Where does keeping Rotherham United in the Championship rank in Matt Taylor's list of managerial accomplishments?

Matt Taylor has come up with both in the last two seasons but isn't saying which is better than the other.

The manager took Exeter City out of the basement division in 2021/22, a feat which led to his October appointment at Rotherham United whom he has just led to second-tier safety.

"They are different achievements at different clubs with a different building time," the 41-year-old said. "It was four years at Exeter, it's been seven/eight months here."

The Millers have stayed up after three failed attempts since 2017 and the boss has been quick to lay the credit at other people's door.

"It's not my achievement, I've not played a big enough part in it," he said. "It's the players, the people behind the scenes, the chairman, the fans, the ones who've been through the pain of the last six years. 

"I've seen that only from afar. I think it means more to them and I've just been lucky to be allowed on the journey."

Taylor spent more than a decade in the south west as a player, coach and manager yet reckons it's his upbringing in this neck of the woods that has led to his successful impact at AESSEAL New York Stadium.

He and Rotherham share the same values.

"I have an understanding of what this club are about," he said. "I like to think I'm pretty stubborn and gritty. I'm from Lancashire. I know this is Yorkshire but there's no difference. In the north, we know what we are."

Taylor assumed control following the six-year reign of Paul Warne and many bosses would have been fazed by the prospect of succeeding a manager of such long standing.

However, it was no issue for the new man who'd accepted the hot-seat at Exeter after the departure of a man who'd been at the helm for 12 years.

"The experience of taking over from Paul Tisdale gave me belief," he said. "Having good people around me helped also helped.”

Meanwhile, neither promotion or survival ranks highest on Taylor's managerial CV

"My biggest achievement to date has been keeping a club like Exeter going through a pandemic,” he said. “They actually came out of that Covid period in a better position than they were going into it.

"It was my greatest challenge as a manager because it involved people's livelihoods and lives."