No holiday camp for Rotherham United – Warne plumps for German build-up

Rotherham boss Paul Warne chose Germany as the location for his side's pre-season training camp so his players do not mistake it for a traditional holiday destination.
Paul Warne, manager of Rotherham United looks  (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images)Paul Warne, manager of Rotherham United looks  (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images)
Paul Warne, manager of Rotherham United looks (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images)

The Millers announced they will be spending a week in Barsinghausen in July, where they plan to play two friendlies.

It is a new destination for the club, having spent the last two years in the Austrian Alps and Warne was keen to freshen it up.

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“Pre-season camps are essential to us,” he said. “It has been fundamental to our success over the last couple of seasons, as it is with every club in every league.

“We work really hard in pre-season and we get everything we possibly can into them in terms of fitness and information. 

“The destination is pretty essential. I didn't want to go back to the same camp because a few of my players have been here for both of them, so I needed something different.

“I didn't want to go anywhere particularly glorious like Portugal or Spain because it always sounds more like a holiday, although it definitely isn't.”

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Warne's new recruitment team at the club have been told to spread the net far and wide in their search of players and that includes Germany.

The Millers have yet to announce their opposition on the tour, but Warne might get the chance to get a close-up view of some potential signings.

“We're going to the heart of Germany and we'll try and get a couple of games against German teams,” he said. “I've always looked at the Bundesliga 2 or 3 as a potential source for players, so it will be good to actually play against them to see how they compare to our team.”

Warne has said that he would like to have the majority of his signings through the door by the time they jet off on July 8 and there could be plenty of new faces on the plane.

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With the club suffering relegation from the Championship back to League One, Warne is expecting a fairly big turnover of players.

"I think this year there might be a little bit more of a shake-up," he said. "There might be a few new faces, which isn't a bad thing.

"We've had two good years out of this group and sometimes it comes to a natural end, although I'd like to keep the skeleton of the group together."