Highlights
- Steve Evans returns to Rotherham United after Leam Richardson’s sacking.
- Evans has shone at Stevenage, promoting them from League Two and competing for League One play-offs.
- Rotherham already relegated to the third tier.
Stevenage have confirmed that manager Steve Evans has left the club to take up the vacant manager’s role at Rotherham United with immediate effect.
Evans joined Stevenage in March 2022 and helped the club avoid relegation from League Two that season, before a fantastic 2022/23 campaign which saw the club win promotion to League One and enjoy an FA Cup run that saw them record a famous win away to Aston Villa.
His side have continued on an upward trajectory this season, and with just two games to go, the club are six points off the top six – though goal difference means the play-offs are realistically out of reach. Given what he’s achieved with the club, it’s easy to see why Rotherham have moved for their former manager.
It makes sense for Rotherham United to appoint Steve Evans
With Leam Richardson leaving the club, Rotherham were in the market for a new manager, and it hasn’t taken them long to appoint a replacement.
Evans is well thought of at the New York Stadium thanks to his three-year spell at the club between 2012 and 2015, where he won two promotions, taking the club from League Two to the Championship, and helped them avoid relegation during the 2014/15 season.
|
Steve Evans’ time at Rotherham United manager |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Season |
League |
Finish |
|
2012/13 |
League Two |
2nd |
|
2013/14 |
League One |
4th (Play-off winners) |
|
2014/15 |
Championship |
21st |
With this in mind, it’s easy to see why the club have brought him back and after doing a good job this season in the third tier, Evans appears the perfect man to take the reins in South Yorkshire.
He’ll take over with immediate effect, which means he’ll have three games to assess the squad and see what needs to be worked on over the summer, and where he needs to strengthen his squad.
Sheffield United set to face competition for Rotherham United star
Johansson is attracting an increasing amount of interest, amid the Blades’ links to the goalkeeper.
This is a smart move from the Millers’ board as it’ll give Evans plenty of time to get things right before the 2024/25 League One campaign.
Rotherham are already relegated, but with games left against Birmingham, Bristol City, and Cardiff, the club will be hoping to earn some respect and go out with a bang after what’s been a really poor campaign.
Steve Evans leaving is a huge blow for Stevenage
Evans has worked miracles in Hertfordshire, and he’s turned a club who have been towards the lower reaches of the League Two table for the past couple of seasons into a side competing for Championship promotion for the vast majority of this season.
Evans was hugely popular with the Stevenage supporters, and they’ll be gutted to see him leave after he transformed the fortunes of the club in just over two years.
It would have come as a shock to them that it’s all happened so quickly, and most people would have expected him to see out the season at the very minimum.
Stevenage are one of the smallest clubs in League One and have definitely been punching above their weight this season, but Evans has certainly left the club in a better place than he found it when he first joined.
This is a huge blow for Stevenage, but they’ve got to dust themselves down and try and finish a memorable season as strongly as possible.
Finding the right replacement is going to be vital but it remains to be seen who that will be.
