Tom Eaves on leaving Rotherham United and why he felt he had to go

Despite being excited by the new challenge awaiting him with the Cobblers, the centre-forward is frustrated to not be part of the Millers revolution under new manager Steve Evans.

Eaves endured a tough time in his first 18 months with Rotherham but had the character to turn around his fortunes in the second half of last season and was looking forward to being part of a promotion challenge next term.

That prospect ended this week when the 32-year-old left the Millers' summer boot camp in Scotland early to sign an initial two-year deal with his new club.

“I was gutted, to be honest,” he told the Advertiser. “I thought a page had turned really. Steve came in last April and started me in matches. I'm very grateful to him for that.”

The Liverpudlian was willing to fight for his place in a new-look Rotherham side next season but the lure of guaranteed game-time at Sixfields and the attractive financial terms involved proved too tempting to turn down.

“The general vibe I got was that there will be more minutes on the pitch with Northampton,” he said. “It will be good for my family to watch me playing again.

“I didn't know what the future held for me at Rotherham in regards to playing. There were a lot of strikers at the club who were similar in their styles. I'm all for competition but sometimes there are too many cooks in the kitchen.

“I just thought: ‘You know what, it's better to go and find new pastures.’ It kills me to say that because I felt that things were just starting to go well for me here.”

Eaves suffered a calf injury soon after joining Rotherham in 2022 when Paul Warne was in charge and then found himself out of favour during the reign of Matt Taylor.

His first goal didn't come until after Taylor's sacking in November last year and he went on to score four times under Leam Richardson and then twice for Evans to finish as the club's top scorer for the 2023/24 Championship relegation campaign.

In total, there were just 13 starts in his 53 second-tier appearances for the Millers and he was used most often as a late substitute.

“My biggest disappointment was not getting the chance to work properly with Paul Warne,” he reflected. “I did my calf in the first week, which didn't help at all.

“I look back now and think I would probably have been a starter that season and would have got a goal or two in those first few games. That would have changed everything and we might be having a different conversation now.

“But that's life; I'm not here to grumble about it. I'm just disappointed I didn't get the chance to play under the manager who brought me in.

“The two managers after that, I wasn't their player. And I never felt like their player, ever. I was coming on with just a few minutes to go when we were behind and chasing a game. You're getting judged on that as well and it's difficult to be effective in those circumstances.

“To be fair, when Leam Richardson came in it was a breath of fresh air for me. Under Matt Taylor, it was a bad time for me really.”

Northampton made their move soon after the Millers had settled into their base on the east coast north of the border and the switch was completed in around 48 hours.

“It happened in the space of a couple of days,” the 6ft 5in striker said. “It was incredibly quick. I was in St Andrews and I got a call from my agent saying: ‘Look, we've had interest.’

"It was a longer-term deal, which was appealing, and they said I'd be playing week in, week out. That was even more appealing. Financially, it was something I couldn't turn down as well, especially being 32.

“Age is not something I really look at, though. I feel great and, to be honest, I've not played a great deal of football over the last two years so I'm feeling fresh.

“I had no inkling when I went up on the train to Scotland that I would be leaving Rotherham.

“The package was agreed and I just needed the okay from the manager. To be fair to Steve, he was really good with me. He just let me go because he understood what the financial security and chance to be a regular starter meant to me.”

For now, Eaves is staying in a Northampton hotel with his partner and one-year-old son, but the family will find a home in the area and move south permanently.

He was a spectator for Town's home friendly with Norwich City today and will begin work with the Cobblers in earnest on Monday.

Meanwhile, he'll always have the memory of his final outing in Millers colours when he scored twice in a 5-2 last-day triumph over Cardiff City at New York in May.

“I finished how I wished I'd started really,” he said.