Rotherham United will feature Lee Clark in the dugout this weekend, a man whose last job in English football saw him leave Blyth Spartans with just six wins in 32 matches.
That means nothing, and as the Millers face a battle to stay in League One, Clark is relishing the challenge of being back in the dugout. What better way to start than by visiting the league leaders, 15 points clear of second, en route to (hopefully) Championship football?
“What a way to start,” he said in his first press conference as Rotherham boss. “We’ve got the inform team in the division. I think it’s 21 games unbeaten. And you know, that deservedly top of the table, but football’s full of surprises.”
Indeed, football is full of surprises, and with Rotherham one of the few teams to beat the Imps this season, they’ll be hoping to take a big step towards safety with a shock win.
It’s been more than quarter of a century since City beat Rotherham at the Bank in the league, almost half a century since we beat them to nil, and 15 years since a player owned by the Imps scored against the Millers in EFL action (loan players Steven Lennon and Lewis Fiorini the only players to net agains them in the league since Jamie Forrester in 2008).
History is on their side, form is on our side, and the latter makes this a tougher game for them than history makes it for us.
“I’m looking to Saturday, and that’s the only thing I’m looking at,” added Clark, whose last game in a dugout in England ended in a 2-1 victory against Pontefract Collieries.
“We’re going there to play a very tough opponent, a deserved leader of the division, but we’re going there to win. We’re going to set the team up to win the game.
“We’ve got to stop the goals going in at one end and start scoring more at the other. They’re two big things in football. As I said, the first impression today is lots of belief in the players. I have lots of belief in the players.
“They had a little bit of a spring in that step, whether that’s with new managers, but the proof’s in the pudding.”
Once the big test is out of the way, the current favourites for the title, the Millers’ boss is then focused on the run-in. Easter weekend sees them play Port Vale and Stevenage, before crucial fixtures against Orient and Wigan, which could go some way to assuring survival.
“After Saturday gives me a bit of time to then start learning about the characteristics of the players,” he finished. “Obviously the last 24 hours have been like a whirlwind since I’ve had the communication and the meeting to then, being announced as the manager and then meeting staff, players, getting everything planned.
“Yeah, looking forward to it. I’m excited to be back in it.”
Whether he’ll have that sentiment at 5 pm tomorrow is another question entirely.
You must be logged in to post a comment.