THE APL PREDICTION LEAGUE & PREVIEW –
ROTHERHAMTuesday 13th March – Kick Off 7-45pmI must admit this one nearly slipped through the net, I must have forgotten to write it on the calendar or something and it has messed up my calculations a bit regarding our chances of avoiding the drop, anyway a quick glance at this one does not make favourable reading.
We met the Millers at their place two days before Christmas, we lost 2-1, Chuks struck early, then two quick goals from them in the space of 8 minutes sealed our fate. They’ve only dropped 4 points since them with a couple of draws and ten wins, are in total on an unbeaten run of 15 games, including an unbeaten away run of 6 games, and are currently on a run of 7 straight victory’s........so nothing too much to be concerned about.
A couple or more interesting titbits about the Millers, and they do knock some theories touted on the TCR into the long grass a bit. Paul Warne is a relatively new manager with just 70 games under his belt, he had a difficult start to management taking on failing Rotherham, he won just 6 of 35 games but the club stood with him after relegation. His win ratio when we played them at Christmas was a lowly 26%, it has now risen to 36%, and trust me it takes something special to improve figures by 10% in just over two months.
Bunking another TCR theory, Rotherham have recruited 11 new players on contracts this season and signed 5 on loan until the end of the season, and that’s after releasing 17 players at the end of last season.
They have also signed 5 players for undisclosed fees.
WD EDIT – I knew it was dangerous writing all those great facts about Rotherham last week, tempting fate as today they lost at home to our relegation rivals Rochdale 1-0.
WellDon THE STORY SO FARRotherham are currently in 4th position with a league record of
PLAYED 35, WON 19, DRAWN 5, LOST 11 GF 58 & GA 40 with 62 POINTS.
Current Form at a Glance-
WWWWWWWLTheir
AWAY results in chronological order are as follows.
Fleetwood 2 Rotherham 0
Peterborough 2 Rotherham 1
Portsmouth 0 Rotherham 1
Bradford 1 Rotherham 0
Blackburn 2 Rotherham 0
Rochdale 0 Rotherham 1
KFC Chicken 3 Rotherham 1
Oxford 3 Rotherham 3
Doncaster 1 Rotherham 1
Bristol Rovers 2 Rotherham 1
Blackpool 1 Rotherham 2
Bury 0 Rotherham 3
Walsall 1 Rotherham 2
Oldham 1 Rotherham 1
Scunthorpe 1 Rotherham 2
Shrewsbury 0 Rotherham 1
That’s an
AWAY record of
PLAYED 16, WON 7, DRAWN 3, LOST 6, GF 20 & GA 20.
THE MANAGERA new one for us, and in his first managerial appointment, its Paul Warne aged 44, born in Norwich.
As a midfielder/striker he played 526 games scoring 65 goals for Wigan, Kettering, Rotherham, Mansfield, Oldham, Yeovil and then back to Rotherham finishing his playing career in 2012.
He joined the coaching staff at Rotherham until November 2016 where he took over as caretaker manager following the resignation of Kenny Jackett. In January the following year he was made the full-time manager until the end of the season, and despite the inevitable relegation from the Championship he was given a 1 year rolling contract.
His managerial record stands at
PLAYED 70, WON 25, DRAWN 10, LOST 35 with a WIN RATIO of 36.8%, but I will add that those figures are tainted with his Championship record of just 6 victories in 35 games.
FORMER MANAGERSTo name a few, Neil Warnock, Steve Evans, Tommy Docherty, Ian Porterfield, Emlyn Hughes, Norman Hunter, Archie Gemmill, John McGovern, Ronnie Moore, Mick Harford and Mark Robins.
FORMER PLAYERSAgain naming a few, Kieran Agard, Richie Barker, Febian Brandy, Leo Fortune-West, Shaun Goater, Tony Grealish, Jon Harley, Scott Minto, Adam le Fondre, Jon Otsemobor, Tom Pope, Mark Randall, Neil Warnock, Matt Tubbs, Johnson Clarke-Harris and James Tavernier.
THE MASCOTMiller Bear who does like to stir up the home fans to generate a pretty good atmosphere.
FAMOUS FANSTo me to you, the Chuckle Brothers and World Cup ref Howard Webb.
HELLO AGAINIt’s the Rolls Royce of football, “I just can’t get enough of” Darren Potter who played 267 games for the Dons scoring 12 goals. He’s only played 16 times this season, struggling with an Achilles injury, and at the time of writing he hasn’t played since a 23rd minute injury forced him off against Bristol Rovers in December 2017.
SHOOTERS BOOTSTop scorer this season for Rotherham is Kieffer Moore with 13 goals in all comps, but he has subsequently moved to Barnsley in the January Transfer Window for an undisclosed fee.
CURRENT MATCH ODDSMK Dons
9/4 (M Bet) Draw
12/5 (BetFred) Rotherham
4/5 (Sun Bet)
LAST TIME ROUNDSaturday 23rd December 2017 – Rotherham 2 MK Dons 1
Team – Nicholls, Walsh, Williams, Wootton (Thomas-Asante), Ebanks-Landell, Aneke, McGrandles, Pawlett, Upson (Gilbey), Agard, Sow (Ariyibi).
Unused Subs – Sietsma, Cisse, Muirhead, Seager
Goals – Aneke 9’, Ajayi 21’, Vaulks 29’.
Referee – Darren Drysdale (5 Yellows)
Attendance – 8,333 (243 Dons fans)
League Positions at the Time of Fixture – Rotherham 9th MK Dons 19th.
HEAD 2 HEAD2017/18 – Rotherham 2 MK Dons 1 (Aneke)
2015/16 – MK Dons 0 Rotherham 4
2015/16 – Rotherham 1 MK Dons 4 (Hall, Own Goal, Bowditch, C Baker)
2013/14 - Rotherham 2 MK Dons 2 (McLeod, Kennedy)
2013/14 – MK Dons 3 Rotherham 2 (Williams, Reeves, Bamford)
2007/08 – MK Dons 1 Rotherham 1 (Gallen)
2007/08 – Rotherham 0 MK Dons 1 (Wright)
2005/06 – Rotherham 0 MK Dons 0
2005/06 – MK Dons 1 Rotherham 1 (Kamara)
YOU’VE GOT NO HISTORYThe club’s roots date back to 1870 as Thornhill FC, later Thornhill Utd playing in the Sheffield & Hallamshire League, but the main team in the area were Rotherham Town who later at the turn of the century went out of business. Thornhill on the rise changed their name to Rotherham County and became the big club in the region, meanwhile Rotherham Town reformed to play in the Midland League, but it soon became apparent the area could not sustain two teams.
A public meeting was called, the two clubs merged and Rotherham United was founded in 1925 with the nickname the Millers. Now playing at the New York Stadium, it previously played at Millmoor for over 100 years in its current and former guise, the Millers also played at the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield for 4 seasons, 2008/2012, whilst their new home was being built.
The Millers joined the Football League in 1925 and have spent the bulk of its existence in the now League 2 and League 1. The Millers featured in the inaugural League Cup final in 1961 losing 3-2 on aggregate to Aston Villa, and won the Football League Trophy (Auto Windscreens) in 1996 beating Shrewsbury 2-1.
In 1955 the Millers achieved their highest ever finish being 3rd in the 2nd Division, when only goal difference denied them a place in the top flight, finishing level on points with Birmingham and Luton.
Well that’s it really, there is tons more on Rotherham, administration , points deductions, Creditors Voluntary Agreements, forced out of their spiritual home by landlords, tallest floodlights, unfinished stands at the old Millmoor ground, but time is pressing and I’ve been doing this for 2 hours already.
PREDICTIONOk it’s your turn now, all you have to do is predict the score and the 1st MK Dons Goalscorer, or if you think the Dons will fail to find the net you can put NO SCORER.
You have until 1 hour before kick-off to make your prediction, you can edit your prediction as many times as you like, but again the deadline stands.
EXAMPLEMK Dons 1 Rotherham 2
MKDFGS – Osman Sow
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