While teams around the relegation zone improved thier squads and brought in players, the Millers did not. And with the depature of former head of recruitment Jamie Johnson and replacing him with ex-player Rob Scott and Chris Trotter who joined from a simlar role at Middlesborough, the gaffer promises the Millers wont be in that postition again.
"Going into January, we had set the stage where we expected to sign a winger and a centre-forward. That didn't happen, and it didn't happen because certain circumstances didn't fall into place. All I can say is, that won't happen again." Tony told the 'Tiser
"I think the gap we didn't fill in contributed to us going down in that we didn't get that freshness that we all thought we needed in January. Two more signings could have seen us stay up."
"We decided to close the contract of the past head of recruitment," Stewart said. "I'm not saying anything ill about that.
"Life is about improvement and we thought we could improve things by taking the action that we did. I believe that the recruitment structure we have got now is better than what we had before."
Less than seven weeks into the job, the new duo are already making their presence felt, while an added advantage is that the club - unlike in 2018 - aren't being distracted by involvement in the end-of-season play-offs.
"We now have in place people who, recruitment-wise, will give the manager more options," Stewart said. "There are lots of options and things are already happening. There will be developments soon.
"You have to remember that this time last year we were preparing for the League One Play-off Final at Wembley so our recruitment was delayed. We have more time this year.
"That time is being put to good use. We're already involved in meetings with regard to potential new players."