The two-year transformation: how contrasting games at QPR show how far Rotherham United have come under Paul Warne

The afternoon of March 18, 2017 wounded Paul Warne maybe more than any other in his long football career.

The former player was a novice manager and watched his Rotherham United team capitulate 5-1 at Queens Park Rangers. The Millers would be relegated from the Championship in their next match.

"I'm mentally scarred by that defeat," Warne says. "To anyone who travelled, I apologise."

Twenty-four months on, Rotherham are a very different proposition.

Last week, after bouncing straight back up last term, they returned to the scene of their shame and famously recorded their first away win in 44 second-tier attempts.

Unlike the team in that humiliating 2016/17 campaign, the Millers' class of 2018/19 have genuine belief they can triumph in their scrap to stay up.

Those two encounters at Loftus Road symbolise the journey Rotherham have made under the fitness coach who never wanted to be a boss but turned out to be an inspiring leader of men.

"It was one of my darkest days when we lost 5-1," Warne says. "I remember being angry with a couple of my players at half-time. I was new to the job. Maybe I wouldn't react like that now. 

"I told them what I thought and they went out for the second half and were worse. It was part of the learning curve. Maybe it was my fault we lost 5-1. 

"At the time, the way I spoke to them I thought was the right thing to do. I've probably clipped it a little bit since then.

"We lost 5-1 and it could have been 10-1. The scoreline flattered us. We looked like we were playing a team two divisions above us. It sounds a bit harsh, but we didn't have the right to be on the same pitch as them."

Fast forward to March 13 2019, unbelievable, unforgettable March 13 2019. Semi Ajayi fired the Millers ahead, QPR equalised late on and Ajayi gloriously headed home in the final ten seconds for that first Championship victory on the road since April 9 2016 at MK Dons.

Three years of hurt never stopped them dreaming and 321 travelling fans threw a Wednesday-night party in the Loftus Road away end. They were still singing four hours later as they arrived, bleary-eyed, back at Doncaster Railway Station, clutching new survival hope along with their cans of cider, jumping into taxis and not caring a jot about work in the morning.

"This time, we deserved to win at QPR," Warne says. We had more ball than them, completed more passes than them, had more attempts on goal than them and at times looked really comfortable.

"Bearing in mind the players QPR have at their disposal, that is a pretty big swing from 2017.

"That Rotherham team two years ago were in their third season in the Championship. The team were established at that level.

"I'm not embarrassed to say it, the team we have now are a League One team really. We're comparing an established Championship team back then to a promoted League One side still in their infancy and developing as a team."

Back then, the Millers lined up in a 4-4-2 formation of Lewis Price, Will Vaulks, Ajayi, Aimen Belaid, Ben Purrington, Jon Taylor, Lee Frecklington, Tom Adeyemi, Joe Newell, Danny Ward, and Jerry Yates with a bench of  Laurence Bilboe, Mason Warren, Anthony Forde, Richie Smallwood, Alex Bray, Carlton Morris and Dexter Blackstock.

Former QPR striker Blackstock received a rousing ovation from the home crowd, a grim reminder that there was a time, before his Millers spell, when he actually did perform.

A young Ryan Manning, incidentally, long before his Rotherham loan spell, was among the Rangers subs.

Defeat was part of a Millers' run of 17 winless matches and captain Frecklington, hushed and hurting afterwards by the players' tunnel, admitted the manner of the loss made him question his worth as a professional footballer.

Warne felt it even more keenly. "We'll have the players in tomorrow," he said. "We'll watch the game back. They can watch what we had to watch. 

"I know my weekend is ruined. I have no shame in ruining theirs. I don't give a monkeys. My Sunday will be horrendous at home with my kids and that's not fair on my kids. The players can feel the pain I'm feeling."

Management was getting to him. "I enjoy lack of sleep and having ulcers in my mouth all the time. It's a right laugh, he said as he headed out of West London leaving a trail of words like "embarrassing", "calamity", "abysmal" and "howling" in his wake.

Today the landscape is much changed. Vaulks played in that heavy loss in the capital and his improvement since then mirrors that of Rotherham. 

Will Vaulks

Suspension kept the midfielder out of last week's evening of magic but he kicked every ball in the press box during commentary duty for the club's online channel before bouncing manically down the steps to join his teammates while the final whistle was still on the referee's lips.

The Millers, operating on the division's lowest budget, are third from bottom in the table but are only a point behind Reading and Millwall and have taken the fight to bigger clubs all season.

They have lost only twice in their last nine outings and leaders Norwich City were mightily relieved to head back to Norfolk with a 2-1 win last Saturday as they were pushed to their physical limit by a relentless Rotherham display in the final match before the international break.

After the debacle of QPR 2017, the Millers were quickly consigned to the drop: April fools on April Fool's Day as Fulham arrived at AESSEAL New York Stadium to draw a line under a season of disaster.

After the delight of QPR 2019, the fight is likely to go to the wire.

"We have been on a good run, so for us not to be out of the bottom three is a bit harsh," Warne says. "But other teams have been on the slide. If we keep going the way we are, we might be okay.

"I had a chat with Semi and said you can't replace feelings like that in life. You never get  bigger highs than scoring a last-minute winner. The whole bench was up.

"We watched our analyst's footage later on and ten grown men were going at it like Looney Tunes at a kid's party. Polly (goalkeeper coach Mike Pollitt) called it a Disney moment. 

"It made it extra special that the goal went in at the end where our travelling fans were. It was good to finally get the elusive away win.

"We can play a bit. I've told the lads they don't realise how good they are. I find it really offensive that we're portrayed as some kind of physical storm. 

"I don't think we give away any more fouls than anybody else. I don't apologise for not playing out from the back. There's never been a lack of belief in the players or the staff, but winning away is a big monkey to get off our back.

"People like Semi and Joe Mattock who were with us two years ago are playing in a better team now."

Win, lose or draw in the last eight matches of the campaign, Warne and his squad have no need in 2019 to say sorry to anyone.