Rotherham United end long wait for new manager with Alex Bruce appointment
Rotherham United's long wait for a new head coach has come to an end with the appointment of Alex Bruce.
The Millers have been without a manager since they decided not to extend Lee Clark's short-term contract at the end of last season, which ended in relegation to League Two.
Approaches to Ian Burchnall and Mat Sadler failed to land their targets, so they have instead handed former Leeds United, Hull City, Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield Town only his second managerial job, though he has backroom experience on top of that.
It makes sense, though, for the 41-year-old to have an old head alongside him in dugout in addition to Steve McClaren as his "head of football" - director of football effectively – and he is set to be joined by former Middlesbrough, Leeds and Hull coach Steve Agnew, who assisted Bruce's father Steve during his managerial career.
A defender as Steve was, Bruce Junior made over 300 professional appearances and won two caps for Northern Ireland after representing the Republic at youth level.
He started his coaching career working for his dad at West Bromwich Albion in February 2022, but the coaching staff was sacked eight month later.
His first managerial role was at Macclesfield, the last club he played for, but after four months at Moss Rose, he left to join the backroom at League Two Salford City in February 2024.
He left last week following the sacking of manager Karl Robinson.
His job now is to revitalise a Rotherham team who have been on a downward spiral for the last three seasons