Rotherham United v Birmingham City: Poor relations have to find a way of cashing in

Rotherham United v Birmingham City There is an art to being in the right place at the right time, and on Monday at St Andrew's, it deserted Steve Evans. His Rotherham United team seem to have it, which makes their dismal goal record this season all the more frustrating.

The Millers welcome Birmingham City on Saturday having out-performed their much-vaunted, very expensively-assembled visitors on a number of important metrics, just not the most important ones.

Because whilst Rotherham are League One’s best at creating chances, they have scored fewer than a goal a game this season (five from six), whereas the Blues have more than two per match (11 from five). It explains why from one fewer game, Birmingham already have more than twice as many points.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It shows Rotherham have made important progress since being relegated from the Championship, but not nearly as much as the team who went down with them.

"As a manager, you have nightmares if you're losing games and you're not making chances and getting in the final third," says Evans.

"Rotherham last season didn't score goals. Why? Because they never got over the halfway line.

"If you look at this season, the number one team for attempts on goal is us, the number one team for attempts on target is us, even though we're one of the lowest scorers.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"That tells you that there's an area of the team that we need to have a substantial improvement in.

ISSUES: Manager Steve Evans needs to get Rotherham United turning chances into goalsISSUES: Manager Steve Evans needs to get Rotherham United turning chances into goals
ISSUES: Manager Steve Evans needs to get Rotherham United turning chances into goals

"Sometimes teams go through phases where they just don't get that little break in front of goal. That seems to be happening to us.

"There have been some bad misses in there, there has also been some good defending. I've had teams do this before – probably not to this degree – and we've found a way to turn it around."

Goalscorers are usually the most expensive part of teams, so it helps if you have £20m to chuck at the problem like Birmingham.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

As minority shareholder and NFL legend Tom Brady watched the most expensive striker in the history of third-tier football – Jay Stansfield – play against Hollywood-owned Wrexham alongside his celebrity friend David Beckham, it was hard for Evans not to feel the poor relation.

A-LISTERS: NFL legend and Birmingham City shareholder Tom Brady (left) with David Beckham for his side's game at home to WrexhamA-LISTERS: NFL legend and Birmingham City shareholder Tom Brady (left) with David Beckham for his side's game at home to Wrexham
A-LISTERS: NFL legend and Birmingham City shareholder Tom Brady (left) with David Beckham for his side's game at home to Wrexham

"I went to the game," says Evans. "The only disappointing thing I found on the evening was that they didn't put me next to Becks! I'm thinking: 'Why am I sitting 14 rows away?'"

Having money and glamour are only part of the equation. Unfortunately for the rest, Birmingham seem to be using it wisely.

"Birmingham were outstanding," adds the Scot. "I've always thought that the best League One team I have seen was the Rotherham side that got promoted to the Championship when I was in charge (in 2013-14).

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"I drove out of St Andrew's on Monday night and I said to myself: 'That Birmingham team is as good as I've seen.' They work incredibly hard, they've got a huge desire.

"It's like a huge oil tanker with that fanbase behind them

"Everything about Birmingham City is good. We want to make it not so good on Saturday.

"This is a really tough test coming on the back of games we should have won."

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.

News you can trust since 1754
Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice