Football League World
·4 July 2025
Exclusive: Don Goodman issues Rotherham United warning - they were one of 2024/25's "biggest disappointments"

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Yahoo sportsFootball League World
·4 July 2025
Matt Hamshaw's Millers have taken a new approach to recruitment this summer.
Rotherham United are looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2024-25 League One campaign and make their way back up the English footballing pyramid.
Their relegation to the third tier at the end of 2023-24 had been coming for some time.
They had plenty of days and weeks to prepare for the drop. They brought in Steve Evans to be their boss, recruited a lot of experienced players with success in the third tier, but things never clicked for the Millers.
Evans was sacked just before the end of March as United sat 16th in the table - a far cry from pre-season expectations around the club - and chairman Tony Stewart turned to a familiar face to steady the ship for the remainder of the season and beyond.
Matt Hamshaw, who led Rotherham after the Scottish boss was sacked, is now permanently in charge of the first-team and has tried to make some moves to give his side the best chance possible of climbing up the table.
Most recently, they agreed a fee and personal terms to sign Fleetwood Town defender Brendan Wiredu, according to the Rotherham Advertiser, only for Plymouth Argyle to come in with a higher offer.
Still, they have made a couple of potentially smart signings in Ted Cann and Kian Spence. Building on what they have done already in the transfer market will decide whether or not they can challenge to get back up to the Championship next term, according to Don Goodman.
"I think I've said a few times before that Rotherham were one of my biggest disappointments in the EFL last season," the Sky Sports pundit exclusively told Football League World.
"I did think at the start of last season, with Steve Evans in charge and the recruitment that they did, very experienced lads like Jordan Hugill, Jonson Clarke-Harris, Sam Nombe up front. They brought in the likes of Liam Kelly, Reece James. It looked a real good squad and won more than capable of challenging last season.
"[Their chances of promotion next season] depends on the transfer business this summer, the ins and the outs.
"But they're going to be up against it because I've said, again, on record before I see League One as a stronger version in this upcoming season than I did last season, when I thought it was a relatively weak league.
"So, they're going to have it all on because there's some big clubs with excellent squads that they're up against."
The Millers are clearly taking a different approach this window by trying to sign players who are on their way up the mountain rather than those who are descending it.
Their squad's average age last season was 27.8 - the fourth-highest in the division, according to FBRef, and they're certainly right to look at things in a new way, given how much of a disappointment last season was.
Hopefully, Rotherham's additions will blend well with the experience that they already have to make a team that can rise up the table and push for one of the top six spots.