Belief returns as Millers look to build on win
FOR PAUL Warne, Rotherham United’s much-needed away victory at Portsmouth was pressurerelieving as opposed to historic.
The Millers chief presided over the club’s first league win on the road in 512 days on Sunday, with their last success coming almost 17 months earlier in a 1-0 triumph at MK Dons on April 9, 2016.
Warne justifiably basked in the glow of the club’s fine triumph in front of the TV cameras at Fratton Park on Sunday afternoon, before admitting to a sense of relief after his side avoided a fourth successive defeat in all competitions.
It represented Rotherham’s first victory at Pompey since way back in March 1963, with the win given extra piquancy by the fact that ex-Millers boss Kenny Jackett, who abruptly left the club after an ill-fated 39-day spell in charge last autumn, was in the home dug-out.
Warne, appointed as the Millers’ permanent manager on a rolling one-year contract in April, acknowledged: “I could feel pressure mounting on me.
“I had lost back-to-back (league) games and I did not want to come to Portsmouth and lose away from home.
“I thought the lads performed really well. There were a lot of changes. Overall, I thought we deserved to win.
“I have not been in management long, but I know that if you keep losing, you do not keep your job for long.
“You do not have to be a rocket scientist for that.
“I am not saying my job was under threat but for me, personally, it is not enjoyable if you lose every week.”
Warne admits that Sunday’s heartening victory on the south coast will also provide a transfusion of belief and confidence to his players after consecutive league losses to Charlton and Peterborough United.
It has certainly arrived at the perfect juncture ahead of home games with Bury and Walsall which provide an opportunity to garner some momentum after a mixed start to the new season.
Warne, who led the club to their first away league success in 28 attempts, said: “I do not want the lads to lose faith in what we are trying to do. I think we have done everything right.
“I think we have prepared the lads perfectly for every game. I have got no regrets. But, unfortunately, we did not have the results and it is a results business.”