‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’: Rotherham faithful brutally take aim at players including popular Portsmouth title winner as Steve Evans sacked
‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’ and ‘We want Evans out’ rang around the New York Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
They were the Rotherham fans’ calls, after their side were comprehensively beaten 4-0 in League One by relegation-threatened Crawley.
As a result, boss Steve Evans was sacked after less than a year in charge of the Millers. The 62-year-old’s men had lost seven of their previous 11 matches, with the latest disappointment against the 22nd-placed Red Devils solidifying a difficult month of March.
There was a familiar Pompey face amongst Saturday’s controversy, with title winner Joe Rafferty playing the full 90 minutes in what proved to be a toxic afternoon for everyone involved at the New York Stadium.
The 31-year-old solidified himself as first-choice right-back under Evans, following his free-transfer move from Fratton Park last summer. That had seen the popular defender amass 36 games in all competitions prior to the former Leeds and Stevenage boss’ sacking.
Indeed, there was no escaping the frustrations in South Yorkshire, with boos ringing out when Crawley took the lead after 15 minutes. It continued to escalate, with chants directed at Evans, owner Tony Stewart as well as Rafferty and his Rotherham team-mates as goals continued to pour in.
That ultimately cost Evans his job - just days after insisting he still had the backing from the Millers’ hierarchy.
The writing was very much on the wall after the defeat on Saturday, though, with the head coach dropping a hint on his future as well as heavily criticising his players.
Speaking after the loss, he told BBC Radio Sheffield: ‘There's no hiding place when you have a performance like that. The performance was limp, way off the minimum standards we expect. Everything that my teams have been famous for was not deployed. I think this is as low as it's been in 31 years as a manager.
‘Maybe my credit's run out. I've had fantastic times at this club and, if the decision is made to remove me, I'll be back in the future as a fan.’
Rafferty and his fellow team-mates, which include fellow Pompey title winner Sean Raggett, will be looking to put this season’s difficulties behind them as they begin life without Evans.
The Millers have already named the head coach’s successor, with former Derby caretaker boss Matt Hamshaw taking temporary charge for the remainder of the campaign. The Millers currently sit 16th in League One on 45 points.
Rafferty will bid to stake his claim to remain first-choice right-back having featured 31 times in the league this season. Fellow team-mate Raggett hasn’t had as much joy, having registered just 11 appearances in all competitions this term.