Paul Warne says Rotherham United's 'warriors' deserved a derby-day fanfare

Paul Warne felt his Rotherham United “warriors” were cheated by the lack of fans as they beat Sheffield Wednesday on a “surreal” night at the New York Stadium.
VICTORY: Rotherham United manager Paul WarneVICTORY: Rotherham United manager Paul Warne
VICTORY: Rotherham United manager Paul Warne

Warne and his team recorded the club's biggest victory over their neighbours, leaving the manager joking that a statue for them was overdue.

But his mood was slightly tarnished by the fact that the Millers supporters were only able to enjoy the 3-0 win from home when his players deserved to share it with them.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"It feels like a win but it doesn't as well, if you know what I mean," he said. "With a crowd, the lads would have a real connection with the fans when they left the pitch and would have sort of felt like heroes

"I asked them to play like warriors and give everything for the whole game. When the final whistle goes, there are only about six people clapping. In that respect, it's quite sad.

"I hope in these desperate times that we've given the fans who were watching at home a bit of sunshine.

“If they haven't started the statue then it's going beyond a joke. I want a big collective statue with all the players me maybe a little bit bigger – I've written a letter, I've spoken to the chairman!”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A game which was suspended for 11-and-a-half first-half minutes as an unidentified drone flew over the ground fell into place for Rotherham, who scored within a minute of the restart through Jamie Lindsay. Warne had tried to lighten the mood during the suspension by joking about his team's clean sheet in the first five minutes.

Once Tom Lees was sent off after 39 minutes with Dan Barlaser converting the penalty there seemed little prospect of the Millers not winning, and even less so when Lindsay scored a second before half-time.

But Warne, who had seen his side play well at home without winning there this season, thought they had played better in defeat at Reading on the weekend.

“I thought we played better on Saturday and we lost 3-0,” he said.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It was just a surreal night. It's sad that the fans couldn't be here.

“I thought we started quite well and the way we play we're high-press, high energy and it's high risk because if they break the press they have very good players. (Barry) Bannan was causing us problems, switching the play and getting crosses in the box.

“For Jamie to get the goal, his job was to man-mark Bannan, so from him to leave him, get in the box and score a looping header was good.

“Before the game I spoke to the lads about the harder you work, the more luck you get. For Flo (Jozefzoon) to come off the right wing, chase a lost cause and win the penalty and the player get sent off... it was not the end of the game, but we were in the ascendancy.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today. Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you'll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers. Click HERE to subscribe.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.