N-Ice And Easy Does It, Paul!

FAX machines, agents, Sky Sports News. Rotherham boss Paul Warne couldn’t give a flying puck about deadline day.

- Chris Dunlavy

While managers across the country scrambled for last-minute deals, the 44-year-old was sat with a beer and a hotdog watching the Sheffield Steelers play ice hockey.

“It was the most stress-free deadline I’ve ever had,” explained the Millers boss, who had already signed Matty Palmer from Burton and Michael Smith from Bury before adding Sheffield United striker Caolan Lavery to his squad.

“The three targets I wanted we got organised and got done pretty early. We were all done by mid-afternoon on deadline day, so I went to watch the Steelers.

Release

“I like any sport really. I’m all over NFL at the moment, but the ice hockey was something I got into last year.

“From January, it was brutal for us. Our results were horrendous, so it became a form of release for me and Matt Hamshaw, my coach. We used to go there with the kids and sort of decompress after a defeat. It was better than taking it all home.