War-weary Rotherham United come armed with paper swords: Final word on Millers' Championship loss to Stoke City

Occasionally, a sense of war-weariness seeps in. As was the case of Saturday.

An honest group gave their all for sure and got in the face of their opponents, as they do, particularly for a spell in the first half.

They soldered on, but in terms of attacking aggression, they were armed with the equivalent of paper swords.

Those in red and white lacked the cunning, conviction and sharpness to bother Stoke. The visitors weren’t brilliant, but did not have to be and their wait for a first win at the NYS was finally over.

In terms of wit, it was a tired showing from Rotherham. Aimless crosses were underhit, overhit and passes were telegraphed. The quality count was low.

The statistics don’t lie. The hosts failed to muster a single effort on target and their seasonal tally of 59 is the worst in the division by a country mile.

By way of comparison, the two other teams currently in the drop zone in QPR and Sheffield Wednesday have registered 81 and 85 respectively.

Stoke, whose tally of 82 is pretty modest in terms of the Championship, managed just three at the weekend. It was more than enough. One was a beauty.

It came from the boot of Lewis Baker, whose penchant at set-pieces was displayed in stunning fashion. It usually takes something decent to beat Viktor Johansson, Rotherham’s one class player and Baker’s free-kick, seconds before half-time, was a scorcher.

Special and it stuck out amid the January morass.

From Rotherham’s perspective, it highlighted the need - not that it was really needed - for some additions in the final third.

Since arriving last month, Leam Richardson has made the Millers harder to beat and reinforced their organisation and resolve, qualities that have traditionally served them well at this level.

Re-establishing those foundations was a sensible, pragmatic strategy; now comes the hard part - taking the game to opponents in an attacking sense.

At the minute, Rotherham look a team capable of nicking wins alone, but not producing front foot wins.

Here comes the rub. To boost creative and attacking departments in January usually takes a fair bit of money.

It’s money Rotherham don’t really have and they must wait for others to finalise their transfer plans before hoping the dominoes somehow drop for them.

Stoke came into the game in the same vicinity of the table as Rotherham, loosely speaking.

One cursory glance at the substitutes’ bench showed why they are in a different stratosphere in truth.

The names leapt out from the teamsheet. Campbell, Gayle, Pearson, Johnson; players that Richardson would ‘die’ for, but way out of his reach.

Most weeks, the Millers chief must feel that way inwardly when he inspects what he is up against.

New managers come in and speak about identity, culture and personality and similar buzzwords.

Richardson and Stoke counterpart Steven Schumacher, who both came to their respective clubs last month, are no different.

Schumacher does that from a position of rather more strength. Building those values ultimately comes from quality.

Baker certainly displayed that with a sublime free-kick, albeit awarded after what seemed to be a soft-looking challenge from former Stoke man Sam Clucas on Jordan Thompson.

Clucas, given the bird from Potters fans, had earlier fired wide with comfortably the hosts best chance of a forgettable, guileless afternoon.

The free-kick decision from Keith Stroud, on his 600th game as a referee in the EFL may have been charitable, but there was nothing doubtful about the strike or merit of Stoke’s win.

At least, Rotherham have seen the back of Stoke for another season, possibly longer. They have conceded 11 goals in three matches against the Potters in 2023-24. Not quite a baker’s dozen, but not far off.

Rotherham United: Johansson; Peltier (Appiah 73), Odoffin, Morrison, Revan, Bramall; Rathbone (Cafu 64), Tiehi, Clucas (Lindsay 73); Nombe (Kelly 83), Hugill (Eaves 64). Unused substitutes: Phillips, Bola, McGuckin.

Stoke City: Iversen, Hoever, McNally, Rose; Thompson; Burger, Cundle (Pearson 90), Baker; Vidigal, Mmaee (Campbell 80), Haksabanovic (Leris 65). Unused substitutes: Bonham, Gayle, Johnson, Wilmot, Wesley, Lowe.

Referee: K Stroud (Wilts).