A different view, getting the best out of Mallik Wilks, my dad's deathbed words ... Rotherham United boss Steve Evans writes for the Advertiser

We were up against League One's second-placed club at AESSEAL New York Stadium last Saturday and were clearly the better side for all but the opening five minutes.

That game should have ended in victory for us, not the most frustrating of 1-0 defeats caused by conceding a 16th-second goal.

I watched the match from the West Stand in the company of chairman Tony Stewart while I served my one-match touchline ban.

It's not a bad thing to sometimes observe things away from the dugout. I've always said, you see more tactically.

I was able to phone down and sort out one or two things after the first five minutes. It really worked for us because suddenly we were dominating the game.

We moved Joe Powell, Christ Tiehi and Hakeem Odoffin a little bit in terms of where they were playing and we controlled the middle of the park.

We’ve played a lot worse in the past and won, we'll play a lot worse in the future and win, we'll give the same display as we did against Wrexham and score four or five.

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MALLIK Wilks and I go back a long, long way.

I had him as a youngster at Leeds United nearly a decade ago and he signed his first senior contract at Elland Road while I was in charge there.

The other week, I was talking to him and he recalled the time when I had a decision to make about whether he was given a pro deal. I couldn't remember the match I watched him in, but he could. It was against Queens Park Rangers in a kids' game and he informed me he got five goals!

He's got all the ability in the world and it's good to see him putting it to good use during his loan spell with us.

The goal he scored at Peterborough United earlier this month would have graced the Premier League, let alone the third tier.

We're grateful to his parent club, Sheffield Wednesday, for helping us to get Mallik here. He came in late in the summer transfer window but it's always felt like he's been here since the first day of pre-season.

He's a great lad and he's settled in really well. He's a quiet character, an introvert, but his performances make him an extrovert on the pitch. People get excited when he's on the ball.

He can play on either flank and also operate as a 'number 10' just behind the frontline, and there's a debate to be had about what his best position is.

In the past, I've seen Mallik be really effective against my teams in the two positions we've played him in – 10 and wide right. I've also seen him be very effective wide left during his time at Doncaster Rovers and Hull City.

At Peterborough, we put him wide right and he was simply sensational for a half-hour spell in the first half.

He made Posh right-back Jack Sparkes look a poor player. Jack is actually a very good player, but he was up against an opponent who was on fire.

When you see Mallik hit the bar and then top it with a sensational run and strike, you say to yourself: ‘That's where we'll play him every week.’

However, the needs of the team as a whole come first and that's always our main consideration when we pick the side.

I've always been an admirer of his and he's aware of that. He knew full well I was wary of his talents when he played against my sides and he used to give me a little wink when he went down the tunnel after scoring against them.

He'll be a real asset to us over the course of the season.

He is a kid who needs to feel loved and he's found a home here.

That's why we're getting the best out of him.

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THOMAS Tuchel as the new boss of England then …

Maybe, as a Scot, I'm not the best person to discuss who should be the permanent successor to Gareth Southgate.

Someone asked me who I thought should get the job and I said I'd pick the worst man in the world because I was born in Glasgow!

Tuchel, of course, is German.

We all have our own thoughts, but I think the English national team should be managed by one of the gifted, educated coaches we've got in the English game. There are many who have gone through the system and proved their quality.

However, if you go outside of England you cannot doubt the credentials of Tuchel. He's got an incredible list of honours in club football.

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I'VE talked earlier in this column about maximising Mallik Wilks' potential.

As a manager, you have to get players on board. You have to win their respect, demonstrate how much you care for them, show them that you will give all of yourself to them if they will do the same in return for you.

I'm aware that strangers can have a certain perception of me, but I'm not the character that they think I am.

My father died of cancer and on his deathbed he got the chance to sit with the five Evans children and my mum.

He said to my mum: ‘Our Steven, if you don't know him, you don't like him. If you know him, you love him.’

I'll never forget that.

It will ring true with players at clubs Paul Raynor and I have managed together over the years. It's why, on a regular basis, I get phone calls and WhatsApp messages from many of my old boys.

Some are still playing – some at the highest level – and some are now forging their own management and coaching careers.

People outside of the clubs I've managed don't know things like that.

I'm still in touch with players we've sent on the most wonderful of journeys: the likes of Ivan Toney, Seriki Dembele, Charlie Taylor, Chris Woods – lads who, like Mallik, perhaps needed to be loved at a certain stage in their development.

Players have to want to play for themselves, they have to want to play for the supporters, they have to want to play for the club they represent .

And, importantly, they also have to want to play for their manager.