Steve McClaren faces first major Rotherham United issue after manager search snag | OneFootball

Ian Burchnall won't be becoming the new Rotherham United manager ahead of their League Two return

Rotherham United's search for a new manager has already spanned three weeks, and it's looking like it'll take a little longer, after they received a setback in their pursuit.

The Millers are gearing up for their first campaign back in League Two for 14 years, after they suffered their second relegation in three seasons last term.

Overseeing the final month and a half of the campaign was former Huddersfield Town boss Lee Clark, but he was unable to rectify the mess left behind by former head coach Matt Hamshaw. Ahead of the new season, the Millers decided to pursue other options in the dugout, dismissing the return of the Geordie.

The new direction began with the hiring of Steve McClaren as the new Head of Football at the AESSEAL New York Stadium, with it stated that his first job was to appoint the new first team coach.

Unfortunately, though, it seems that Rotherham won't be able to hire their first-choice option for the dugout role, as Ian Burchnall and the Millers have hit a roadblock.

Rotherham United encounter setback in Ian Burchnall pursuit

Football League World exclusively broke the news on May 20 that Rotherham were eying up former Forest Green Rovers and Notts County boss Ian Burchnall as their new manager.

The 43-year-old has bounced between being a first-team coach and the number one, last managing in the EFL at the New Lawn during Forest Green's sole third-tier campaign in 2022/23, which ended in relegation with just 27 points.

Ultimately, though, the work that Rob Edwards had done with the Green made it an uphill task almost immediately for his successor to remain in League One, and his work as an assistant at Anderlecht and Wolves has arguably primed him for a return to management.

Most recently, he was a coach with the Jamaican National Team, where he worked under the new Rotherham Head of Football, Steve McClaren, so with the relationship between the two, it seemed a no-brainer that Burchnall would be touted for the job.

That report was over two weeks ago, though, and with no white smoke since, Millers fans have been fearing that talks may have broken down. The Rotherham Advertiser has confirmed those worries, reporting that the two parties are at an impasse.

There have been extra demands from Burchnall, which Rotherham have been reluctant to accept, leading to the 43-year-old exploring options elsewhere for his next dugout role.

The Advertiser goes on to state that it is yet to be seen whether Burchnall and the Millers can resume talks in the future, but for the time being, it doesn't seem that the former Wolves coach will be in the AESSEAL New York Stadium dugout come August.

Rotherham United return to the drawing board after Ian Burchnall setback

With the 2025/26 campaign ending for Rotherham over a month ago now, the fact that the identity of a new manager is yet to be known is a real concern for the South Yorkshire side.

Only 14 senior players were confirmed to be under contract at the club when they released their retained list at the end of the season, so a lot still needs to be done to rebuild the squad ahead of the new campaign.

The Advertiser states that pre-season is only three-and-a-half weeks away for Rotherham, so not only does a new manager need to be in before then, but the sooner, would be better, as it would allow them to at least bring in some players for the start of next year's preparation.

It can often be difficult for relegated sides from League One to stop the rot and mount an immediate promotion charge back to the third tier. At the moment, there are no signs of that rot stopping for Rotherham.