Rotherham tired of milling away in League 2

Rotherham United were 90 minutes away from League One football last season. They reached the Playoff Final but lost out to a determined Dagenham side. It had followed an end to the season that could best be described as poor, but now Ronnie Moore will be more determined than ever to get the Millers up.

Rotherham United have been one of the better sides in the division since arriving in 2007, you'd only have to ask Lincoln fans about that as the Millers have won all six meetings in that time. After barely missing out on the Playoffs for the previous two seasons, Rotherham finally made the end of season lottery last season, but they went into them on bad form.

There were long spells where it appeared Rotherham would possibly even get automatic promotion and a 3-1 win against Macclesfield at the end of the season put them into third place by a point over Bournemouth with eight to play. That win also moved them ten points ahead of Dagenham and Redbridge. However, the Millers would win just one more time during the normal season and even failed to score in five of their final seven League games.

A final day 3-0 defeat to Hereford dropped Rotherham to fifth and they would face a half-decent Aldershot side in the Playoffs. Despite being fortunate with the away leg that had seen a dreadful backpass gift Adam Le Fondre the winning goal, Rotherham cruised to the final after a 2-0 win in the second leg, meaning a 3-0 win over Accrington.

It set up a final at Wembley with Dagenham and Rotherham were heavy favourites as Dagenham had only made it into the Playoffs very late on, Rotherham even managed more goal attempts than their opponents during the game. Benson gave Dagenham the lead before Taylor equalised for the Millers less than a minute later. Green restored Dagenham's lead and they managed to make it last five minutes this time before Rotherham equalised. However, Rotherham had no answer to Jon Nurse's 70th minute winner and Dagenham were promotion.

It was yet more heartbreak for Ronnie Moore (right), whom had missed out on the League One Playoffs on the final day at Scunthorpe 12 months earlier with Tranmere. Moore was surprisingly sacked for failing to get Tranmere into the Playoffs, but he was replaced the departed Mark Robins at Rotherham. Moore had already managed Rotherham for eight years just a few years previously, and had even finished top of a poll amongst Rotherham fans as the best ever Rotherham player.

Moore initially became Rotherham manager after being appointed from Southport in 1997 and his first season saw a respectable 9th place finish in Division 3. They made the Playoffs a year later before successive promotions saw them reach the Championship, they even briefly flirted with a Playoff place. However, Moore left in the club during their ill-fated 2004/5 season, in which they only won twice at home.

A brief spell at Oldham followed before a three year stint at Tranmere ended with the aforementioned controversial sacking. Moore's overall record in professional management sees 252 wins from 676 games, with 234 defeats and 190 draws. His record just at Rotherham is 441 matches, 161 wins, 150 lost and 130 draws.

Rotherham have been busy in the transfer window and have brought in some excellent signings. Ryan Cresswell and Tom Newey both joined from Bury, Marcus Marshall from Blackburn, Ashworth from Leyton Orient, Mark Bradley from Charlton, Tom Elliott on loan from Leeds and Exodus Geohaghon on an "emergency" loan from Peterborough. Rotherham also missed out on the signing of Pawel Abbott during the summer.

Ian Sharps, Mark Lynch, Pablo Mills, Drewe Broughton and Mark Lynch all left the Don Valley Stadium, however, the most important outgoing transfer was actually one that didn't happen. Rotherham have kept Adam Le Fondre, one of, if not the best striker in the division.

Le Fondre (left) is closing on 100 League goals before the age of 25, an impressive achievement in anyone's books. He currently sits on 81 goals from 205 games, averaging a goal roughly every two and a half games, and his goals are vital for the Millers, even though he does tend to fall over rather easily. His 25 League goals gained Rotherham a whopping 22 points last season, no other striker currently in the division even comes close. He also had a fine record of scoring in knockout games, scoring five goals in the cups.

He is the best striker in the division and has scored goals wherever he has played and he will surely play above League Two. If he wasn't such a diver then he's probably have more respect amongst the fans of League Two.

Overall Rotherham are still one of the better sides in the division and should challenge up the top of the table again, however, relying on just one regular goalscorer is very dangerous. They would have had the option of Ryan Taylor had he not broken his fifth metatarsal. The striker had scored both of their Playoff Final goals and had a decent run at Exeter.

I can see Rotherham finishing 5th for a second season in a row and you'd fancy them to reach the final again, but whether they fail to go up agan remains to be seen.