The cream of the crop in more than 1,000 Rotherham United player interviews ... behind the scenes with Millers writer Paul Davis

You kind of expect him to be a bit full of himself and then he talks about how much he loves his nanna and how well his son is doing at school.

It's quite disarming. Behind the gold tooth and the tattoos is a family man who cares about things more than he's often given credit for.

In the last 11 years, I've averaged more than two player interviews a week so I'm way past the 1,000 mark.

Clarke-Harris is as good as anyone in the present squad. Delving back through the years, a few others stand out.

Richard Wood was great value but always thought of himself as boring. Alex Revell, Will Vaulks and David Ball were excellent, as were Matt Crooks, Dan Barlaser and Ollie Rathbone.

They all had something in common: they were prepared to share themselves as people, not just as players.

Joe Newell was a loose cannon and liable to say anything. Journalists loved him but the Millers' media team were always on tenterhooks as he talked and half-wishing they hadn't agreed to let him speak.

Kari Arnason, a very intelligent and articulate man, was the only one who could talk about having played against Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The Millers control who you get access to, by the way. No interview takes place without their prior approval.

Happily, Rotherham's media are very obliging and they put up a player for press duties before and after every match. They also do their best to accommodate individual requests, although, depending on circumstances, some figures are off limits.

Back in 2022, when Freddie Ladapo went public with his transfer request and was exiled from the squad. I spent three months asking every week for an audience with the striker and being politely rejected.

As frank and blunt as anyone was Ben Pringle.

‘What do you make of your own form?’ I enquired a few weeks into the 2014/15 Championship season. ‘Rubbish,’ came the reply.

Inevitably, you deal a lot in cliches. Moves are ‘no-brainers’, squads are always ‘a good bunch of lads'. Unless, that is, you're French-speaking Tunisian Aimen Belaid who reckoned his new Rotherham teammates were ‘a nice group of peoples’.

Of the 2025 crop, Zak Jules is a particular favourite because he speaks slowly and in perfect, grammatical English, which makes transcribing his quotes an absolute dream.

Alex MacDonald has a spark and a twinkle, Joe Rafferty can appear a touch dour at first but actually has a really good sense of humour and Andre Green has a touch of the Woodys and Crooksys about him and opens the door on his life.

Clarke-Harris has an ‘interview tone’ which is posher than his usual voice and something he isn't aware of. He laughs when it's pointed out to him.

I spoke with him at Roundwood last Friday when he was honest and obliging and didn't duck anything, even when it meant discussing a season he is far from happy with.

Nanna Norma would approve.