FIFA laws mean Le Fondre is staying with Rotherham United

HOTSHOT Adam Le Fondre will not be leaving Rotherham United just yet – thanks to 18 minutes of football in the opening game of the season.

The Millers striker, who is rated in the 2m bracket by manager Ronnie Moore, made his final appearance for former club Rochdale as a late substitute against Port Vale on August 8.

Under FIFA rules, no player is allowed to represent more than two clubs in any one season which means Le Fondre can go nowhere until the summer.

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The news was a massive relief for Moore amid growing interest from Championship clubs in his 17-goal striker yet the Millers manager believes that, even without the restriction, Le Fondre would have stayed at the Don Valley Stadium.

For Moore, who returned for his second spell as Millers manager four months ago, says chairman Tony Stewart is simply too ambitious to let players leave on the cheap.

"If I was working for any other chairman, I might have been panicking," Moore told the Yorkshire Post. "But Tony Stewart has put this club in a position where it no longer needs to sell its better players. We have a great relationship and I have his full support. We both want to take this club back where it belongs.

"But it is not as if 'Alfie' is knocking on the door asking to leave," he stressed. "The best thing he can do right now is just keep on doing what he is doing. He is destined for big things and if someone comes in with a silly offer at some stage we would have to listen.

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"But I had Barry Fry on the phone from Peterborough United a while back and I just told him to stop wasting time. They don't have enough money. We won't be selling Alfie for 200,000, I can assure you of that."

During his previous stint with the Millers (1997-2005), Moore had to sell players including Mark Robins, Alan Lee, Mike Pollitt and Chris Sedgwick to balance the books.

The Millers are now virtually debt free and one of the biggest spenders in League Two but the absence of their own stadium and training ground is still a major problem.

With no undersoil heating at the Don Valley, the Millers are facing the possibility of a fifth consecutive postponement this weekend which could hinder the club's promotion push in coming months.

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"I will be amazed if our game against (second-placed) Bournemouth survives," Moore admitted. "Our pitch is frozen solid. It is an absolute nightmare and I have never known anything like it before in my life.

"To make matters worse, we don't have anywhere to train indoors so the lads are mainly swimming and cycling. We were told we could use Sheffield United's indoor pitch but then we couldn't get up there because of the snow on the roads.

"Who knows how it is going to affect us later on in the season?" he said. "I would imagine some of the players will be breathing out of their backsides when we eventually do get back on the field. Fitness and match fitness are two different things. We also have Nick Fenton trying to serve a two-game ban but they might just be giving the Easter eggs out by the time that happens!

"We are in a wonderful position if we can win our games in hand – but we are going to have to play two or three games a week until early March which may take its toll."

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Moore has maintained the club's position, third in the League Two table, since returning as manager and has chalked up six wins and seven draws from his first 16 league games. Victories in the three existing games in hand, however, would lift the Millers into second spot.

"There have been very few bad performances," he reflected. "One or two individual mistakes have cost us but, as a team and a squad, I couldn't have asked for a better reaction.

"I still want to stamp my authority on the team," he added. "At the moment it is still very much a side built by Mark Robins but some players are going to be leaving in the transfer window. We have 24 pros and I think too many of them are alike."

The Millers' home game against fourth-placed Shrewsbury Town has been brought forward 24 hours to Monday, February 22 for live television coverage on Sky Sports.

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That has subsequently resulted in the club's home game against Torquay United also being brought forward from Saturday to Friday, February 19 (7.45).

The away game at Rochdale, which was postponed last weekend, will now go ahead on Tuesday March 2 (7.45).