Former Hibs manager Alan Stubbs has been backed to turn around Rotherham’s poor start to the season following showdown talks with chairman Tony Stewart.
A painful 4-0 thrashing at the hands of local rivals Barnsley before the international break left the Millers in the English Championship relegation zone with four points from their opening five matches.
Chairman Stewart was so appalled by the manner of the loss that he summoned Stubbs, who led Hibs to Scottish Cup glory for the first time in 114 years in May, for face-to-face talks.
Speaking to the Sheffield Star, he said: “I like Alan and I like his number two, John Doolan, and Taff (first-team coach Andy Holden) was in the Premier League for a long time with David Moyes at Everton.
“There’s quality there and intelligence.
“I don’t like losing. I’m a bad loser. I’m shocking. It’s a weakness and hopefully it’s a strength.
“On the Monday, we had a meeting. You have to get everything out – the passion, everything – and say what you mean and mean what you say. When you’ve done all that, you then get on with the job and everyone is friends and pally. That’s how I run my business.
“What I would say is that if you do nothing, everything will be the same.
“You don’t want a knee-jerk reaction but you want to say: ‘Look, that’s happened. We don’t want it to happen again.’
“Losing, you commiserate but you don’t do it with a sulk. You do it with strong negotiations, making sure you don’t repeat the mistakes that have gone before.”
