Billy Mulley
Opposition View: Luton Town vs Rotherham United
Luton Town welcome Rotherham United to Kenilworth Road tomorrow afternoon and will be eager to secure all three points ahead of the upcoming international break.
ORH spoke to ??? of New York talk to hear the views from the other side of the fence ahead of this fixture
Tell us about your Rotherham supporting history!
Much like Luton our history has been up and down which leads to plenty of stressful moments, nail biting ending and moments of pure joy. We have changed division for the last 6 seasons, so we have had some dark days with relegation, but some epic moments with promotions. One thing for Rotherham United is that it is not boring, most fans would kill for a boring 18th place finish this season.
What have you made of your start to the season?
The start has been very positive and better than most expected. Before Paul Warne leaving, we were sitting in the top half after only 1 defeat at the end of September. It is fair to say that caused a fair amount of turbulence and we went on a run of 3 games winless. It took Matt Taylor a few games to get settled but our performances have now moved up a level, trying to use the ball more efficiently and move the ball around more which has seen us push some of top teams very hard recently with us beating Sheffield United most recently.
Big Luton connection in Peter Kioso - How he has fared up since returning from injury?
He has only started two games for us so far, but in those two games Millers fans have already taken to him. His attacking threat is obvious, but his physicality has probably surprised most fans and gives us a great outlet and another option in an area we are already very strong in. the World cup break has come at a bad time for him as he has just started to get some minute under his belt.
Dan Barlaser oozes class every time I see him - How important is he in this current Rotherham set up?
Dan Barlaser is probably our most important player at the minute. With Matt Taylor’s new style of trying to keep the ball for longer periods he is key to this. What is impressive about him is that he looks so good on the ball, the game seems to slow down for him. But also he seems to enjoy the “dirty” side of the game, not afraid to get stuck in or chase the ball back to his own goal. He is helped by the two midfielders next to him Ollie Rathbone and Jamie Lindsay who’s work rate seems to allow him a little more time and space. If you can keep Dan Barlaser quiet, you have a good chance of winning the game.
What have you made of Luton this season?
You know what you get from Nathan Jones Luton, I was a little surprised by the slow start but not surprised with the up turn in form. It feels like a good time to face Luton, we saw the effect of losing a long term manager in Paul Warne this season and it took a lot out of the our team so would expect that this time as well. Having said that I see our former manager Mick Harford has taken over temporarily, he obviously knows your club very well and has maybe an added motivation with his time with us not being very successful back in the 00’s.
Score prediction?
With the change in manager I would have to back us, I will say 2-1 to Rotherham United!