Dan Gore: a Rotherham United loan kid suffering at the hands of unsocial media

Dan Gore was giving his first interview since his loan switch to Rotherham United from the Premier League.

The club's press team went first, then I followed up with some questions of my own.

Sitting in his training gear in a room at Roundwood, he had no Manchester United media polish, there was nothing 'big time' about him. Only two of his answers lasted more than a few sentences.

He was very much a nervous 20-year-old in new surroundings, not the England youth international who was the poster boy of the Old Trafford youth set-up until injuries took hold 12 months ago.

“It's been really enjoyable,” he said a week last Friday of his first few days as a Miller. “All the lads are ‘top’. They've been brilliant with me and have made me feel welcome. I'm buzzing.”

He was also “buzzing”, he revealed, at the prospect of making his first start for Rotherham the following afternoon in the League One encounter against Shrewsbury Town at AESSEAL New York Stadium.

Then came the foot issue and the conspiracy theories. Gore had headed back to his hotel room on Friday afternoon feeling fine but an injury flared up overnight and by Saturday morning he had been declared unfit.

On reflection, Steve Evans' comment that 'We didn't do enough in training for him to have a sore nose let alone a sore foot' didn't help, although the Millers manager was at pains at his next press conference to confirm a hairline fracture of a metatarsal that could have taken time to reveal itself.

A year earlier, the Prestwich-born player had suffered similarly in a first loan away from his parent club.

One game for Port Vale before injury. One game for Rotherham – a promising debut off the bench at Birmingham City – before injury.

Social media was beside itself at the coincidence and typically unforgiving. ‘Bottle job’ was the gist of it. ‘Can only do it with the youth team.’ ‘Not up to the challenge of the pro game.’

Here's a thought: maybe it's just a kid having a run of bad luck who would benefit from a bit of support rather than a public hounding.

Rotherham was a move meant to kick-start his senior career.

“They're a big club,” he said, explaining why he'd chosen them over other interested sides.

“They've just come down from the Championship. I thought: ‘I can make an impact there if I get the game-time.’ I'm happy to be here.”

Before heading to Vale Park, Gore had been a daily trainer with Manchester United's first-team squad under Erik ten Hag.

“I was with them full-time,” he said. “Then I had a difficult time with injuries that kept me out. I've trained a few times with them this year but not regularly.”

I put in calls to a couple of contacts on the other side of the Pennines and the word came back that the boy can play.

And also handle himself. His Wikipedia page mentions a training-ground altercation with French international attacker Anthony Martial.

“I'm a bit quiet, like," he said. "But I'll back myself if I have to.

“I'm a technical player. I'm comfortable on the ball. I do the other side quite well too. I'm aggressive, determined to win the ball back and I work as hard as I can.”

Quad damage did for him at Port Vale and then he required surgery on a different problem following his return to Old Trafford.

“The whole of 2024 was really frustrating,” he said. “I went to Port Vale and was looking to play games. I still enjoyed my time there, I learned a lot. But the lack of game-time through my injury was hard to take.

“When I went back to Man United I did my shoulder as well. I've had a tough year but hopefully I'm bouncing back now.”

February 1 at Birmingham had been a good day for him. He'd been introduced as a 27th-minute substitute for Mallik Wilks and by half-time had set up a goal for Sam Nombe before going on to further catch the eye after the interval.

“You don't expect to get on so soon but you've just got to be ready for it,” he said. “Luckily, I was. I enjoyed it.

“It was different to the ‘21s’ for Man United where you play possession football no matter what.

“In League One, you're kicking it long more and you've got to land on second balls. It's a good challenge.”

He revealed his long-term ambition: “Being a local lad, it's Man United for me. I support them. It's always been them and it always will be. The aim is to play at the top level for them.”

Hopefully, his metatarsal will heal in time for there to be some Millers appearances before the close of this season first.

Interview over, he got up to leave. Relief seemed to be his main emotion. He'd come through his first media session without mishap and would be stronger for the experience.

I told him he'd done well at Birmingham and he thanked me for saying so. As we shook hands, I could tell the praise had meant something to him.

Just a shy, unsure, likeable young lad.

Social media would do well to remember that.