Matt Taylor proud to become first Rotherham boss to win at Sheff Utd since 1980

Posted Wednesday, November 09, 2022 by PA

Matt Taylor was proud to become the first Rotherham manager to win at Sheffield United since 1980.

Taylor succeeded where George Kerr, Billy McEwan, Ronnie Moore, Steve Evans and Paul Warne all failed by overseeing victory at Bramall Lane thanks to Ben Wiles’ first-half goal.

Wiles struck seven minutes before the break as the Millers, who were missing six first-team players due to injury, rewrote the history books with a 1-0 win.

Taylor, who took over from Warne last month, said: “We knew it before the game, I said about 1980 being a long time ago, I wasn’t born, but what it would be like for the fans to witness it.

“I used myself as an example because I am a Man Utd fan and the games I remember growing up are United-City, United-Liverpool, United-Leeds, the ones with a bit more spice about them.

“Local derbies mean more to the fans and that certainly meant more tonight.

“It means so much to the players because they have taken a few blows in the last few weeks and that is never nice.”

The Millers are making a real fist of staying in the Championship this year having yo-yoed between the second and third tiers in recent years and Taylor wants this victory to give belief to his players.

“It’s a big moment but you have to stay level as a manager,” he added.

“I have been frustrated in the last couple of games because I have felt sorry for the players, not for myself.

“Everyone is working so hard and it is a difficult league and we have not got what we deserved.

“We need to keep believing because we will go on runs where we lose games but the players have to keep finding belief.

“If these last 10 days have shown anything it shows we can compete. If we look to add a bit more in January and keep moving forward then why can’t we.

“We have to dream about it a little bit more.”

The Blades could have gone top with victory against a side they usually routinely beat on their own ground.

However, they were a shadow of the side that blew promotion rivals Burnley away on Saturday.

Boss Paul Heckingbottom said: “From the first moment we didn’t play with the same pace and energy that we normally do.

“When you have got a team that is feeling that, conceding the first goal is the last thing you want to happen. We just fell below our levels, there are probably reasons, but we fell below our levels as a team. We weren’t at our best.

“That is the Championship right there, what we want to be able to do is overcome that.

“We could have won that game, of course we do, but we didn’t. I am not saying we deserved to win, the stats might say we did, but we didn’t play with the same energy. We weren’t at our best as a group.”