Steve Evans talks to www.themillers.co.uk...
Rotherham United have further strengthened their squad with the double signing of Richard Wood and Ryan Hall.
Wood, an imposing defender who brings with him a decade of Championship experience, featured more than 20 times for Charlton Athletic last season, and will now join the Millers ensuring a return to the South Yorkshire area.
The defender, 28, began his career with Sheffield Wednesday as a youngster before making his debut in 2003 and went on to make almost 200 appearances for the Owls over a seven year period before joining Coventry City.
A regular at the heart of the Sky Blues defence, Wood soon surpassed 100 appearances at the Ricoh Arena and spent last season in the Championship with Charlton.
“Some of the Millers fans will know Richard well from his time at Sheffield Wednesday,” manager Steve Evans told www.themillers.co.uk
“Last season he featured heavily for Charlton but we became aware that Richard was keen to clinch a move closer to South Yorkshire. We were obviously interested and we are delighted that Richard has chosen to sign, and he arrives here with a glowing reference from his former manager Chris Powell who couldn’t praise him enough.
“The success story of the last two years in this region has been Rotherham United and with Richard’s family connections to the region, it became a perfect fit. It was a deal that we have worked really hard on over the last few days and I am delighted to have got it over the line. We managed to finalise the deal in the last 24 hours and we add Richard to what looks like a very talented squad and I am sure he will have a huge part to play for this club.
“He is an experienced defender with many games behind him at this level who plays predominantly on the left-side of the central pairing, whilst he can also do a good job at left-back if called upon. He is extremely good at reading the game, his positional sense is very good and he has a very accomplished left foot. He can come out of defence with the ball at his feet and he can link the play, he has plenty of attributes and I think our fans will really take to him.”
Hall, a winger who made his name with Southend United, joins after finishing last season strongly with MK Dons.
After adding Mat Sadler to his ranks last week along with Wood today, the Millers chief moved to strengthen his attacking options by landing the former Leeds United wide-man, as he continues to peruse his summer shopping list ahead of the August 9th kick off.
“Ryan made his name with an impressive spell at Southend where he was simply stunning which earned a big money move to Leeds United,” said Evans of 26-year-old Hall.
“It was a great move for him but it is fair to say that he went off the rails for a time otherwise I firmly believe he would still be playing at Elland Road.
“During our discussions we spoke about the mistakes he made and we believe that he has matured as an individual now. He knows that if he doesn’t play here then he won’t earn money, that is the incentive for him to keep himself on the right path.
“Time will tell with Ryan, we have given him a wonderful opportunity to join and play for a wonderful football club and he knows we won’t stand for any nonsense.
“We know he has tremendous ability, those who remember his performance at MK Dons this season at New York will have seen that. He will arrive here and will work hard getting him extremely fit under the Paul Warne fitness camp, and if we get him in great shape we will have a tremendous player in Ryan Hall. He is another very exciting signing.”