RUFC - Moneybags Millers?

Rotherham United, apparently, are living beyond their means.



No, this isn't something official, this is what three people in the last couple of weeks have said to me in varying ways. What do these people know? Well, as they are fans of opposing teams I don't really think they 'know' a lot.

A Barnsley fan said to me 'you've spent a lot of money on players, do you think you'll end up like you did before?' A Leeds fan called us 'moneybags' because of the new ground while a Doncaster Rovers fans said 'you should do well with all the players you've brought in - must have spent a fortune'.

Well, my friends, yes we have got a fine new stadium but we've also got a Chairman who knows what he's doing and yes, we have brought in a team full of players but, you may be surprised that we haven't, as yet, spent a penny on our playing staff. They are all freebies.



I know - if I didn't know I wouldn't believe it either with the likes of Kieran Agard, Kari Arnason and Daniel Nardiello plus others coming to play for us. After fetching in ten new players it's been quite a pre-season for the Manager and fans and, we are told, it might not have finished yet.



And, it's not that there isn't money for players, because Tony Stewart has always said if the right man comes along there will be money in the bank to get him.



Even former Manager, Andy Scott, got in on the act a couple of months ago when he told the Daily Mail, ''I think Rotherham should win the league, the amount of money they're spending now. The whole ethic of what they're doing from when I was there has changed, from being shrewd and keeping to a budget they're going and spending huge amounts of money and should win the league comfortably.'



Sour grapes? Maybe he should get his facts right before he spouts off in the media? If memory serves he also brought in around ten new players last season - then didn't use half of them.



Now, I don't know what wages our players are on though I do know that there is at least one who was here before who has taken a wage cut to stay but we should remember there is a wage cap which, in League Two I believe is sixty per cent of turnover although how it is checked and how it actually works I can't say I really know.



And, don`t forget, we have also let a number of players go who may or may not have been commanding a high wage plus I don`t believe we spent the money we got when we sold Adam Le Fondre so that has been in a safe place for a 'rainy day`. There was also the 'bond` that the Football League demanded from us when we moved a couple of miles away to Sheffield and Don Valley - though whether that was the Chairman`s money, the club`s money or the Council`s I`m not really sure of.



So, yes, we have brought in a number of players, moved to a wonderful stadium but 'money bags`, I don`t think so.

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