Bolton Wanderers v Rotherham United: Paul Warne not shying away from promotion talk

being PROMOTED once with a club is a moment to savour.
Rotherham United manager Paul Warne
 (Picture: Tony Johnson)Rotherham United manager Paul Warne
 (Picture: Tony Johnson)
Rotherham United manager Paul Warne (Picture: Tony Johnson)

Doing it on three separate occasions is something special.

A select band of Rotherham United players would achieve that laudable feat if the Millers are celebrating a hat-trick of instant promotions straight back to the Championship next May.

Manager Paul Warne is acutely aware of that fact and mentioning the topic is not ‘the elephant in the room’ that you might imagine.

Millers manager Paul Warne. 
(Picture: Tony Johnson)Millers manager Paul Warne. 
(Picture: Tony Johnson)
Millers manager Paul Warne. (Picture: Tony Johnson)
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He said: “We are a hell of a way off that, but we do talk about it.

“It is not like the ‘elephant in the room’ and we talk about it all the time. I want them to enjoy a great season and be promoted. There’s no ifs or buts about it.

“Whether we’ll be good enough to achieve that, I don’t know. But if our level of performances of the first few games, minus Fleetwood, is anything to go by, we should give ourselves an opportunity. If we could get promotion, it would be something else.

“I don’t want to get to the end of season with any regrets. No-one wants regret in their life, do they?

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“I said to the lads this week that we got relegated last year by two points, which is hugely disappointing. I will be hugely disappointed if the two points we dropped at Lincoln stopped us from getting promoted.

“I don’t know if I am going to the manager in six months’ time, a year’s time or a day’s time, but I have just got to enjoy the ride and get as many great performances out of them as I can and the one the other night gave us great hope going into the dark, long winter.”

Victory this afternoon would see the Millers move above in-form Bolton, who currently occupy third place in the current League One standings on goal difference and while Warne has stressed that looking at the table after around ten games is a true barometer of form, it will not stop him from having a peek.

He added: “I start on day one, I don’t lie. But I do think it takes a realistic view after ten or 11 games. You look at it and think: ‘I don’t want Sunderland to go any way further than us or Wycombe.’

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“I said to the lads the other night: ‘If we win, we could go joint third.’ It is important to be in it, but I honestly think it’s after about ten games. It is roughly a good barometer and you know where you stand.”

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