WARNE: OUR RACE IS RUN
Rotherham boss will take time to decide his future as players fail to last the pace
88 ROTHERHAM Wing 8 1 1
PAUL WARNE will not go sprinting towards another season as Rotherham boss after an agonising marathon run.
If only his players were as sharp as Warne’s metaphors then they would still be in the Championship.
Instead, they missed half a dozen chances to make it 2-0, which would have kept them up and sent Derby down
After conceding an equaliser two minutes from the end, Warne said: “It’s like running a marathon and getting to the 25th mile, only to have someone say, ‘The medals are gone, and they’ve shut up all the drink stations because you’re too slow and you can’t finish it’.
“It felt like we’d done 25 miles of pure hell. It felt like we were going up The Mall towards the finish and I don’t think we could have eclipsed that feeling had we got there.
“It would have been the highlight of my career and I could have walked off into the sunset after that. I just wish the lads could have experienced something like that, but we were told to step aside at the bottom of The Mall.”
In this case it was Cardiff ’s Marlon Pack who was the jobsworth race official – just tending to his own business, which included scoring in the 88th minute.
As the numbness settles and the regrets are let go, Warne will take his time deciding whether or not to take charge of the Championship’s ultimate yo-yo club.
He has the backing of the Millers’ throwback local chairman Tony Stewart – who stood in his camel overcoat applauding at the end – but needs some reflection.
“I just feel like I need to turn my phone off for a few days and leave my coaches and players alone,” added Warne.
“I need to try and reset and be able to create another team and culture that can compete, and that the Rotherham fans are proud to watch.”
If Warne does go then Rotherham will be a less colourful club, much the poorer when it comes to memorable one-liners that reflect his passion for the team he served with distinction as a player.
Who else could have expressed disappointment for his players (above) with a line as good as, “They deserved to be cemented into the Gods of Rotherham United”?
Lewis Wing had given them belief with a brilliant opener, but as they slumped there was some joy to be found for Cardiff at the final whistle.
Sol Bamba was hugged by his Cardiff teammates for a oneminute appearance off the bench just weeks after his latest course of chemotherapy.
Cardiff boss Mick McCarthy said: “He has been such a big part of the club and everybody loves him.”
CARDIFF: Phillips 6, Pack 6, Flint 5, Nelson 5, Ng 5, Bacuna 4 (Williams 59, 5), Ralls 5, Brown 6, Wilson 6 (Ojo 77, 5), Colwill 5 (Harris 46, 6), Moore 6 (Murphy 59, 5 (Bamba 90)
ROTHERHAM: Blackman 7, Ihiekwe 7 (Ladapo 90), A. MacDonald 7, Wood 9, Harding 8, Jozefzoon 7 (Lindsay 61, 7), Wiles 8 (Mattock 87), Wing 8 (Ogbene 90), Giles 7, Crooks 7, Smith 8
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