Speaking after the curtailment of the league 1 season which saw the Millers promoted to the Championship, the gaffer was concerned for some clubs futures in the wake of Coronavirus.
“I think it’s going to be really tough. I don’t want to say it will happen, but it wouldn’t surprise me if a few stadiums were locked up and never pened again. I hope that isn’t the case, but unfortunately the staff at football clubs are always the first to go."
“When you see teams fall out of the Championship, it is always peripheral coaching staff that are first to go and Nigel Clough fell on his sword recently too. Realistically, you are only as good as the team you can put out, so owners are more reluctant to get rid of players as they need a good team."
“Some teams might go from two masseurs, two physios and two sports scientists to just having one of each. It’s the same on the media side and people in the club shop. It hits a lot of people."
“It’s an awful thing to say and it’s not nice for me to discuss, but I think a lot of clubs will cut back because if they don’t, they can’t make ends meet. That is the sad part of football at the moment and hence why this promotion probably means a lot more.
“In fairness, the chairman has never said to me we need make cutbacks but I’m a financially astute kid – I’m not an idiot. I understand the pressures.”
"This year was completely different. We were always one of the favourites to go up which is quite unique for us. We are not used to being one of the favourites, but we were. So to go up, it was a nice thing.”