BACKGROUND: Evans' successor will have a tough job at Rotherham United

DID he fall, was he pushed? Irrelevant really because the bottom line for Rotherham United is that they now have to find a new manager.

DID he fall, was he pushed? Irrelevent really because the bottom line for Rotherham United is that they now have to find a new manager.

The Millers have clearly closed ranks today in the wake of this lunchtime’s bombshell that Steve Evans, arguably the most successful manager in the club’s history, is leaving the New York Stadium and will take assistant Paul Raynor with him.

Speculation is rife over various scenarios following a meeting between the enigmatic Evans and senior officials this morning.

It’s clear that the strong relationship between Evans and chairman Tony Stewart has become strained over the past month, especially when the manager was linked with Peterborough United.

It is also understood that Evans had been given six games in which to get things right after a tough start to the campaign which saw the club slump to the foot of the table.

From Evans’ perspective, he knows that Rotherham United can only go so far unless there is a major injection of cash into developing his playing strengths.

He admitted to the Advertiser recently that “this club can’t go paying £1 million for players” and in a cash-driven environment where Rotherham are up against rivals with more than ten times their spending ability, then that in itself means that they’re stuck at the wrong end of a very steep and uneven playing field.

Evans wanted more to spend and it wouldn’t be a surprise had, on the back of two wins which saw the club drive out of the bottom three, he gone to the chairman this morning and asked to up his budget, currently down with - if not the - lowest in the Championship.

If the answer was no, then it’s clear to work out how the conversation went.

The enigmatic Evans has certainly propelled the club into the media spotlight since his arrival.

But one thing he hasn’t done is galvanise the legion of Millers fans behind him. His touchline antics have divided opinion and Twitter responses haven’t been firmly behind the Scot, as could be expected given his success. There will be no placard-waving protestors in the car park for Friday’s game against Burnley.

So who will be the successor?

Former Owls boss Stuart Gray and Ian Holloway head the early bookies odds, with John Sheridan, Neil Redfearn - who was a spectator at the Cardiff game a fortnight ago - and Brian McDermott not far behind.

But whoever comes in, providing Mr Stewart doesn’t give the job to Eric Black, still has a hell of a job to do to emulate Evans’ achievements.  

As they say, even Lewis Hamilton could only drive a Ford Cortina so fast.

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