Rotherham United must avoid transfer trap Steve Evans & Matt Taylor fell into | OneFootball

Rotherham need to stop signing older players in a bid to reduce the average age of the squad

Matt Taylor’s first transfer window with the Millers in January 2023 was a rousing success – the players he brought in managed to keep Rotherham United in the Championship.

As it turned out, the Millers stayed up with a game in hand – a huge accomplishment from the team dubbed a “yo-yo” club.

Rotherham fans were eagerly anticipating the summer transfer window to follow. With such a successful first transfer window under Taylor's belt, the expectation was for his second one to be even more successful.

With this came an abundance of players, all with differing qualities but all with one unfortunate similarity. They were the wrong side of 30.

Sean Morrison, Tyler Blackett, Cafu, Grant Hall, Lee Peltier, Daniel Ayala and Sam Clucas were all players brought in the summer transfer window to boost the quality within the Rotherham squad.

These players were brought in for their experience and ‘know-how’ of the league – but this came at a cost. Big wages and injury records came with the quality and experience of the big-name players.

Blackett, Hall and Ayala were in the early stages of the season ruled out for the majority of it, whilst Morrison, Cafu and Peltier were all players drafted in and out of the squad due to injury.

The treatment room saw more action from these players than New York Stadium did, leading to frustrated fans and a disappointing season.

Matt Hamshaw needs to avoid this for him to be successful in the coming window.

What was Taylor’s plan

The transfer strategy for Taylor was clear. Bring in experienced pros who knew the league to see out another successful season of staying in the Championship.

However, this clearly did not bode as well as he assumed.

Within a few months, four of his starting centre halves were ruled out for large parts of the season – Morrison, Blackett, Peltier and Cameron Humphreys were all ruled unavailable around November, so much so, Ayala was called in as a late recruit. His time with the club did not last long as he was inevitably ruled out for the entire season after only seven appearances.

Although this quality shone through in many aspects of the season, the inconsistency surrounding the availability of the players creeped in and the Millers truly suffered.

Clucas was the bright spark in midfield - his energy, touch and composure was accentuated in a nervy side and Morrison proved his resilience at the back, showing his prowess as a no-nonsense Championship centre-half and a leader.

Both players were not awarded contracts in the summer and many fans felt hard done by for this decision as they felt they would have been excellent in League One.

How this strategy bred and prospered

It was not simply Taylor who fell into the trap of adding players of an older age to this Rotherham squad with the expectation of more experience meant better quality players and a better-performing squad.

Steve Evans further added to fan dismay when he brought in another six players over the age of 30 – something that contradicted his comments around wanting to lower the age of the squad.

Many of these players brought in - the likes of Jonson Clarke-Harris, Sean Raggett, Alex MacDonald and Liam Kelly – have been, again, out of action for the majority of the season with the treatment room seeing more of their talents than the football pitch.

There were positive signs around the transfers of many of these players. Joe Rafferty and Raggett had been made champions with Portsmouth, Clarke-Harris had been top scorer in League One in two of his last three seasons, whilst Reece James and Kelly had dropped down from the Championship to be part of Evans’ set-up in League One.

These players were excellent additions on paper and, ultimately, should have performed better than they ended up doing. Due to injuries, fatigue and overall lack of performance in the duties Evans had tasked them with, they ended up with a disappointing season for Rotherham and again contained an ageing squad.

Why this is causing disdain amongst Rotherham supporters

With two transfer windows bringing in older players for the Rotherham side, the Millers’ squad’s average age is certainly higher than what most fans would want to see.

And the main reason for this is due to the lack of faith and belief in the future – where exactly is the squad going in the long term?

The ageing squad will be depreciating in value. Players will not be sold for what they were valued when they were brought in, nor will they be willing to extend their contracts based the current dates.

Also, with an ageing squad comes limitations on fatigue and physical performances within the intense, demanding League One.

With games thick and fast, with many weeks containing two games in a week, it is demanding and players have faltered due to this intense workload.

Along with this, fans have become disillusioned with the direction of the squad. A big issue with an ageing squad breeds a lack of a long-term plan amongst the squad. Millers’ fans are used to a younger, energetic, aggressive, front-footed and physical side and are yearning for those days to return under Hamshaw.

Younger players can be melded and manipulated into what Hamshaw requires for the season going forward. The Millers require a younger, fresher side to combat the League One play-offs with innovative ideas and targeted training to boost both performances and, ultimately, the sales of the players brought into the side.

Matt Hamshaw has stated that this is what he wants to do, to create a culture of signing younger professionals, developing them, and sending them out for a large profit.

This is a sustainable practice which Rotherham fans will want to replicate in a long-term mindset.

If Rotherham can change their course of transfer strategy and end up bringing in and developing younger players, the fire and desire will almost certainly return on both the pitch and in the stands.