You want plus points? You can HAVE a plus point!
Credit crunch? The new whiter-than-white Rotherham United - red all over the place for ages - are in the black.
And we're talking before this game ever kicked off. Note that the chairman (Tony Stewart) said in midweek the club is in the black with no debt. A positive.
But, come three o'clock, supporters were interested in only the playing version of being in the black. The opportunity to get rid of the minus 17 and go to plus one. Yes, everybody had done their maths this week.
Well, after a first half when they trooped off somewhat red-faced - probably to be greeted by a similarly-coloured manager - they sorted matters out in emphatic style in a tremendous second-half display.
At the end, as they trooped off after their huddle, there was a lovely moment as the majority of fans stayed on to give them a really special ovation with real feeling.
For the second-half performance and the 4-1 win? No.
This was all about supporters showing their appreciation of the players for clawing back that minus 17 and getting into plus points already.
Never can such fuss have been made over a team having one point after nine matches. But, make no mistake, this has been a pretty monumental effort to have dumped this particular baggage by this stage of the journey.
Yes, you can make such adversity work for you, but we have seen in two or three games, say Lincoln on opening day, against fellow deductees Luton and in the first half here, when it did have an effect on them.
So desperately were they aware of the situation, it certainly affected them in some way in this particular fixture.
Perhaps Mark Robins and his merry men got fed up hearing repeatedly beforehand that a win would put them in plus points.
Against a side without a manager or a win, the inference was obvious and the expectation sky-high.
Yes, no problem then - "and how nice to reach this particular milestone in front of your own fans" went the line.
However, Grimsby decided to have their own slant on it. With their own zero mark in the 'win' column, they arrived knowing making it into a '1' would leave them eight points ahead of the Millers.
A huge difference when a home win means the gap would be only two points!
Once they had survived a second-minute headed chance over the top from the ever-improving Micky Cummins, the Mariners made a mockery of their struggles.
They were bright and lively, played with freedom and worked hard to nullify Rotherham and they quickly got men back behind the ball.
Indeed, they looked to be enjoying causing the Millers anxiety and you couldn't deny they deserved the 28th-minute lead from Danny Boshell.
He strucksuperbly from left-side of centre with the outside of his right foot into the far top corner beyond Andy Warrington's left hand.
Rotherham finally got some sort of sustained possession in the final stages but then came Don Valley's first real grumblings as they walked off, although I've yet to find a ground where fans cheer their team off for being behind following a poor first-half display.
What do fans do when they've turned up with big expectations and want to display their frustration at half-time? They boo and have a grumble.
Don't know why we media types always have to mention it as though it's a rarity.
Robins touched on it afterwards saying he'd rather the fans be behind them as they walked off, but he did acknowledge team and fans bounce off each other and the team have to give them something to cheer about.
In the second half, they did.
The transformation began four minutes in courtesy of a deliciously-inviting centre from Alex Rhodes that deserved the headed finish it got from Reuben Reid, his fifth goal of the season.
You could see the Grimsby body language change. They'd done so well and, suddenly, they were back to all square.
On 57 minutes, after another piece of hold-up involvement from Drewe Broughton, Mark Hudson's 20-yarder somehow got under the dive of Phil Barnes at the near post.
Grimsby players visibly threw up their arms in despair of the situation they suddenly found themselves in and, thereafter, it became a case of how many more.
Barnes saved at Rhodes'feet, Broughton couldn't put away a clear chance and Ian Sharps had a header cleared off the line.
But Cummins, with a superb strike from 30 yards, effectively settled the game as a contest with a shade over 20 minutes to go.
There was a nice moment when the fans rose in huge acclaim to the return of Richie Barker off the bench.
They remember what they always got from him in terms of effort, heart and application (although he'll not be running about as he did in those first 10 adrenalin-pumped minutes or he'll be knackered by Christmas).
But he's brought back, too, quite a scoring record acquired in the four years since he left and demonstrated it with a typical far-post header from another superb Rhodes centre - a combination that might well bear more fruit along the way.
So, ahead of schedule - by about three weeks to a month, I reckon - the Millers can start on the next stage.
Just as, for me, October and its summer farewell is when the season really starts, that really is the case for Rotherham United now.
The long haul ahead represents another new challenge for the men whose
efforts so far have proved inspirational.
CLICK ON THE GREEN PLAY BUTTON ABOVE TO SEE MATCH PICTURESWhat do you think? Post your comments below. READ MORE Blades Watch 08-09 - The Season So FarOwls Watch 08-09 - The Season So FarWatch Premiership highlights, international football, golf, tennis, darts and much moreFootball headlinesMore BladesMore OwlsMore SpireitesMore RoversMore RedsMore MillersMore Ice HockeyMore rugby leagueMore rugby unionMore boxingSports columnistsAll sport categoriesThe full article contains 1069 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
