Mr Russell

Rotherham United vs Middlesborough, Saturday 1st November 2012

According to the Middlesborough Gazette, a preseason poll found that the awayday most Boro' fans were looking forward to was the match at the New York Stadium against Rotherham United. Now with big teams such as Fulham, Norwich and Sheffield Weds in the same league that seems a little strange to say the least, but we do have a nice new ground. Their feelings may have changed by the day of the match however, with South Yorkshire Police conspiring with RUFC to thwart them at every opportunity. First they received only 2,500 tickets, standard for us because we have a small ground and like our own fans to get the tickets if possible. This meant they were highly sought after and sold out on the day they went on sale. A lot of Middlesborough fans then decided to pretend they weren't Middlesborough fans and bought tickets in the home end. All went well until the day before the match when RUFC phoned them all up after checking with some superspywear and cancelling their tickets. Data protection and basic human rights were cited to no avail. They were not getting in. Never mind, the ones with tickets in the away end would still have a lovely day out. Enter SYPD. Coach drivers were given a call on the day before the game (we like to keep them on their toes) to tell them in no circumstances could they enter Rotherham before 1pm. 'We have roadworks', they were told, 'so roadblocks will be in place and we will escort you in'. Their plans of having a quiet drink in a town centre pub were dashed. A sensible suggestion from a lady at RUFC was to call at a pub just off the M18 called Sir Jacks. I bet all the mums with kids in the play area and Saturday shoppers at Morrisons were pleased to see them! Still, we were all safe and warm within our town centre cocoon all morning with not a Jordie voice to be heard.

A peaceful morning in Rotherham

The special guest at today's game was a certain Tony Towner. A flying winger, 'Tiger' was a fixture in the wonderful promotion winning team of 1980-81. When he got the ball a buzz would go around the ground and the sounds of 'Tony Towner is one in a million' would ring out. To a generation of Millers, me included, Tiger is quite simply the best Rotherham player of all time. 

Tiger

Vicky was to meet us at the ground due to other social commitments in 'Spoons', so Ian and I made our way to the New York Tavern. We saw no magpies on the way, walked under no ladders, and saw no cross eyed women, so I have no explanation for what happened later. We had a nice drink and chat with Wooly, James and Dave. Topics broached were the Boro Manager, Daves hatred for Ben Pringle, and how James appeared to be suffering from some kind of brain injury. Vicky texted that some Boro fans were in 'Spoons' and it was kicking off with chanting and posturing. 

Spoons

We left and walked to the ground the same as usual, meeting Vicky outside and entering via turnstyle 10. Inside the concourse the 'Wall of Fame' had been erected. All the fans who had bought a brick during the ill fated Millers 05 tenure at the club finally saw their names up in lights on the wall. 

We found our seats and applauded wildly as Tiger was introduced to the crowd. We were all in place, old guy on the end, the tweeters, wooly and James, woman in front (she appears to be a fixture now). Sideshow Bob sidled in behind with his crutch. 

Not actual match footage...

We were feeling good. Then Mr Russell entered the field of play. 

To be fair, which I don't want to be, it wasn't all his fault. Middlesborough kicked off and tore us to pieces, scoring two goals in the first twenty minutes with ease. Then number 4 came from behind Revell on the halfway line and kicked him in the head. Revs went down unmoving, and Mr Russell gave a free kick for dangerous play. No booking. For five minutes the doctor, physios and St Johns ambulance treated him, until he eventually managed to get back on his feet. He couldn't carry on however and was replace by Jordan Bowery. Our most influential player had been kicked off the park with no sanction for the culprit. Five minutes later Bowery won the ball in front of their bench. Foul said Mr Russell, their bench screamed, their players surrounded all the officials, and Mr Russell showed Jordan a straight red card. The tweeters said Sky were reporting that he was sent off for a stamp, the BBC said for fighting, we were there and didn't have a clue. Viewing the incident later on Sky we were still nonplussed. Bowery appeared to shake his leg at a Boro player who was hanging on to it. 'What was that for?' said Matt Le Tissier, 'doesn't seem to be anything in that' said Jeff. 

Why me??

Back to the New York and it was game over. We were never coming back from that. Mr Russell was booed from the field at half time. Steve took Pringle and Taylor off at half time and replaced them with Derbyshire and Smallwood, but we got nowhere. Mr Russell spoke sternly to number 4 after yet another foul by him, he held up his fingers to us all so we could see him counting, 1,2,3,4. Next time he would clearly book him, or the time after. Green brought down a Boro player two minutes later, and despite it being his first foul was booked. In the last minute Boro broke and scored a third goal. We would probably have lost in all honesty, but the refs decisions left us all seething. It was a despondent crowd that left the New York later, maybe we will get relegated after all. We are certainly not entering via turnstyle 10 next game.

Next up Reading away on Tuesday night. 

Men of the match

Ian - Frecklington

Jackie - JCR

Vicky - Alex Revell

Ian's award - Bowerygate

Quote of the day, Steve Evans post match.

"We go away remembering an absolutely shocking, awful, woeful, disgraceful, abject decision to send Jordan Bowery off. There are no other words I can use for it.

A flock of seagulls

Brighton vs Rotherham United, the Amex Stadium and Moorgate road, Sat 25th Sept 2014, 24370

The Amex Stadium

'A bit too far' was the verdict when pondering a day trip to Brighton. So it was to be another awayday in the company of Jeff and the dreaded rolling results service. We had stayed out late the night before  (10pm!) at an 80th birthday bash for my cousin, June, where there was lots of reminiscing about the good old days. I tend to get a bit confused about who fits where in the Last family, but was able to add to the conversation with my dad's memories of Uncle John Willie and his house crammed so full of furniture that you had to climb over it. There were also a lot of family members I had never met, in fact we were met at the door by a young girl who exclaimed, 'who are you?'. Luckily someone knew me! The upshot of all this was that we lazed in bed till half past eight the next morning. 'Do you want pan porridge' asked Ian. 'No', I replied emphatically. Pan porridge always sticks to the pan and he never washes it. 'We always have pan porridge on Saturdays, what if we lose, it will be all your fault,' he said with a gleam in his eye. He had caught me like a little fish. Pan porridge it was. 

Ian went into work to catch up and Corrie and I decided to walk down and take him some lunch. Well I say walk, in actual fact Corrie dragged me all the way. She was like a six month old puppie. Good news was that she also dragged me back up the hill. Good girl.

She wouldn't stand still!

Back home my phone buzzed, the team news was in. No sign of Derbyshire, instead Jordan Bowey was listed on the wing. Perhaps Sky don't have a clue what position Rotherham United players play in or perhaps Steve is playing him there. Whatever, he scores goals. 

The millers fans at the Amex

3 o'clock came and I set too sorting out my work folder while Jeff told me all about the goals. Reuben Reid scored for Plymouth. Oxford took the lead through the 11th goal of the season from our Danny Hylton. Keep that photo of you and him Vicky, it will be worth a fortune when he's playing for Barcelona. 

Ahhhhh

James Tavernier actually got a start for Wigan and, maybe on the back of his penalty in the play off final got to take one for them, which the Derby keeper promptly saved. The half times were rolling in when Jeff broke my heart by announcing a Brighton goal at home to Rotherham. Half time 1-0. Vicky texted me to say that she couldn't get on SkyGo and was very very cross. But then she sent a happy text saying she had found a dubious internet site that let her watch the whole game. I thought about it but decided to stay with Jeff. 

The lead didn't last long! Just after the restart Paul Merson was screaming and shouting about an incident in the West Brom match when I looked up to see 'Brighton 1 Rotherham 1, Alex Revell'. After a few minutes Jeff went to the Amex Stadium where the reporters exact words were, 'Ben Pringle passed into the box to Alex Revell, his first touch was good, his second even better.' What a player!

Jeff never mentioned us again after that, probably a good thing. He was too busy mentioning Birmingham, who lost 8-0 at home to Bournemouth. They sacked their manager last week but I don't hold out much hope for the caretaker getting the job. Leeds were also losing at home, bad news for Darko who got the sack just after the game. He had been in charge for six games. 

Sadder.....

At last the results were in and we had got the draw. A good result I thought. However, Listening to praise or grumble on the way to the supermarket it appears we should have won. Next up Middlesborough at home.

Men of the match

Ian - Alex Revell

Jackie - Alex Revell

Thank you too Alex

Quote of the day- on Brighton fans forum

'Alex revell is everything we are missing.He is big, tall, won every header that came his way, put himself about and scored a well taken goal, before fluffing a great chance given to him. This is exactly the opposite of our woeful ogrady. (Chris O'Grady is an ex-miller who committed the sin of refusing a pay cut during the dark days and leaving under a cloud)

P.s.

Later, In the evening.............

The haves and the have nots

Rotherham united vs Fulham, New York Stadium, Tues 21st October 2014. Att 8981

The game against Fulham at the New York stadium was a case of those who have and those who don't. Two seasons ago Fulham were playing in the Premier League while we were in League 2. Fulham received a parachute payment of 60 (SIXTY) million pounds when they were relegated in May, we won a £25,000 prize for gaining promotion to the championship. Fulham striker Ross McCormack cost 11 million pounds from Leeds earlier this season, Jonson Clark-Harris, our record buy of all time, cost £400,000 from Oldham. McCormack cost more on his own then every single Rotherham United player ever signed added together. In short, they have lots more money than us. To be fair we don't need as much as they do. Their ex England midfielder Scott Parker earns a reputed £3.64 million a year, while Alex Revell will be lucky to make £100,000. 

The morning of the match saw Hurracaine Gonzalo blow into town. A look out of the door at work saw a squall blow through with trees bending and torrential rain. 

Come home time though the rain had stopped and the wind had calmed, although on locking up I decided the temperature warranted my Ski Jackets first outing of the season. After a stern talking to over the Friday Incident Chris had the tea on the table and the coffee made so we were able to leave in plenty of time. I hadn't see any magpies so the omens were good, and we reinforced them by crossing the road in the correct place and entering via turnstyle 10. 

Old guy on the end was already in place and I instigated a conversation by asking him where he was Friday night. "Tenerife" he replied, putting pay to the shocking rumour that he had chosen to watch the match in the pub. The twitchers arrived and amused me by mentioning that Richard Osman had been tweeting that ' the whole nation was getting nervous about Rotherham v Fulham',  and that he had tweeted back, 'no, it's just the Fulham fans'. Perhaps he should be renamed The Twitterer. The teams came onto the pitch and Jonson Clarke-Harris (forever after to be called JCH due to repetitive strain injury) was favoured instead of Derbyshire, much to our delight. The game kicked off and the Ski Jacket was doing its job, especially with the zip pulled up to max.

Unfortunately Fulham had recently sacked their useless manager and had gone on a brilliant run with four wins and a draw out of the last five, and they started well, but we kept them at bay. Then, in the 28th minute a shot by Taylor hit a suspiciously offside Revell and deflected into the Fulham net.

Paul Taylor can't quite believe that the goal is credited to Revell!!

The lead didn't last long before some overpaid southern softy dribbled into the area and tripped over his shoelace, with the ref inexplicably giving the penalty. Ross McCormack earned every penny of his colossal transfer fee by beating Collin from 12 yards. Back to 1-1. We huffed and puffed a lot, Primgle tossed in a few good balls and they fell over a lot, before the half drew to a close at 1-1. 

No changes at half time but we began the second half really brightly, culminating in a sublime cross from Ben Pringles left foot and a superb volley from JCH. 

The lead didn't last long before we lost the ball high up the field and Fulham broke and scored. Back to 2-2. Still, only 58mins gone and we were playing really well, passing the ball about smartly, crossing accurately and generally harassing the southern softies into making mistakes. Steve decided to make a change as JCH tired. He got a standing ovation as he left the field, which turned to a collective groan as Matt Derbyshire entered the Frey. We were surging forward in waves now and Alex Revell made a superb surging  run to latch onto a long ball, powered his way to the byline beating the fullback all ends up, and lashed a curling cross right into Derbyshires forehead smack bang in the centre of the goal. It was easier to score than not, but Derbyshire doesn't believe in easy and somehow contrived to steer the header wide. Luckily the other 10 players on the park aren't half bad at football and we carried on battering at the door until, on 86 minutes, super Ben Pringle found himself unmarked on the end of the area and fired in a low shot that took a deflection off a Mr Bodurov into the net. Surely we would go on and win now. Unfortunately the lead didn't last long. In the 90th minute Fulham won a corner, and their giant centre half powered a header past Collin. 3-3. There was still time for them to worry us even more with a couple of attacks that made it feel like we were hanging on before the referee blew for time. We had got a 3-3 draw with a team that have lots of money, very good players, and are highly fancied for promotion, and we were disappointed. Walking back home the talk was of how Alex Revell has stepped up to Championship football with aplomb, putting in performance after performance of powerful forward play, and who would be available to drive Matt Derbyshire to Bury, or any other club that is stupid enough to take him. Next up Brighton away. 

The end of the line?

Men of the match

Ian - Pringle

Jackie - Ben Pringle

Ian's award - the penalty, although ref was probably evening it up for the off side goal

Quote of the day

Richard Osman on Twitter

Rotherham have a player called Frecklington, you don't get that in the premier league!

Dirty Leeds

Rotherham vs Leeds United, New York Stadium, Friday 17th September 2014

Oh how I hate these, blasted international breaks. With going on holiday as well it had been a massive 27 days since we had seen the Millers live, almost as long as the summer between seasons. Since the away game at Carrow Road a lot has happened, here are just a few.

-Dougie Freedman of Bolton left by mutual consent

-Colin Cooper, the Hartlepool manager resigned

-In a remarkable turn of events Watford ruthlessly sacked the unbeaten Billy McKinlay after just two matches in charge . The Hornets harshly booted the former Fulham coach out of the door in order to appoint a more experienced manager with a proven winning record, in Slavisa Jokanovic.

McKinlay has only been handed the job eight days earlier after replacing Oscar Garcia, who had been forced to step down due to health concerns. As a result McKinlay's brief tenure is the sixth shortest managerial reigns in English football. The Scot departed Vicarage Road with Watford third in the Championship, but level on points with the top-2 teams

-Scunthorpe sacked Russ Wilcox

-Tranmere sacked Rob Edwards

-Nigel Wothington of York resigned.

These international breaks are bad news for managers.

-England beat San Marino 5-0 at Wembley and Estonia 1-0 in Tallin, where we will be visiting next June. They were down to 10 men though

-Former Millers hero and villain Mark Robins became Scunthorpe manager.

-Neil Lennon was appointed Bolton manager.

More importantly though, a heel injury forced the return of ex Leeds favourite Luciano Beccio to Norwich after only four games and two goals taking his songs with him. 

    

   So sad!!

And a woman lived for a month with a three inch leech up her nose after swimming in a lake in Vietnam

   So Gross!!!

 The match was to be live on Sky, meaning we had to make sure to record it plus the one after. I am terrified of a repeat of the play-off final debacle when the penalties meant we ended up seeing Northern Ireland play a friendly instead of Steve Evans singing New York New York. It was also to be a Friday night game. This meant that both sets of fans had all day to down gallons of beer, the four year old boy on the street corner could tell there would be trouble. It sold out the week before, Ian and I contributing massively to that as we helped out a friend who wanted 7 tickets for a group of Dutch fans  , friends of his sister, who were coming over for a game of such calibre. I did have a moment of doubt when I saw Ian and Vickys names on the tickets, meaning that any trouble by the Dutch and both would be banned for life. Then I thought it would be them not me and the worry vanished.

The day dawned bright and sunny, and it was with a spring in my step that I set off for work, pulling out of the drive and nearly running over the single magpie that swooped across my path. Oh dear. As usual the day sped by and I rushed home to find the house empty and no tea on the table. Chris had forgotten to cook! Ian and I set too making hasty sandwiches as the turnaround time for a night match after work is only fifteen minutes, usually just time to gobble down the tea that is waiting for us. Chris arrived home with Vicky in tow, having collected her from the station, and we rushed out the door. We arrived at the library in time to see a police horse chasing down a group of fans, good fun, and joined the throng heading for the New York. We entered via turnstyle 10, remember that, and took our seats in front of the twitchers. No sign of old guy on the end, although I did remember him saying he was going to watch it from the pub. Can't beat the atmosphere in the slaughtered lamb. Although the atmosphere at the New York had to run it close. The place was hopping. 

Word was that Leeds Italian owner, Cellini, was not at the stadium due to his dislike of the number 17, what with today being the 17th. Also that their new manager, the delightfully named Slovenian Darko, had named their humongously expensive Brazilian Adryano in the team, but then dropped him to,the bench immediately before the match in favour of Italian Doukara on instruction from the owner. We had Ian's dream team of Derbyshire and Hall playing. Great. The teams emerged to very muted music, the tannoy had obviously been turned down for Sky. There was no sign of the Milerettes either, clearly Sky had decided that small children from Rotherham could not be viewed on national TV. We could hardly hear New York New York, but sang along anyway. Ian and Wooly were waving and gesticulating wildly to someone on the side. It turned out that John, a Man Utd fan brought up in Leeds but with a deep hatred of them, had got a ticket over there. He soon moved across to sit with us though. 

The match kicked off to a great roar, with the noise level being kept up throughout. We kept trying to hit it long to Revell, and let him find Derbyshire, only for him to fluff a shot or fall over. In fact the first half was very scrappy until a through ball found Italian Antanucci, the Red Sea parted like a slab of butter and he slotted home calmly past Colin. Arneson may have marked Robben and Van Persie out of the game but the Leeds attack were proving more difficult. 

The Millers upped their game after that and a superb Pringle cross found Revell, who headed goal ward only for their keeper to push it wide. 0-1 at half-time.

The second half saw a change, with the ineffective Hall off and Taylor replacing him. We immediately went at Leeds like a whirlwind, with the midfield pressing and harrying Leeds European softies and Revell causing all sorts of problems up front. The goal was coming, and it duly arrived in the 58th minute. A great run and shot by Frecklington was parried by their Italian keeper, but only into the path of a fired up Revell. There was only one place the ball was going to end up. 

Revell loves the TV cameras!

Steve decided he had seen enough (or not enough) of Matt Derbyshire and decided to replace him with young record signing Jonson Clark-Harris, much to Ian's delight. 'I'm not clapping him I'm clapping the change', he stated. What an inspired substitution that turned out to be. No more than two minutes later Revell challenged one of their Italians in midfield, he fell over and rolled about like he had been shot with a sniper (TV replays showed Revell never actually touched him) and the ball fell to Jonson. This time the Red Sea parted in our favour with no-one from Leeds bothering to put in a challenge and he surged forward and shot from just outside the area. The ball swerved all over the place deceiving the keeper and nestled in the corner of the net. Cue wild scenes as he sprinted for our corner flag and skidded across the turf on his knees. These seats are turning out to be not half bad.

He shoots....

He scores

He celebrates!

We ere on the verge of a famous victory, but Darko had seen enough and an Italian was replaced by the expensive Brazilian. 

Darko getting hot under the collar

He was certainly very tricksy and bought out a superb save from Adam Collin. He is certainly turning out to be a championship class keeper.

We have been guilty of sitting back when we take the lead, but spurred on by the crowd we defended stoutly. The referee showed four minutes of added time and we managed to keep the ball in our corner for three and a half of them. Leeds did manage to surge forward at the last, the referee giving them a hand as four minutes stretched to five. They won a corner and their Italian keeper went up, but it came to nothing and the final whistle blew. A great second half, and determination and will to win from the players had seen us victorious over a team that have been at the pinnacle of English football. Not only that, but we are now only four points off the play off places. Premier league here we come. 

Next up a home match against Fulham next Tuesday. Let's hope the tea is ready.

Men of the match

Ian - Revell (although tempted by Collin)

Jackie - Revell

Vicky -  Revell

Ian's award - playing on for a least double the amount of added time at the end.

Funniest moment - Ben Pringles WWF style assault on one of their players on the halfway line. 

Quote of the day - From a Leeds United Fans Forum

'our lot looked like a herd of sheep scattered by a wild dog in the second half.'

Question of the day

Jackie about a free kick on the edge of the area-'They are doing The Starfish'

Vicky- 'They are all stood offside'

Jackie-'you cannot be offside from The Starfish'

Can you?

England's green and pleasant land

Norwich City v Rotherham United, Carrow road, Saturday October 4th, Att 26114

After a great home win midweek, the Millers returned to action with another visit to East Anglia. As the hardy few headed for Norwich, we headed back to blighty in the company of Gary and friends as our trip North of the border came to an end. We had had another two rail journeys, one North to Wick, and the other East to Kyle of Lochalsh, both with spectacular scenery. We had also squeezed in a visit to the famous, Eilan Donan Castle, where the Highlander first met Sean Connery. 

Also notable was the fact that Blackpool had beaten Cardiff the night before to register their first win of the season and bring the pack below us a little closer. We may be up to the heady heights of 17th but could not afford to be complacent. 

We were required to rise at an ungodly hour as the coach was due to leave at 7.15 and Gary ordered us not to be late. It was a motley crew that gathered outside the poor mans restaurant waiting for them to open the doors for breakfast.

We rushed in at precisely 6.30, to be served expertly, as we had been all week, by our waiter Marius. 

Amazingly Donald, the assistant manager who seemed to be on call constantly and expected to do every job imaginable, was nowhere to be seen. Lazy Beggar! 

Just after seven we all trooped out to the bus to face Gary's heckling and were ready to leave at 7.10. Just shows what fear can do for you. For our whole week in the Highlands we had had amazing   weather, bright blue sunny skies and warm temperatures for the most part, but that changed this morning. Light rain as we boarded the bus turned into a deluge as we headed south, culminating in a delay on the Edinburgh bypass as one lane was closed due to flooding. We still arrived in Jedburgh with time to eat, Gary allowed us 45mins, and it was time our thoughts turned to football once again. On checking my App I found that Weds were beating Leeds 1-0, and United were losing 2-0 to Chezzie at half time, despite Chezzie having their keeper sent off. We re boarded the bus and recommenced the journey South, when disaster struck. As we crossed the border into England my phone lost all signal. No way to find out the score until we re entered range, and who knew when that would be. I took to thinking about the match and my expectations.  I was feeling pretty confident if truth be told, although the Canaries were top of the league. I hadn't seen a single Magpie all week, and the singer on Tuesday night (Ronnie Scott, a kilted crooner) had given a stirring rendition of Frank Sinatra's  'New York New York', complete with leg kicking. 

Charlton had also beaten them at Carrow Road during the week, and we all know that we had anialated Charlton. Away win then. 

My upbeat mood lasted until we found service again and I got a look at the team. Luciano was not allowed to play as Norwich is his parent club, so Steve had opted for Matt Derbyshire. He has not filled me with confidence this season so far, and, in the absense of Ryan Hall (has he left for Bury?) he is Ian's 'Lionel'. Maybe a draw then. Jeff told me a bit of good news via the SkySports App. Leeds had equalised and the final score vs Weds was 1-1. 

I settled back nervously to await the buzz in my pocket, checking the SkySports App every now and then, my phone battery was running low and I didn't want to waste it. We appeared to be holding our own. As I checked the App after about thirty minutes I noticed a booking for Ruddy, the Norwich keeper. Strange I thought. Back in my pocket went the phone but buzzed almost immediately. Norwich 0 Rotherham 1 (Green, Pen)!!!, it screamed. Ian and I did a muted wah, and high five. Long, long way to go. It seemed Ruddy fouled Derbyshire, but was only booked. A clear sending off, we thought, from a coach on the A1. Half Time, buzzed my pocket. Whew. 

I had to use my phone even more sparingly now as battery was critical. As I dozed I felt a slight vibration from my pocket area. One eye closed I pulled it out. Norwich 1 Rotherham 1 (Jerome, 77)!!!,

All my dreams of six wins on the bounce and a top three place at Christmas evaporated. Now we needed to hang on and the ref wasn't doing us any favours (clearly!). As the other results began coming in my phone lost connection again, but Ian managed to locate his app (when he opened it, it said Rotherham 0 Walsall 1, how long ago was that?). 90+3, corner to Rotherham, Jeff told us. Suddenly the dream was on. Before telling us what transpired the page turned red. Final score 1-1. We both heaved a huge sigh. Great point against the league leaders with the ref against us and Derbyshire up front. We are on a roll, shame we have yet another blooming international break!