The chosen ones ... The Advertiser's Rotherham United select side from boss Paul Warne's three seasons in League One

SOMEBODY please tell Will Vaulks for me.
Crazy, I know, but he's not in the starting 11 .... Will VaulksCrazy, I know, but he's not in the starting 11 .... Will Vaulks
Crazy, I know, but he's not in the starting 11 .... Will Vaulks

I don’t want to be the one who breaks the news to him that he hasn’t made the line-up.

Vaulks was the competitor, the heartbeat, the leading light in Rotherham United’s 2017/18 League One promotion side, a man who stood up in every argument and never shied away from confrontation. Long in the throw, long in the memory.

So you tell him, not me.

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You tell him that he’s among the substitutes for the Advertiser’s combined side from the three years the Millers have aimed for the Championship under Paul Warne.

In both previous seasons they succeeded and they’re on course in this campaign to make it an amazing hat-trick.

Twenty-six players made league appearances in 2017/18, 27 in 2019/20 and 23 have played this term.

This is our final cut, in a 3-5-2 formation ...

 

GOALKEEPER: JOSH VICKERS

Daniel Iversen, Marek Rodak and Viktor Johansson would have been worthy selections but they’re kept out of the team by the clean-sheet king.

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After waiting more than a year for his debut, Vickers got his chance this season when Johansson suffered an injury and he leads the division’s keepers for percentage of shut-outs by a mile.

The top end of his game can be matched by the others — all four are capable of unbelievable saves — but none of them reach his levels of consistency when it comes to the routine stuff. He doesn’t make mistakes.

Think of an opposition goal he has been at fault for. Hard, isn’t it?

2021/22 — 20 league games so far

 

RIGHT CENTRE-HALF: SEMI AJAYI

There was a gaffe in him but most of the time Ajayi was regal.

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He was a presence in the air, scored more than his share of goals and no-one — and I mean no-one — ever got the better of him on the ground when he glided out to deal with danger down the flank.

Tests carried out at the club’s training ground in Warne’s first promotion season showed the defender’s flat-out top speed was the fastest at the club.

2017/18 — 38 (including play-offs)

 

MIDDLE CENTRE-HALF: RICHARD WOOD

The Wembley 2018 play-off final, two goals, the mad dash down the touchline, the magic hat, the best day of Wood’s career ...

He’d picked up the team by the scruff of the neck around Christmas time and decided ‘We’re in this together, we’re going up together.’

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Rotherham’s longest-serving player wasn’t done there, though, and was a mainstay in the side when the Millers won promotion again two years later. If Rotherham win promotion again this term he will be one of only three men in this 11 to have played a part in all three triumphs.

Hard on himself, hard on the opposition, hard on his teammates, the veteran remains as important to the cause now as he’s ever been.

He gets the armband in this team because he leads and doesn’t know fear. That’s not quite true actually. He’s a little bit scared of his missus.

2017/18 — 39 (including play offs), 2019/20 — 23 (season restricted to 37 games by Covid), 2021/22 — 32 so far

 

LEFT CENTRE-HALF: MICHAEL IHIEKWE

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One of the other players going for a Rotherham treble, Ihiekwe was named in the PFA Team of the Year for his form in 2019/20.

He’s not been quite that imperious this season, but gets into the side on his ‘wrong’ left side because of the all-round strength of his game. The Scouser does good work in both boxes.

Clark Robertson would have been a strong contender for a place here had he not suffered so cruelly with injuries during his time at AESSEAL New York Stadium.

The frustration for the Scot is, he’s remembered for the games he missed rather than the ones in which he brought his cultured performances to bear.

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2017/18 — 31 (including play-offs), 2019/20 — 33, 2021/22 — 35 so far

 

RIGHT WING-BACK: CHIEDOZIE OGBENE

A lightning threat who has adapted superbly to the extra demands of being a modern-day wing-back rather than an old-fashioned winger.

He’s the most dangerous wing-back in the division. Don’t take my word for it. All the stats, from high-speed running to successful dribbles to most fouls won, say the same.

Arguably he’s the most dangerous attacker in the division full stop.

‘Chieo, Chieo, Chieo.’

2019/20 — 25, 2021/22 — 38 so far

 

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER: BEN WILES

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“Wilesy, you beauty. He’s going to be a legend at this club.”

Joe Newell was watching Wiles turn out for the reserves at Roundwood a few years ago and knew potential when he saw it as the callow youngster hit the target with a searing finish.

When he made the first team, the youngster — who has already passed 150 appearances — initially filled in wherever required: midfield, left wing, right wing, left-back, right-back.

Not any longer. This season’s only ever-present player, he has made the central-midfield role his own, punching holes in opposing defences with his pace and close control on his way to scoring nine goals.

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I’ve asked many a Rotherham first-teamer in the last few years who the most gifted player in the squad is and the answer is always the same: they agree with Newell.

2019/20 — 33, 2021/22 — 39 so far

 

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER: DAN BARLASER

He should have been included in the Team of the Year in 2019/20 and ought to make the PFA selection in this campaign.

‘Dan the Diag’ has been as peerless as a playmaker in this campaign as he was when he first came to the club two seasons ago.

The passing and set-pieces are as smooth and rapier as ever and he’s added extra dimensions to his game. A new-found physicality has improved his contribution of possession and, importantly, he’s hitting the target more and more — eight times in his last 21 outings.

2019/20 — 27, 2021/22 — 37 so far

 

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER: MATT CROOKS

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He fuelled up before matches on black pudding and his Grandma Maureen gave him a quid every time he scored a goal.

Crooks wasn’t your normal footballer or your normal athlete.

League One couldn’t hold him. He was too big, too powerful, too full of running with and without the ball. No-one could bomb on and stretch the opposition and get them turning back towards their own goal like he could.

“Go, Crooksy, go,” Warne would implore him from the first to the final whistle.

Crooksy was always going.

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By the end of the season, Grandma Maureen had handed over more than a tenner and he’d joined Ihiekwe in the 2019/2020 PFA Team of the Year.

2019/20 - 33

 

LEFT WING-BACK: MICKEL MILLER

He’s had injuries and he went out on loan in his first Rotherham year, in the Championship, because of his lack of game-time.

It hasn’t always been as good as it is now for Miller with the Millers.

There had been fleeting signs of what he could do, now he’s doing it more and more. Not even Ogbene can match the balance and fluidity of his mazy running.

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Think Joe Newell only with more pace and an even better eye for an opening to ghost through.

All that’s needed is an improvement to that chequered injury record.

2021/22 - 20 so far

 

STRIKER: MICHAEL SMITH

Smith plus one.

It’s been that way up front virtually since the day the centre-forward arrived at New York more than four years ago.

Manager Warne, who stole him from Bury on a free transfer, describes him as the best striker Rotherham have ever had.

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Twenty-four goals this season back up the boss’s claim but his player’s colossal contribution can’t be measured merely by a scoring tally.

Smith — the third of the three eyeing the triple — runs himself ragged, plays through pain, takes a battering and gives one out and has a touch more associated with a number ten than a six-foot-four-inch targetman.

He has never missed a Millers match through injury. Only a ban has ever kept him out.

2017/18 — 23 (including play-offs), 2019/20 — 34, 2021/22 — 38 so far

 

STRIKER: KIEFFER MOORE

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“You wouldn’t fancy playing against them two big horses, would yer?”

Warne was talking about Moore and Jamie Proctor in 2017 but his rhetorical question applies equally as well to a Moore/Smith combination.

Kieffer came, conquered for a half a season as he hit the target 13 times on loan, then went on to higher things including becoming a fixture in the Welsh national side.

It was short but it was sweet.

2017/18 - 22

 

THE SUBS

Daniel Iversen, Clark Robertson, Will Vaulks, Ollie Rathbone, Shane Ferguson, David Ball, Freddie Ladapo.

 

VERY HONOURABLE MENTIONS

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Marek Rodak, Rarmani Edmonds-Green, Joe Mattock, Wes Harding, Jamie Lindsay, Jon Taylor, Joe Newell.

 

So, there you have it.

Huge apologies to signing of the summer, Ollie Rathbone, who deserves to be in there but was kept out by the better goal returns of Wiles and Crooks.

In particular, sorry, Will.

I mentioned my team to Millers coach Matt Hamshaw, someone else who has been around all three promotions.

“You’ve left out Will Vaulks?” he grimaced. “Good luck with that.” Then he shuddered. “It’s a braver man than me who tells him.”

 

THE LEAGUE ONE LADS

2017/18:

Semi Ajayi

David Ball

Jonson Clarke-Harris

Shaun Cummings

Josh Emmanuel

Anthony Forde

Lee Frecklington

Michael Ihiekwe

Caolan Lavery

Joe Mattock

Kieffer Moore

Joe Newell

Richard O’Donnell

Matt Palmer

Darren Potter

Lewis Price

Jamie Proctor

Ben Purrington

Marek Rodak

Michael Smith

Jon Taylor

Richie Towell

Will Vaulks

Ryan Williams

Richard Wood

Jerry Yates

 

2019/20:

Hakeeb Adelakun

Dan Barlaser

Trevor Clarke

Matt Crooks

Jake Hastie

Michael Ihiekwe

Daniel Iversen

Billy Jones

Josh Koroma

Freddie Ladapo

Julien Lamy

Jamie Lindsay

Shaun MacDonald

Joe Mattock

Carlton Morris

Chiedozie Ogbene

Matt Olosunde

Lewis Price

Jamie Proctor

Clark Robertson

Michael Smith

Adam Thompson

Curtis Tilt

Kyle Vassell

Ben Wiles

Richard Wood

Jerry Yates

 

2021/22:

Dan Barlaser

Rarmani Edmonds-Green

Shane Ferguson

Will Grigg

Wes Harding

Michael Ihiekwe

Viktor Johansson

Josh Kayode

Freddie Ladapo

Jamie Lindsay

Angus MacDonald

Joe Mattock

Mickel Miller

Hakeem Odoffin

Chieo Ogbene

Jordi Osei-Tutu

Ollie Rathbone

Kieran Sadlier

Michael Smith

Tolaji Bola

Josh Vickers

Ben Wiles

Richard Wood

 

FANS' PICKS

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WE asked supporters on Twitter to select their best Rotherham United side from the League One years under Paul Warne.

Here’s a selection of the replies.

Liam Hall - @LiamHall19

This is one of the toughest questions ever.

3-5-2: Vickers , Wood, Ihiekwe, Ajayi; Ogbene, Rathbone, Vaulks, Barlaser, Miller; Smith, Moore.

GRP - @74__GRP

3-5-1-1: Rodak; Harding, Wood, Ihiekwe; Ogbene, Wiles, Rathbone, Barlaser, Newell; Crooks, Smith. Subs: Iverson, Vaulks, Ajayi, Lindsay, Kayode, Taylor, Ladapo.

Zee Thompson - @Zee80Thompson

3-5-2: Rodak; Harding, Wood, Ajayi; Ogbene, Rathbone, Barlaser, Miller, Crooks; Smith, Ladapo.

MC - @MJCollins97

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3-5-2: Rodak; Ajayi, Wood, Ihiekwe; Ogbene, Crooks, Barlaser, Rathbone, Newell; Smith, Moore.

Andrew Williams - @alwrufc

3-5-2: Rodak; Ajayi, Wood, Ihiekwe; Barlaser Rathbone Crooks Ogbene Newell (on his day); Smith Ladapo.

Patrick Ramskill - @padthemiller

Wow, a tough old question.

3-5-1-1: Rodak, Edmonds-Green, Ajayi, Ihiekwe, Ogbene, Rathbone, Vaulks, Barlaser, Newell; Crooks; Smith.

Keeper especially hard. Hate leaving Wood out and Mattock should probably be on the left.

Chris - @ChrisMRUFC

I cheated I swapped a striker for an extra midfielder.

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3-1-5-1: Vickers; Ihiekwe, Wood, Ajayi; Barlaser; Ogbene, Crooks, Rathbone, Vaulks, Miller; Smith.

Niall Geoghegan - @niall_m91

3-5-2: Rodak, Ajayi, Ihiekwe, Wood; Ogbene, Crooks, Barlaser, Vaulks, Newell; Ladapo, Smith.

Will Daniels - @WillDanielsRUFC

3-5-2: Vickers; Ihiekwe, Wood, Ajayi; Ogbene, Barlaser, Rathbone Crooks, Ferguson; Smith Ladapo.

Mastro - @mastro_rufc

3-5-2: Johansson; Edmonds-Green, Wood, Harding; Ogbene, Wiles, Barlaser, Rathbone, Newell; Smith, Moore.

WAMAW! - @ocamic77

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3-5-2: Vickers; Harding, Ajayi, Ihiekwe; Ogbene, Rathbone, Barlaser, Vaulks, Ferguson; Smith, Crooks.

hazza. rufc - @hazzarufc12

4-1-4-1: Rodak; Olosunde, Wood, Ihiekwe, Miller; Ajayi; Ogbene, Vaulks, Barlaser, Newell; Smith.

Sam - @SamRufc

3-5-2: Vickers; Edmonds-Green, Wood, Harding; Ogbene, Wiles, Barlaser, Vaulks, Newell; Smith, Moore.

James Benjamin - @JamesBenjamin4

3-5-1-1: Rodak; Edmonds-Green, Wood, Ajayi; Ogbene, Vaulks, Barlaser, Wiles, Ferguson; Crooks; Smith.

Josh - @smith98_josh

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3-5-2: Vickers; Edmonds-Green; Wood, Ihiekwe; Ogbene, Wiles, Barlaser, Rathbone, Miller/Mattock; Smith, Moore.

Stuart Abbs - @rawmarshmiller

3-5-2: Rodak; Ajayi. Wood, Ihiekwe; Ogbene, Vaulks, Barlaser, Wiles, Mattock; Crooks, Smith.

Shaun Green - @ShaunGr72317238

3-5-2: Rodak; Harding, Wood, Ihiekwe; Ogbene, Vaulks, Barlaser, Wiles, Newell; Smith, Moore.

cornfordlewis - @CornyRUFC

3-4-1-2: Rodak; Ajayi, Wood, Ihiekwe; Ogbene, Barlaser, Vaulks, Newell; Crooks; Smith, Moore.

Mark - @mark_woffenden

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3-5-2: Vickers; Ihiekwe, Wood, Ajayi; Ogbene, Crooks, Barlaser, Rathbone, Forde; Smith, Moore.

Benna Boys Fans - @BennaBoys

3-5-2: Iversen; Jones, Wood, Ajayi; Olosunde, Vaulks, Crooks, Wiles, Ogbene; Ladapo, Smith.

Ben Clemitshaw - @BClemitshaw

4-4-2: Vickers; Harding, Ihiekwe, Wood, Mattock; Ogbene, Crooks, Barlaser, Newell; Smith, Moore.

Jake - @JakeK4200

Rathbone unlucky, Wiles ahead through versatility.

3-5-2: Vickers; Ajayi, Wood, Ihiekwe; Ogbene, Vaulks, Barlaser, Crooks, Wiles; Smith, Moore.

Finlay - @Finlay_Rufc5

Very hard to pick. Olosunde and Moore just miss out.

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3-5-2: Vickers; Ihiekwe, Wood, Ajayi; Ogbene, Rathbone, Barlaser, Vaulks, Newell; Smith, Moore.

Stephen mycroft - @stephen_mycroft

3-5-2: Rodak; Harding, Ajayi, Ihiekwe; Ogbene, Barlaser, Crooks, Wiles, Newell; Smith, Ladapo.

Neil - @ChezPotter

3-5-2: Vickers; Harding, Wood, Ajayi; Ogbene, Rathbone, Barlaser, Vaulks, Newell; Crooks, Smith. Subs: Rodak, Ihiekwe, Wiles, Ladapo, Moore.

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