Rebuilding Rotherham

Can Rotherham bounce back at the first attempt, or will the League Two quicksand pull them under? The answer lies in the rebuild.

Jul 14, 2026

Ali Maxwell

Having spent seven seasons out of ten in the Championship between 2014 and 2024, Rotherham United have suffered two relegations in three seasons and find themselves in League Two for the first time in thirteen years. Life comes at you fast.

In the last 50 completed seasons, Rotherham have only been in the fourth tier for 11, compared to 26 in the third tier, and 13 in the second. In fact, the Millers have been promoted from the fourth tier in five of their last 13 attempts, a strong record. Their fans may feel that League Two is ‘beneath their level’, and you can understand why. They’re a well-supported club for League Two: last season’s average attendance of 8,500 would place them towards the top of the attendance list. The bookmakers have listed them among the eight most likely teams to win the division.

These facts and circumstances may lead to an expectation that Rotherham should be a strong side at the level, with promotion the clear objective. The reality, in mid-July, is that they need a rebuild good enough to arrest a slide before dreaming of anything loftier. Of the last 16 teams relegated from League One to League Two, 13 have finished in the bottom half. There’s no natural buoyancy aid when splashing into League Two, and most teams find it tough.

How did the last 16 relegation clubs fare?

Personnel

At the time of publishing, our squad spreadsheet gives the Millers a squad of just 15 ‘senior players’, although of those, six are aged 22 or under. The only goalkeeper, Ted Cann, was last season’s back-up. The star name, striker Sam Nombe, is expected to depart, and Denzel Hall may well follow him out the door. Only four of the current squad, Nombe excluded, were key first-team players when fit last season – Hall, Joe Rafferty, Ar’jany Martha and Kian Spence – and nine of the 13 squad members who played the most minutes in 2025/26 have departed.

There’s a lot of work to do, and the job at hand is not lost on those in charge. “We’re building a football club” is being repeated by Head of Football Steve McClaren, who was appointed to the newly-created role at the end of May. Rob Scott has been at Rotherham since 2017 – he has been Head of Recruitment and Director of Football, and now appears to have the unusual title, Director of Football Recruitment. He’s the foreman of this rebuild. In the dugout will be Alex Bruce, who had a four-month stint as manager of Macclesfield before spending the last two years as a first-team coach and assistant manager at Salford City, supporting Karl Robinson last season.

Without much evidence from previous jobs, trying to work out Bruce’s likely tactical plan is difficult. McClaren and Bruce’s interviews have been almost exclusively about the importance of culture – looking for the “right characters” – and robustness, with last term’s absurd injury crisis clearly leaving a scar on the club. Bruce said that he expects “blood and thunder” and that he wants a hard-working, physical, intense team that is difficult to play against. In their first pre-season friendly, Rotherham set up in a 4-4-2 formation, but the paucity of players available means that should be taken with a pinch of salt, rather than a sign of a concrete tactical plan.

What does it take to win in League Two? Last season’s top teams – Bromley, MK Dons and Cambridge – were packed full of experience, size and defensive capability. Winning duel after duel, match after match, week after week, month after month – that is what defined those sides more than any technical aspects.

Based on the current squad, there’s a ton of work to do if Rotherham are going to get anywhere near replicating what those sides did.

Budget

Here’s the good news: Rotherham should have the funds to get good-quality players in. As reported by the Rotherham Advertiser, their 2025-26 budget was believed to be around £5.5 million, the 15th-highest in League One. That will likely be reduced upon relegation, but our educated guess has the Millers in the top seven of League Two in budgetary terms, and given the current thinness and youthfulness of the current squad, there should still be plenty available to spend.

Fetching fees for Nombe and Hall would also add to the kitty. Between the two of them, Rotherham should make over £1m and potentially closer to £2m, which goes a long way in League Two.

Done Deals

So far, Rotherham have added four players: Aaron Nemane, Fabio Tavares, Ossama Ashley and Jamie Jellis.

Both Ashley and Jellis were among League Two’s best central midfielders in 2024/25 before regressing last year. Ashley struggled with various injuries, while Jellis’ fortunes moved in line with Walsall’s – the dynamism, energy and positivity of 24/25 petered out hard in 25/26. Both players might have expected to be in League One by now, were it not for those setbacks. A midfield three with a fully fit Ossama Ashley at the base and Jellis and Kian Spence as box-to-box #8s looks very good on paper; it’s the only area of the pitch that currently looks strong, albeit without much depth.

Tavares is a lively attacker. Coventry had high hopes for him, but he never broke through in four and a half years. That Burton Albion were happy to release him, after a season of four goals in 900 minutes, suggests League Two may finally be the correct level for the 25-year-old to find a key role for the first time.

The speedy Aaron Nemane has spent the last four seasons playing as a wing-back for Notts County and MK Dons, having initially been a winger. He’s a good squad option, though probably not a ceiling-raiser.

Rotherham have an interesting group of six young players, all aged between 21 and 22, who have shown interesting attributes if not consistent performance, in Ar’jany Martha, Emmanuel Adegboyega, Lenny Agbaire, Marvin Kaleta, Brandon Cover and Hamish Douglas. Individually, any one of them could look good at League Two level. But to what extent do McClaren, Scott and Bruce want to rely on players in this demographic? If they want to make a team with a robust, physical, injury-resistant, blood-and-thunder playing style, there’s plenty more needed, particularly in the spine of the team and in terms of experienced or peak-age players.

Rotherham have actually been one of the more successful League One or Two teams when it comes to signing and integrating players from abroad, particularly Benelux nations. Even in a poor 2025/26 campaign for the club, the signings of Denzel Hall from Heerenveen and Ar’jany Martha from Beerschot have to be viewed positively in terms of talent ID, deal-making and first-team contribution, particularly in the context of other overseas signings in Leagues One and Two.

Both players required an ESC slot, but both have been ‘converted’ due to game-time, so Rotherham do have more ESC slots available. Dropping a division likely makes the pool of realistic targets shallower, and ESC slots can now only be used on Under-23 players, but it would be good to see Rotherham cast their net wide… especially with Steve McClaren’s Eredivisie-winning pedigree!

Squad

We’ll finish with a whizz through the squad with positional and profile needs, and a few suggested signings. Please note: based on my estimation of the budget and the four signings made so far, I am assuming that Rotherham have the ability to offer very competitive League Two wages for free agents.

GK

Ted Cann played the last 15 games of the season and did fine, but he joined as a back-up and those were the 25-year-old’s first ever EFL appearances. A dependable, senior goalkeeper will surely be sought.

Free agent Max Thompson (21), formerly of Newcastle with loans at Northampton and Chesterfield, is on trial. Fin Herrick (20) of West Ham could be an option, as could Elyh Harrison (20) at Manchester United, with McClaren and Bruce having contacts there. Corey Addai (28) could be an interesting option, and probably available after Stockport’s signing of Ollie Whatmuff. Myles Roberts (24) had a good season with Walsall and has been released by Watford. Then there are the experienced types: Lee Burge (33) and Marko Marosi (32), among others.

CB

You cannot be serious about challenging in League Two if you go into the season with Joe Rafferty as your only defender over the age of 22.

There is a world in which Adegboyega and Agbaire play plenty of minutes and look more than comfortable at the level, or in which academy graduate Hamish Douglas grows into a first-teamer, but there are plenty of other outcomes that see Rotherham looking just as shambolic at the back as they did last season. This is perhaps the most crucial area of the pitch to get right, and two or three central defensive signings are surely needed. I would expect these to tick some or all of the following boxes: tall, strong, aerially dominant, experienced.

As for targets, I’ll start with some grizzled, aerially-comfortable types. Tom Lees (35), come on down. Ben Heneghan (32), are you up for it? Jordan Thorniley (29), fancy a move closer to home?

Joe Lewis, still only 26, is an ambitious target that I like a lot for Rotherham. The Millers can likely offer far more than Wimbledon are able to, and he should thrive with the responsibility of being at the heart of the defence. Can Marc Roberts, released by Barnsley and turning 36 in a couple of weeks, handle a full season of leadership at the back? Would Rotherham offer Accrington what they want for 30-year-old Farrend Rawson? Or perhaps they could test the recently-relegated pair of Harrogate and Barrow for their experienced heads, Anthony O’Connor and Charlie Raglan, both 33.

There are currently no left-footed defenders. In fact, there’s barely a left peg in the whole squad. For balance purposes, that should be addressed. Shadrach Ogie (24) or Josh Flint (25) would be decent options on free transfers, both a good age and with good attributes if Alex Bruce can get a tune out of them.

He’s not a left-footer, but Lewis Montsma is another player worth mentioning. The 28-year-old has had absurdly bad luck with injuries, limiting him to 20 league starts in four years, but any return to his level from 2020 to 2022 would make him a good fit.

Finally, Jake Rooney (23) has been released by Derby and is probably worth a punt as a freebie for a League Two side.

FB/WB

Without knowing what shape Alex Bruce is planning to play, it’s hard to say what Rotherham will do here. There are currently no full-backs other than Denzel Hall and, at a push, Joe Rafferty. If they play three-at-the-back, then Hall, Nemane, Cover, Kaleta and Martha would be an incredibly attacking set of wing-backs to enter the season with – there’d be plenty of reasons to be excited about them going forward, but concerns around robustness and defensive zeal.

So, this area of the pitch needs addressing, particularly at LB/LWB. Former Brighton and Hull City youngster James Furlong (24) has been on trial, as has former Manchester United full-back Brandon Williams (25). One that makes a lot of sense would be Stockport’s Ryan Rydel, who is 25. Potential loanees could be Ethan Sutherland (20) from Wolves or Jon Esenga (19) from Fulham.

CM

Jamie Jellis and Ossama Ashley have entered the building to join a midfield squadron with Kian Spence and Brandon Cover, who can play RWB or in defensive midfield. Rotherham will surely look for more experience in this midfield area, particularly someone who can control a game from deep – someone like Lee Evans (31), for example.

Ben Close would be another option. The 29-year-old has recently been released by nearby Doncaster. Or, with MK Dons loading up on central midfielders, how about asking Liam Kelly (30) to stay in League Two and dictate things? A younger option would be Charlie Crew of Leeds, 10 years Kelly’s junior. Clarke Oduor (27) is a versatile left-footer who’d provide some value to the squad, as would Jay Mingi (25).

Jack Evans, recently relegated with Harrogate, would be high on my shopping list if I were Rotherham. The 25-year-old was able to stand out in a struggling team in his first season at the level. The Millers should be able to spend fees, particularly if and when Sam Nombe is sold, and this is exactly the sort of signing they should be making.

AM/W

There’s very little in the existing squad in these areas – just Marvin Kaleta, who has been hit and miss in a Millers shirt up, and Ar’jany Martha, who may not fancy League Two, having spent the two seasons prior to joining Rotherham playing (sparingly) in the Eredivisie and the Belgian Pro League.

In order to avoid waste in the squad spend, the likely team shape plays an important role here. If Alex Bruce is going to play a formation with wing-backs, there’s little point in splashing out on three or four winger types.

I’m a big fan of Reece Smith from Harrogate, and would recommend him to any League Two club. At 24, Smith is an energetic attacking midfielder who can impact the game in different ways and in any attacking midfield or wide role, so – depending on the asking price – he would be an asset to the squad. Ellis Taylor, 23 and also at Harrogate, is more of a classic winger than Smith but absolutely worth a punt for a League Two team.

ST

This should be a big focus for the recruitment team. With Nombe surely on his way out, Rotherham just have Fabio Tavares up top at this moment in time. If they’re to personify a classic Rotherham ’blood and thunder’ team, they need a focal point – a Michael Smith, a Jordan Hugill.

There’s been reported interest in Dajaune Brown at Derby in the past, and this could be a good time to snag the 20-year-old after he had a poor loan spell with Port Vale. Aaron Loupalo-Bi, also 20, is another loan option. Michael Mellon (22) seems to be available.

These are potentially good options, but not the focal point profile we’re after. You wonder if free agent Will Keane (33) might drop into League Two, but again we’re lacking dynamism. How about 22-year-old Samson Tovide, who is expected to leave Colchester but whose injury issues have scuppered moves to League One in the past? Any other realistic target man suggestions, please drop them in the comments!

There’s plenty of opportunity for Rotherham, who have big gaps in the squad and – we think – a decent budget to work with. What will Scott, McClaren and Bruce put together? The answer to that will dictate whether the Millers challenge for promotion, as expected by many, or struggle in the League One relegation quicksand.