Evans future on ice as Millers pursue top two

TONY STEWART has confirmed that Rotherham United plan to discuss a new contract with Steve Evans in the summer – with the go-ahead League One club fully focused on the business of promotion between now and May.
Kieran Agard scores from the penalty spot against Brentford.Kieran Agard scores from the penalty spot against Brentford.
Kieran Agard scores from the penalty spot against Brentford.

The Scot, who celebrates his second anniversary as Millers chief in a fortnight, has just over a season left on his current deal and is striving to crown his impressive tenure at the New York Stadium with a second successive promotion.

Millers supporters are growing more bullish about their hopes of making a return to the Championship with every passing result, with two having just arrived in quick succession with an excellent 1-0 victory at Peterborough followed by an outstanding 3-0 win over Brentford on Tuesday.

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The latter was arguably the most complete performance of Evans’s reign against high-flying rivals who hadn’t been beaten on their league travels since October 12 and with a record of one defeat in their previous 25 league games.

A fine 14-match unbeaten run stretching back to New Year’s Day has added to the sense of well-being under Evans, whose partnership with Stewart is yielding dividends at the club, both on the pitch and off it.

On Evans and his future, Stewart said: “We talk every day. The talks are moving forward and I know we will sit down and talk in the summer and plan ahead.

“The manager and myself have got a very good understanding. He is doing a job to take us to the next step and so on.

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“As a manager and chairman, we are partners. We work and plan together and have no secrets, it’s an open book. I want what he wants and we have never fallen out and over 18 months, we’ve had many, many meetings and his ambitions match mine.

“I use my business skills and Steve uses his football knowledge along with his team of people around him.

“The team is managed well and Steve as the leader is getting the best out of people.”

Since its opening in July 2012, the New York Stadium has already staged a number of memorable games from its opener against Burton that August to the promotion-clincher against Aldershot last May.

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Sweet victories over Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday will also be remembered by Millers fans in years to come, as well as Tuesday’s consummate success over Brentford, which has led to many supporters to openly contemplate the prospect of the club even breaking into the top two of League One, with play-off participation looking assured.

On the Brentford game’s place in the annals of NYS’s history, Stewart added: “It has got to be up there, with there being so much at stake with nine games to go and given where they (Brentford) are.

“Dare I say we mastered and controlled the game and could have scored four or five goals.

“I have to say they were magnanimous in their defeat. Not only their chairman, but the owner of their club came to see us and congratulated us. It was a first-class evening and a model game for us.”

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And on the prospect of a tilt at second, Stewart, whose fourth-placed side are seven points behind Brentford, who have a game in hand, added: “If we do it, it will be a miracle, but we have had them before at Rotherham. Last season, we had the last five games (to win) and did it.

“I have no doubt it will be 93 or even 95 points to get that second place. That’s a lot of wins.

“We will hopefully cement ourselves in the play-offs and maybe even get that opportunity to get near the one and two. You never know.”

Top-scorer Kieran Agard saw his name in lights in hitting a brace on Tuesday, which took his tally to 20 for the campaign – and while Evans was delighted with his display and those of many others, neither is he wholly satisfied – insisting there is more to come.

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On Agard, Evans said: “Kieran works as hard on a football field as possibly any player can.

“I think we were the only people in the market to sign him. I said to Paul (Raynor) that I had watched him come out of Everton a couple of years before and tried to take him on a couple of occasions and I just had a gut feeling about him.

“I thought he gave the Brentford back (central) two a right turning over with his movement, running and pace. He should have been going away with the match ball, but that’s his standards.

“Brentford was an all-round good performance, but I still feel we can get better.

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“We are not finished yet. We still think there’s a lot of improving from the team we have got.

“It’s a long way to where we want to be, but we are still not there yet.

“We cannot think about the top two or the play-offs as there’s teams around the play-offs who won on Tuesday.

“All we can do is keep trying to win football matches. People forget what an achievement it might be to make the play-offs.

“We have to keep focused. If we win a couple more matches, it might just make the top two or three get a little bit nervous.”