EVANS HAS A LOT TO SHOUT ABOUT

WITH March comes the real nitty-gritty of the season, the time when you know who the real promotion contenders are.

And with that in mind, I’d like to congratulate Steve Evans at Rotherham. What a fantastic job he’s done.

Steve’s not everyone’s cup of tea. He can be outspoken and controversial, and he’s got on the wrong side of plenty in his time. He does love ruffling feathers. But personally, I’ve always got on well with him.

And in fairness, he’s gone about his job with a minimum of fuss this year.

Promoted just last year, the Millers are fifth in League One and have spent almost the entire season in the top six.

It just shows you what can happen at a stable, well-run club with a chairman who backs his manager. Tony Stewart has put £30m into the club since he took over in 2008 and he’s really supported Steve this last 18 months.

But Steve has repaid that backing by buying good players, putting out a great side and staying put when he’s been linked with other jobs.

That’s a good lesson for any chairman – show loyalty to your manager during the tough times and you’ll get it back during the good.

Hopefully they’ll both get their reward by taking Rotherham into the Championship for next season.

As things stand, it’ll be Peterborough, Preston and one of Orient, Wolves or Brentford joining them in the play-offs.

That makes Rotherham very much the underdogs but I wouldn’t put it past them. Steve is letting his team do the talking and they’re making a great noise for him.