Rotherham United a year further on and a step further back ... David Rawson's fan column

This time last year, we sensed progression. Warne’s departure was a blow, but our good start hadn’t petered out. We’d beaten Sheffield United with a professional away display. And now we were off to Cyprus, to get the players bought into the new manager’s methods.

Plus we’d got a blueprint. No more “merry-go-round” managers. Instead, young coaches, good communicators. “Why young? Because I don't like old habits. Old habits can be bad habits, said the chairman.

Derby had taught us a brutal lesson in how this game works. You don’t sack a manager and then start looking for his successor. You do the recruitment in advance. Derby knew who they wanted - and acted like they were pretty sure they’d get him - before they fired Rosenior.

And yet, here we are. Taylor’s gone, and we don’t seem to have anyone lined up to take his place. The blueprint of a year ago? Ripped up and done with.

We don’t want a young manager this time. We’re looking at “established Championship managers who have ‘done it’”, says the chairman. For example, Kenny Jackett, described by the chairman on his appointment as a “triumph” because he was “shrewd, canny ... seen it, been it and done it”.

Although later, on reflection, Jackett was the wrong man, but his appointment “probably did us a favour. It made us think about the type of manager who is good for us”, the chairman explained.

Threading all of that together is a challenge. We want a not too young but not too old, experienced and successful manager in the Championship, who's not part of the merry-go-round or stuck with old habits, and who sees us as a good career move. No wonder we’re not expecting to make an appointment before the Leeds game.

Because, who is there who fits the bill?

Would Steve Evans really galvanise this group of players? And would any other Championship club looking for a manager seriously consider him? If not, what does it say about us that he’s one of the bookies’ favourites?

There’s no Warne equivalent, to meld fan goodwill and blind hope into something tangible. Warnock, the arch-organiser and encourager, doesn’t fancy it.

There's surely little remaining budget, too, to make January changes. And we did the usual trick - bringing in old heads who know the league for a last hurrah - in the summer.

There are few levers to pull. The chairman sees relegation as an unacceptable failure. It’s also probable.

Frankly, who’d want the job?