed following Taylor’s departure last month, and although Beddows is yet to see concrete signs of improvement, he acknowledged the size of the task in front of the former Wigan Athletic manager, who is now overseeing a team who were relegated in three of their last four seasons at this level.

“We’ve been here before,” the reporter commented. “It’s a bit of déjà vu. There’s been a managerial change, of course, Leam Richardson has come in. Hopefully they’ll get the new manager bounce, although we’ve not seen that in the first two games.

“They were close at Plymouth last Saturday but for a last-minute winner. They were competitive against West Brom, although that was a poor game. He’s not had much chance to implement his ways. He came in, there was a midweek game and then a long trip down to Plymouth.

“This is the first full week he’s had with the players on the training ground leading into this match. If he gets his feet under the table, he’ll get one or two results and the mood around the place will increase.

“The fans just want to see an upturn in performances and hopefully results will follow on from that. January is just around the corner and hopefully they can kick on and he can make them competitive, that’s all they can do.

“There’s a new voice in the dressing room and a new assistant coach in Rob Kelly with lots of experience. Richardson is used to working in the Championship with a club of a similar size in Wigan, where he did quite well. He’s got the CV, but it needs to be done sooner rather than later. He’s said already that it’s going to be evolution not revolution.”

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