Joseph sure Millers can follow route to top set by Tigers

Rotherham United defender Marc Joseph, if still on the bench, will have a variety of stories to swap with Bradford City manager Peter Taylor.

It is now eight years since Taylor paid just 40,000 to sign Joseph for Hull City and the club has risen from the depths of League Two to the elite of the Premier League. The banks of the Humber Estuary echo to the sound of success.

Moving to a new stadium was pivotal in Hull's rebirth. It not only helped bring back lost supporters but tempted better players to join the club.

How Joseph would love to see a similar story unfold in South Yorkshire.

After all, it is not that long ago that Rotherham and Hull were rivals in the same division and both have been through dark days.

The Millers are now on the same road that led Hull to the previously unimaginable, namely pushing for promotion and preparing for life in a new stadium.

At 33 and with his contract running out, Joseph is unsure about his future but that will not stop the Leicester-born player doing his best to stay.

"I am settled in this area and it would be nice to be part of another success story," he admitted.

"When things started rolling at Hull, it wasn't too long after the club had been the subject of a winding-up order – they have come from nothing to produce something really outstanding.

"I don't see any reason why this club can't be back in the Championship too in a few years' time. The chairman is planning a new stadium and the future is looking bright."

According to Joseph, the move to the stadium (scheduled to open in Rotherham at the start of the 2012-13 season) cannot come quickly enough.

The Millers looked nailed on for automatic promotion earlier this season but recent results have been inconsistent and the play-offs may now be the necessary route out of the division.

One of the biggest problems is the Don Valley pitch, battered by a U2 concert in the summer and by relentless frost in the winter. Gates below 3,000 leave the atmosphere, at times, soulless.

"When you have good things happening at a football stadium in the heart of the community, it gets a whole town buzzing again," said Joseph.

"It is very important for this club to get back to Rotherham as soon as it can and be a bigger part of a local community again."

Today's opponents Bradford, ironically, have a Premier League stadium and attract gates over 10,000 but their team has failed to deliver the goods.

Taylor's arrival last month followed the departure of local hero Stuart McCall, who had been unable to recreate his success as a player in management.

Joseph believes Taylor, who has also won promotion from this division with Gillingham and Brighton, will prove to be the ideal appointment.

"There are few better at getting teams out of this league and Bradford is a club that wants to go to places," he observed. "He knows how to get the best out of the players at his disposal and talks a lot of sense. His coaching ability is second to none and that is why he has been in charge of England sides."

During his four years under Taylor at Boothferry Park and the KC Stadium, Joseph enjoyed a healthy professional relationship with his manager but admits there was always one subject he never dared bring up in their conversations – Leicester City!

For Joseph was born in Leicester and grew up supporting the Foxes. Unfortunately, Taylor's 15-month spell in charge (2000-2001) was hardly the crowning moment of his career.

"Things didn't go right for Peter and he got a lot of stick from the club's supporters," Joseph recalls. "But it didn't matter who was in charge, I think that team was always going to struggle.

"When you move up to the Premier League or the Championship, there is a whole different outlook on the business. Results are all important and you don't really get the chance to build a team because you need results straight away.

"He got a raw deal and was dealt a bad hand – there were many players coming to the end of their careers – and it didn't work out for him. But, funnily enough, I never brought that up with him at Hull. I thought it best not to talk about it!"

Should Joseph get the opportunity today, he still will not bring it into the conversation for Taylor gave him far too many good memories to dwell on the bad.

"The success we had at Hull made it one of the most enjoyable times of my career," he said.

"It is testimony to the quality of the players we had there that we achieved our goals.

"Just look at those who have gone on to have good careers – Leon Cort, Boaz Myhill, Ian Ashbee, Matt Duke, Andy Dawson. It is nice that Hull have continued to do well and it is nice to know that you played a part along the way."

Whatever happens this season, Joseph can also say that he also played a part in something good with Rotherham.