Stevenage v Rotherham United: Steel City duo provide timely warning for Matt Hamshaw's Millers
HE MAY have been promoted from football's third tier on five separate occasions, but Matt Hamshaw knows full well that success is hardly a case of flicking on a switch.
In the League One promotion stakes, the Rotherham United manager's CV is an eye-catching one, for sure.
He was first-team coach during the Millers’ trio of promotions under Paul Warne in 2017-18, 2019-20 and again in 2021-22 - and also by his side when Derby County made their return to the second tier in 2023-24.
Just shy of a few decades before that, he was also part of a Sheffield Wednesday side who tasted play-off glory at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
One of the most down-to-earth individuals you can get, Hamshaw will also recall the season before that in 2003-04, when Wednesday - in their first campaign back at third level in 23 years - were in a mess. They finished in 16th place.
It was also no doddle for the Owls in their two-season stint there relatively recently either.
Across the Steel City, it took a big personality with will, drive and energy to effectively rip things up and start again in the shape of Chris Wilder to ensure that Sheffield United finally escaped their six-season purgatory in League One in 2016-17.
It was no picnic before then.
At a bit of a crossroads in their modern-day history, the Millers - under the sole guidance of Hamshaw these days - are not just assigned with taking care of the now, but also building something in the medium to longer-term after losing their way as a club in recent years. The 'reset' process will take time and won’t be pain-free.
Hamshaw, whose side visit a Stevenage outfit managed by ex-Millers favourite Alex Revell, said: "We must have a strategy.
"We've seen clubs not too far up the road from here in Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday find it difficult to get out of this division because they didn't really have a plan for how to get promoted.
"When we were here last time, there was a clear strategy. We know what a Rotherham team looked like. I'm trying to get back to that.
"It can take years, I hate to say it. Without speaking out of turn, I think the club has been in a bit of a bad position these last three years.
"I don't think I'm the first person to say that. I'm trying to focus on today and moving forward, but it's going to take a lot of time."
Hamshaw's words are eminently sensible and well-placed.
Last weekend's opening-day win over Port Vale was a morale-boosting lift, given what preceded it for much of a joyless and sterile 2024-25.
With a new-look squad containing several rookies at this level and a fair bit of youth, there will be bumps down the road, certainly in the first half of the campaign.
Hamshaw, whose side hit the road next week for league and cup assignments at Cardiff and Salford, added: "It's a young group, a new group. "I said the season is going to be a roller-coaster and we got all of that in the first 90 minutes. "We're going to get it for the first two to three months, even up to Christmas, I hate to say."