Football Season Guide

Rotherham have become a bit of a yo-yo club lately, having managed two promotions and suffered as many relegations over the last five seasons. The Millers are back to League One after a one-year stay in the Championship, where they gave a decent account of themselves at times, but eventually finished third from bottom, four points below safety. Despite the relegation, the club's board opted against parting ways with Paul Warne, who delivered promotion a couple of seasons ago and will now be trusted with the same task. Several players who played key roles in their previous promotion have left during the summer, such as Will Vaulks, Semi Ajayi, Ritchie Towell, Marek Rodak and Joe Newell. However, Rotherham are a rather attractive destination for League One players and have managed to bring in several players proven in the division, with their biggest coup of the summer being the capture of striker Freddie Ladapo, who had a superb season with Plymouth last time around. Despite Ladapo's arrival, it is difficult to shake off the feeling that Rotherham are a touch weaker than they were last season, with the potential loss of cohesion due to the departures of so many regulars being the issue. Warne has managed to deliver promotion in the only League One season he has had as a manager so far. He took over a squad that needed to gel after a summer of big changes. This was two years ago and he now finds himself in a rather similar situation. Time will tell if he can repeat the trick.