Norwich take on Rotherham on Saturday afternoon in their first game back from the international break. Ahead of this, we spoke to Holly Hunt, a Rotherham United blogger for SHOOT magazine.
Who should Norwich be wary of?
Our attacking trio consisting of Danny Ward, Izzy Brown and Jon Taylor are gelling well at the minute. Danny Ward has stepped up to the plate and tops our scorer’s chart as it stands (not that it takes much doing!), tallying five goals which if I remember rightly, is up there with your Tammy Abraham’s and Dwight Gayle’s! Izzy Brown and Jon Taylor give him the goods to bang them in, though, and he wouldn’t be without them. Two young wingers with big futures ahead of them.
Which Norwich player do you fear the most?
I’m seeing a lot of love for Timm Klose on the ‘#NCFC’ hashtag but I do believe he’s picked up an injury whilst with Switzerland so that might provide an opening for Ward and co.! Nonetheless, he’s a defender so you’d have to say he’s be stopping us from getting through rather than posing an attacking threat. So, it has to be the Murphy brothers, surely? They’re on fire at the minute! They should know one another better than anyone so I think their sibling bond makes for double trouble too…
What do you think about Rotherham’s transfer business in the summer?
You’d think we’d be doing a bit better to say this is something like the most amount of players we’ve actually paid for in a transfer window. Our business was done late so maybe that explains it? I was incredibly disappointed that we failed to sign a fit and firing striker and ended up with Dexter Blackstock instead of Tom Bradshaw. No disrespect to Blackstock, of course, as we’ve not really had a chance to see him in full swing yet but that’s part of the problem. There’re times when everything seems to come together then we go and lose 4-2 to Blackburn… Izzy Brown is one of our signings of the summer but it’s just a shame he’s a loanee from Chelsea and not actually ours!
How has life under new boss Alan Stubbs been for Rotherham?
Bipolar. Results are up and down but I can see what he’s trying to do. It doesn’t divert from the fact that those who have come before him (namely, Neil Redfearn) who have tried to play ‘nice’ football have failed miserably and faced the axe. This pass-and-go isn’t really the Rotherham way. Digging deep and battling for it is like we saw under Neil Warnock. But he’s shipped out the players (namely, Richie Smallwood) who could have done that for us. As for the bloke himself, he’s not done himself too many favours by refusing to stand and clap the fans post-match, citing something about not needing to clap us to show his appreciation.
Where do you think Rotherham will finish this season?
Anywhere outside of the bottom three will do for me. I would have liked higher hopes than the past two campaigns but given our start and the strength of the Championship this year (not to use that cliché) I think fellow Millers would agree they’d just be chuffed to be in the second tier this time next term. If we carry on the way we are with little consistency, I hate to say we might not even make it any further than 22nd place, though. Newcastle at home most recently was an improvement in performance, despite the loss, I have to say.
Predicted XI?
Lee Camp; Darnell Fisher, Dael Fry, Dominic Ball, Joe Mattock (if fit); Jon Taylor, Lee Frecklingon, Greg Halford, Scott Allan; Izzy Brown Danny Ward.
Not that I would agree with some of those choices, it’s just what Alan Stubbs is likely to go with considering injuries to the likes of Tom Adeyemi. If Joe Mattock is injured then I’d imagine Halford will drop into that left-back role again and perhaps Will Vaulks into the midfield.
Score Prediction?
I’d love to be optimistic and say a Rotherham win but realistically: Norwich City 3-1 Rotherham United.
Thanks very much to Holly for speaking to us!
