He was like Joe Newell. Only with pace ... Mickel Miller's time with Rotherham United

It was inevitable really when someone with his surname signed for Rotherham United

The new lad quickly became ‘Mickel the Miller’.

“The boys were having a laugh about it from day one,” he grinned. “Ever since I came here, it’s been good. I’ve had a good relationship with everyone.

“The boys, the staff, the fans, they’ve all been brilliant.”

Sadly, Mickel is a Rotherham player no longer. After their rise to the Championship, the club have decided not to extend his two-year stay in South Yorkshire and he’s is now a free agent.

The 26-year-old had endured a frustrating first season at AESSEAL New York Stadium but had then made an impressive contribution to the promotion push in his second.

He hadn’t seen the parting of the ways coming.

“Yeah, I’m sorry to be leaving,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting to be going. This year felt different to last year. I was a bit shocked to be released. I thought I’d be offered something.”

His talent wasn’t in question but his hamstrings were. The absences were only short term yet there were too many of them and he appeared in only half of Rotherham’s 46 matches as they finished runners-up in the third tier.

His chequered fitness record was the main factor in manager Paul Warne and his closest staff coming to the conclusion that it was time to bid farewell to a player they all rated highly.

“I had my injuries but they were always little ones; just niggles,” Miller said. “Being let go is definitely hard to get my head round. It’s the management’s decision, though, and I respect it.”

Off the pitch, the Croydon-born flyer was a popular member of the camp. “He’s a great kid,” Warne said more than once.

On it, there were times when he gleamed more than that gold tooth of his.

There was lovely balance and acceleration in his running. He had quick feet, even quicker legs and a Joe-Newell-esque knack of gliding through gaps that nobody else could see.

He could also cross a ball.

His ability to go past opponents made him a dangerous winger while his engine meant he could cope with the demands of being a wing-back in Rotherham’s favoured 3-5-2 formation.

Warne still talks of the October match against Cheltenham Town when he threw on Miller on the left and Chiedozie Ogbene on the right in the 68th minute.

The boss marvelled as much as we all did at the Jonny-Rocks Stadium as the Robins, already 1-0 behind, were stretched so far beyond their breaking point it was almost like an act of cruelty

Miller and Ogbene simply ran riot. A second goal arrived soon after their introduction and a third and fourth should have done such was the pair’s supremacy down the flanks.

“It felt like cheating,” Warne said afterwards when he was asked about his double substitution.

Miller arrived at New York from the Scottish Premiership in July 2020 after the expiry of his contract with Hamilton Academical.

He got himself a place in Sheffield but not in Warne’s second-tier starting 11 and asked to go out in loan — to League One Northampton Town — the following January for more game-time.

“The first year, it was hard to get in a Championship side,” he said. “The second year, I felt: ‘Yeah, I’m here now.’ It was good to show the fans what I could do.

“They always showed me their support. Even in my first season when I went out on loan I had some of them saying they didn’t know why I was going somewhere else. Obviously they saw a lot more of me this season.”

I asked him to choose his best Millers moment. “There are so many,” he said. “It would probably be winning promotion on the last day at Gillingham and Georgie (Kelly) scoring, even though I wasn’t involved. That was nice.”

April 30 at Priestfield Stadium was another of those afternoons when hamstring trouble was ruling him out.

Although he wasn’t available for the run-in, he was at every game, travelling to Sunderland in midweek and then to Kent four days later in support of a group of players he describes as “brothers”.

Fellow injury victims Shane Ferguson and Will Grigg were also with him.

“That showed what spirit there is in the squad,” he said. “The boys are good, the management are good. They’ve got something good going on at Rotherham. You wanted to be part of it.”

The second-favourite moment he picked was stroking home the decisive penalty in the Papa John’s Trophy semi-final shoot-out on a February Wednesday night at a sold-out Victoria Park against Hartlepool United.

Having come on as a first-half sub, he was as unplayable as he had been at Cheltenham.

He reflected for a final time on his time at New York: “Yeah, Man, it’s been so good.”

His impact won’t be forgotten.

Once a Mickel the Miller, always a Mickel the Miller.

*****************************

MICKEL Miller is taking a time-out before deciding what comes next in his football career.

The winger has been freed by Rotherham United and won’t be short of offers from other clubs.

Coach Matt Hamshaw says he has already taken several phone calls from interested sides and has given the player glowing references.

Miller is having a holiday and will focus on choosing a new team when he returns.

Speaking last Wednesday, a day after the Millers had announced their retained list, he said: “To be honest, I haven’t thought about it too much as of right now.

“People say I should be thinking about it because I’m a free agent. But I’m still a bit shocked by everything because I’d kind of had my mind fixed on the thought I’d be staying.

“I’m going away with my brother. I’ll have some downtime then come back and hit the ground running.”

The six players being released by Rotherham were informed of the decision a week before the news was made public.

*****************************

MATT HAMSHAW'S VIEW

“He’s a really good kid, always walking round with a smile on his face. We just haven’t had quite the amount of games out of him that we wanted.

“When he has played he’s been excellent, but he’s had hamstring niggles which have restricted his number of appearances. We’ve protected him, then put him on and he’s got injured. That’s the only reason why we’re letting him go.

“He’s done unbelievably well for us and 100 per cent there is a good career for him somewhere else. There will be a hell of a lot of interest in him. My phone has been ringing quite a lot and I’ve given him really good references.

“He gets at defenders and has great delivery. It was just consistency of availability that he lacked with us.”

*****************************

THE STATS

2020/21 (Championship):

Nine league appearances for Millers, 12 apps for Northampton Town (loan).

2021/22 (League One):

23 league apps, one FA Cup, five Papa John’s Trophy. Four goals.