What can Everton expect from Rotherham United today?

Marco Silva will have mixed memories of the League Cup competition, after playing in the semifinals of the 2016-17 version with Hull City before getting dumped out by lower league Bristol City in the second round last season with Watford FC.

However, this competition does present Everton their best chance of winning the one domestic trophy that has eluded us in our storied history. There have been some rule changes this season that’ll make the tournament more interesting, click here to get up to date.

In today’s second round clash we take on Rotherham United, and the Millers are no new faces on the block, with the club having been around since 1925. RBM had a chat with a couple of Millers fans about their team, how they their season going and what we can expect from their team today.

Our thanks to Ash and Jenson for speaking with us.

RBM - Congratulations on winning promotion last season, was that a target for the club throughout the year? How has life back in the Championship been so far?

A - Promotion - well we were too bad for the championship the season before, and way to gooď for League One, so we’re gonna be a bit of a yo-yo club at the moment.
The championship is a great league to be in but to be totally honest we’ve not really played a good team up to present except Brentford. Ipswich Town are poor, Hull City poor and Millwall FC extremely poor.

J - Once Paul Warne was appointed and we were eventually relegated in 16/17 he was aiming for at least the top 10. However the club were confident on being promotion contenders with a strong budget in the top 4 in League One.
So far, life back in the Championship has been a bit of a rollercoaster already! The 5-1 thrashing at Brentford’s Griffin Park brought back flashbacks to Millers fans from 16/17 when that happened at the likes of Cardiff City and Queens Park Rangers away, but we’ve picked up vital points at home and taken the chances when needed.

RBM - Alan Stubbs is a popular Evertonian, but is tenure at Rotherham only lasted a few months. What went wrong for him at the Millers?

A - Please don’t get us started on Alum Stubbs...totally ripped the spirit and ripped the heart out of our club.. terrible man manager and never integrated with the fans at all..over 4000 we took to Barnsley and got hammered and never even thanked the travelling fans was near enough the end for him imho.

J - When Alan Stubbs was appointed manager in his press conference he said he would aim for the championship play offs. It seemed while the transfer window progressed that we were signing players that were “panic” signings.
The players he brought in had no quality and passion, they just seemed they wanted to be here for the money and nothing else. Stubbs always seemed to use the same old excuse, defeat after defeat.
For us at Rotherham Stubbs brought no ambition and didn’t have any personality in the changing room. Worse, he didn’t appreciate the fans travelling to the away games, when that season we only picked up 2 points away from home.

RBM - What are the expectations for Paul Warne this season? Warne seems a fascinating character, how have players fans taken to him? (Click here for more on the Millers manager)

A - Warney is a true gentleman, and a great ambassador for the club. He appreciates the support the club gets and not one Rotherham fan has a bad word to say about him.

J - Expectations for Warne are to finish comfortably above the relegation zone around 17th / 18th, he always get the squad to perform to their best even if we’re losing by a big margin.
The players have taken to him really well, some even say he’s the best gaffer they’ve worked with. Hes very passionate and also has a humour and in the changing room he’s created a group that can get on with each other and no one is the odd one out.

RBM - How will Rotherham line up today? Any particular tactics Warne will roll out?

A - Well over 2,000 tickets sold for the game and can see a few changes being made. We don’t sit back, and we’re very very good from set pieces. Everyone underestimates the little club, it gets a bit embarrassing sometimes, listening to clubs like Ipswich and Millwall saying they should beat clubs like Rotherham.

J - The line up for me would be a 4-1-4-1 which is what we used against our last game against Millwall at home which sealed us a win. Warne will probabaly give other players that haven’t featured a chance and rest a few of our key players.
Warne likes attacking football. Usually he sets up to be a threat in attack and it’s worked in our past couple of games. We’ve scored most of our goals from set pieces this season so I’d say that’s a strength for us.

RBM - Who are the best players on the Millers?

A - Midfielder/defender Semi Ajayi has just been called up to the Nigeria squad and striker Jamie Proctor is on his way back from a bad injury, having missed all last season.

J - Best players for me would be Will Vaulks, Kyle Vassell, Richard Wood, Ryan Williams and Semi Ajayi who’s beginning to perform really well.

Our thanks again to Ash & Jenson for speaking with us, and here’s wishing them all the best in their season, just not today!