He got there in the end ... how Tom Eaves turned his Rotherham United career around

Tom Eaves in action for Rotherham United last season. Picture: Jim Brailsford

AN autumnal Saturday afternoon remains etched in the memory of Tom Eaves.

The striker was a substitute - hey, he was nearly always a substitute - in Rotherham United's Championship clash at the John Smith's Stadium last September when Matt Taylor was still in charge.

“I had a chance at Huddersfield and that's the only one that springs to mind,” he says of a match that saw him enter the fray in the 75th minute and would end in an insipid 2-0 defeat.

It's telling that he can recall a scoring opportunity so distinctly. The centre-forward was short on minutes, even shorter on confidence and feeding off scraps as a goalless first season with the Millers stretched into a barren second one.

Taylor wasn't having him. In truth, many supporters weren't either.

The joke was, he'd bagged more goals for previous visiting teams at AESSEAL New York Stadium than he had in a Rotherham shirt.

But the manager left and, gradually, wonderfully, things changed.Eaves kept turning up, he kept trying, he never hid and Leam Richardson even started him in a few fixtures.

The frontman broke his duck at Plymouth Argyle in December. He scored again at Blackburn Rovers, then again at Ipswich Town, then again at Queens Park Rangers.

Supporters were taking to the honest endeavour of an honest man. A relationship and a chant were born.

“Eeeeaavveesss.”

They liked a player who was big in size and, more importantly, even bigger in character.

Those who knew him had always appreciated him. Through his suffering, he'd remained friendly, funny, humble, generous. There was no figure in the dressing room more popular than him.

Steve Evans replaced Richardson. More goals. The frontman hit the target at New York, twice, in what turned out to be his last-ever Rotherham outing at the close of last season.

Two years that had once threatened to be a disaster came with a happy ending. He'd finally made his mark as a player. He'd always done so as a person.

Eaves is due back at New York with new club Northampton Town in December. New York will give him the warmest of welcomes.

And that's just brilliant.