Oh dear, we lost 2-1 to Cardiff after conceding a late goal, if we'd just settled for the point we would be sitting quite comfortably now with Reading needing 2 wins from 2 games to pass us, as it stands a win and a draw will do for them now. There's a real danger we might go down now.
They play Huddersfield, though, and they'll likely be needing something (as they won't be presuming you'll lose, as 'worst case scenario' analysis has you currently thinking). In any case, one (if not both) will be dropping points that day. 'Boro are almost certain to finish 4th, so they'll have nothing to play for at yours, and might well rest some players in preparation for the playoffs. They're good, but you could get something there. And Wigan will almost surely be down by the time you go there, so getting something there is at least as likely as losing. It was a bad point dropped v Cardiff, for sure, but I still fancy Rotherham staying up.
Reading have drawn with Wigan today so we need 1pt from our last 2 games to secure our own safety otherwise it's out of our hands. Reading are only down there due to a 6pt deduction so we're a bit shitter than them over the course of the season to be fair. It'll be a bit disappointing if we only stay up on the back of Reading's point deduction but next season will be the real test for us, we'll have to partially rebuild our squad again in the summer and Taylor won't be able to blame Warne for the players he has (as much anyway). It could turn out to be a great season or another recording breaking catastrophe assuming we're still in the Championship. I think it's fair to say that our early season form under Warne is what has kept us up, I've not done the math but I suspect our PPG since Taylor took over has been relegation form.
We play Middlesbrough at 1pm today, we're guaranteed to lose that so it's all going to come down to the last day I think. Huddersfield will probably be above us by then.
It just goes to show how important a draw with Cardiff would have been, we'd be sitting in 19th now on goal difference. Instead Taylor was throwing on Georgie Kelly and some lightweight loanees who like to dribble presumably trying to sneak a winner when we should have just seen out the match. At least Uncle Colin hates Reading I suppose.
Cracking result, that. I was thinking you might get something from 'Boro, but if I'm honest, I wasn't really thinking beyond a draw. Nice to have it put to bed early. Congrats, Myshoe/Millers.
We beat them 1-0 yesterday afternoon Ivan, we had two players go off injured first half (as if our injury problems weren't enough) and luckily they had a man sent off just before half time and we scored just after half time. They still had something like 75% possession but it was what Arsene Wenger termed sterile domination as they hardly created anything, just passing it around in the middle of the pitch for the sake of holding onto the ball. Richard Wood started again as we have so many injuries so if it turns out to be his penultimate/last game then at least he went out on a high. That's 9 years he's been with us trying to get/keep us in the Championship. The BBC called us nomads in their headline because we've not stayed in the same division over the past 7 years. It's been quite a ride. 📽️ | We achieved it 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 👊 We might have 'been to hell and back' but we fought so hard to get here and even harder to stay here. 💪 Now it's time to celebrate 🥳 #rufc | #ForeverTogetherForeverProud pic.twitter.com/DQ42c9rqOV— Rotherham United (@RotherhamUnited) May 1, 2023
Speaking of Uncle Colin, he's kept 'udders up. You see these old geezers like Colin and Woy come in and do a job like that - it really is impressive. They know how to shape up a disoriented squad, don't they? I'd have Harry back at Spurs for the what's left of the campaign. In a heartbeat. I'm serious.
I heard Huddersfield are 5th in the form table since Warnock took over. I remember when he saved us that season we were top of the form table at one stage, they're unbelievable turnarounds coming from teams down the bottom of the table that have struggled all season. I don't know how he does it perhaps there's just too many lacklustre managers floating around these days? putting philosophy over effectiveness? One thing is for sure he'll not be short of offers at the business end of coming seasons.
It's final, 19th position. We stayed up on merit in the end, we even would've been above Reading on GD had they not had 6pt deducted. Time to chill for a few months.
Richard Wood is done at Rotherham, according to a post on a Wednesday board. The post said that it had been announced by Matt Taylor, but didn't give any details, and Google is giving me nothing. It's also been said that Paul Hurst has offered Wood a player/coach role at Grimsby Town. But the emphasis is on 'coach' and Woody wants to continue playing, so is keeping his options open. Again, this is nothing more than Wednesday chat, but assuming it's true, that's a decent longtime servant of the club moving on. Good luck to him. I remember thinking that Wednesday's defense was set for the next X years, with all of Wood, Beevers, and Spurr (Wednesday youth, all) breaking into the first team, and Lewis Buxton (one of my faves) arriving from Stoke*. Didn't quite work out that way. *ok, I just googled that ... tbh, I was thinking he came from Pompey.
Yeah Wood's contract runs out this summer and it's been obvious that Taylor is moving on from him, he hasn't played him up until recently and that's only because we have so many central defenders out injured. He's been a great servant to us, scored a few key play-off goals and we've had so much success (promotions from League One) during his time. Apparently he said something post-Wigan: LISTEN | Rotherham United boss Matt Taylor on the 0-0 draw against Wigan, plans for next season and captain, Richard Wood leaving the club.Wood has been at the Millers for nine years.🎧👉https://t.co/xHcVnGtB10#RUFC | @BBCSheffield pic.twitter.com/QCsMFqZ3UC— Football Heaven (@footballheaven) May 8, 2023
Most of our fans think that he deserves a testimonial, although whether it will happen or not is another matter. One of our fans was talking to him, Warne & Smith at a funeral for one our fans, posted a nice photo as well: https://boards.footymad.net/showthread.php?t=38305606&page=6 I don't know about him going to Grimsby, Hurst is another ex-player of ours but I think the whole reason Wood signed and stayed with us for so long is that he was settled in the Sheffield area. I still think he'd do a top job at League One or even Championship level but he's only likely to get a 1 year rolling contract with his age. I wouldn't be surprised to see him sign for Doncaster if he's still wanting to play somewhere local.