Boss Alex Bruce on his relationship with Rotherham United chairman Tony Stewart
It’s been a testing start for the new man
Boss Alex Bruce has spoken of the support he's received from chairman Tony Stewart as he battles to revive the fortunes of Rotherham United.
The 42-year-old was brought in during the summer to reverse three years of decline and has seen his new side slip towards the bottom of League Two.
He knows a number of men in the AESSEAL New York Stadium hot-seat have been sacked by the chairman in recent times, but says his experience of Stewart so far has been a positive one.
Bruce said: "You speak as you find and he's been good with me. I talked to him last week and he knows that we're all working hard and we're all trying to pull it in the right direction. If we can cut out the silly errors we're making, hopefully we'll give ourselves a chance."
Rotherham fell into the relegation places last Saturday when a 2-0 loss at Fleetwood Town brought a fourth successive defeat. On Tuesday, they gave up a two-goal lead to draw at home against Newport County and the point was enough to lift them out of the drop zone.
When asked if he was worried his job was under threat, Bruce replied: "Listen, I'm just telling myself it's still early days, and I'm sure we'll go on a run.
"We're all in it together, every single person associated with Rotherham - myself, the chairman, Steve (head of football McClaren), people who work behind the scenes, the players.
"We all have to be accountable for turning this place around. I took a heck of a job on. It's also a great job. It's a great club and we just need to work hard, stick together and all pull in the right direction to try to turn it around."
The Millers took control of the Newport contest with early goals from Paul Mullin and Aaron Nemane. However, Hamish Douglas gave away a penalty with a late challenge that let the visitors back into the game and then goalkeeper Julian Eyestone allowed the ball squirm out of his grasp when making a routine save to gift the visitors an equaliser.
Bruce pointed to the youth of the players involved in the errors - and also of the tender age of his squad in general - as a reason why Rotherham didn't see out the match and claim victory.
"They need to find some resilience and keep learning and digging in," the boss said. "Hopefully the mistakes will minimise."