How Matt Hamshaw feels over potential Rotherham United sack | OneFootball

The Millers continue to struggle at the wrong end of the League One table

Rotherham United slipped further into League One relegation trouble when they were downed by Burton Albion in what could've been classed as a 'six-pointer' at the Pirelli Stadium on Tuesday night.

Just one goal separated the two clubs, with Tyrese Shade's 23rd-minute effort winning the contest for the Brewers, in a result that lifted them out of the relegation zone and into 19th in the standings - leapfrogging both Northampton Town and Leyton Orient.

For the Millers though, it was a second defeat on the spin after folding tamely against 10-man Cardiff City at the weekend, and it will be disappointing for their fanbase after they started to show promise once again with back-to-back wins over Northampton and Exeter City.

A raft of new signings came in late on in the transfer window, but for head coach Matt Hamshaw, it may take more time for his new-look squad to gel if Tuesday evening's evidence is anything to go off - albeit only two of the new recruits started and a further two came off the bench.

Matt Hamshaw's honest admission over Rotherham United job as relegation fears remain

Rotherham's latest loss has made their task of staying in League One even more difficult - if they do go down, it would be a second relegation in the space of three years from the Championship and into the fourht tier of English football.

As it stands, the South Yorkshire outfit are three points from safety, although they have two games in-hand on Northampton Town in 20th position, but losing to a rival in Burton will do nothing to inspire confidence from the terraces this coming weekend when they make the trip to Kenilworth Road to take on Luton Town.

And the pressure is starting to get to Hamshaw, who was Paul Warne's former assistant at the club and stepped into his first management gig last March when named interim replacement for the sacked Steve Evans, before going on to land the gig on a full-time basis.

It's been a struggle for the 44-year-old Rotherham native this season though, and with United languishing in the bottom four of League One, Hamshaw has admitted he fears for his job, with fans starting to turn on him.

“I’ve said all along, it worries me every day of every week," Hamshaw told BBC Radio Sheffield after the Burton loss.

"I understand it. If that’s on me and the chairman deems that on me, that’s up to the chairman. There’s not a lot I can do.

“All I can do is keep coming in and working as hard as I can, getting the best out of the group. I don’t think there was a lack of effort tonight or a lack of desire to run around for the badge, it was just a bit of a lack of quality.

“I understand the frustration [at] where we are and if that’s aimed at me, that’s aimed at me. I have to take that on board and try come out fighting.”

“It kills me. It kills me, obviously singing songs about me, and all the rest of it. It was a difficult position to come in with, I’ve said that all along. I don’t think I’ve hidden away from that. I think we’re trying to be positive with the group.”

Rotherham United relegation is somewhat unthinkable - does Tony Stewart need to make a change?

For a number of years, Rotherham were seen as somewhat of a yo-yo team between the Championship and League One under Paul Warne - they were very good in the third tier, but perhaps didn't have quite enough resource to sustain it at the level above.

So, to go from actually surviving comfortably in the Championship in 2023, to potentially heading to League Two three years later would be a drastic downturn in fortunes, and a lot of fingers are going to be pointed.

United tried the experienced former manager last season in Steve Evans but that didn't work out, and after getting a few wins as interim, as well as being a local man, Hamshaw was definitely worth a go as Rotherham boss.

It hasn't been working for a while though, and perhaps other owners would've made a change in the dugout already - Tony Stewart though has stood firm and stuck by Hamshaw, but he could end up regretting that decision with Rotherham stuck 23rd in the division.