Jili Buyabu’s fourth-minute red card was the latest embarrassment in a miserable season for Rotherham United, but the anger that followed tells a much bigger story about a football club seemingly losing its identity.
The Sheffield United loanee was dismissed for elbowing Jack Thomson as the Millers suffered a 2-1 defeat at Swindon Town on Saturday. The petulant act left his teammates with an uphill battle before Dominic Iorfa also received his marching orders.
Buyabu’s decision-making was rightly condemned, with supporters taking to social media to demand he never play for the club again. Yet, amid the understandable frustration, it is difficult to argue that one player’s recklessness adequately explains Rotherham’s misfortunes.
The Millers dropped to 22nd in League Two over the weekend, hovering above the drop zone on goal difference, having played a game more than those around them. Without a victory throughout October, the campaign is looking bleak for the Millers.
Just over three years ago, Rotherham were celebrating survival in the Championship, their first successful season at that level in seven years. Now, following two relegations in three seasons, the club finds itself fighting to avoid the prospect of dropping out of the Football League for the first time in its history.
Supporter Frustrations
The decline has been alarming, but perhaps even more concerning is the growing disillusionment among supporters.
During the 2-0 defeat at Fleetwood Town on October 17, travelling fans made their feelings clear, chanting for chairman Tony Stewart to sell the club. An online petition calling for his departure has since attracted hundreds of signatures, while an open letter from a concerned supporter captured the changing mood.
“Something has changed, the tide has turned, the atmosphere and the growing sense of disillusionment tell their own story. Supporters are losing faith, and once that faith goes, rebuilding it becomes an enormous task.”
It is a striking position for Stewart to find himself in.
When he took Rotherham out of administration in 2008, the club was preparing for life in League Two with a 17-point deduction. His intervention helped secure its survival, while the subsequent construction of the New York Stadium brought the Millers back into the town and laid the foundations for successive promotions to the Championship.
For many supporters, Stewart was once the man who saved Rotherham United. Now, increasingly, he is being viewed as the man standing in the way of its future.
The contrast is difficult to ignore. The stadium and the promotions remain reminders of what the club achieved under his stewardship. For supporters, those memories are becoming increasingly distant from the reality of the present.
Stewart, however, has given little indication of walking away.
Head of recruitment Steve McClaren recently defended the chairman’s position, telling the Rotherham Advertiser that criticism only strengthens Stewart’s determination.
“You’re fuelling the fire with him; the more criticism you give him, the more he wants to fight and the more he wants to win. That’s why he’s stayed in charge for the last 18 years and been successful with Rotherham.
“He didn’t fall down at the first challenge or first bad time. He doesn’t do that, I know that. He’s built a business and a football club on not doing that. I speak to him most days, I have dinner with him every Friday and his energy is unbelievable. He has far more than I’ve got! And he wants Rotherham to be successful.”
What Comes Next?
It is a defence that will resonate with some, particularly those who remember the club’s darkest days. But for others, it risks overlooking the deteriorating relationship between the ownership and supporters.
Rotherham’s problems won’t be solved by a managerial change, a transfer window, a costly red card or any such matter. The club seemingly needs change higher up, to provide supporters with something to believe in.
One year on from their centenary, Rotherham find themselves confronting questions few would have imagined five years ago.
Stewart deserves recognition for what he has done, but past achievements count for little in football, especially when supporters are losing faith.
The Millers have never fallen into non-League, but that record is now under genuine threat. Whether Stewart can prevent such from happening is becoming an increasingly contentious question.
