Rotherham United manager Steve Evans has been handed a whopping six-match ban and £3000 fine following a controversial incident when in charge of Crawley Town. In a statement released by the Football Association, Evans was charged with “using abusive and insulting words towards a participant in or around the dressing room” in the aftermath of Crawley’s stormy clash with Bradford City back in March.
Bradford City v Crawley Town Match Brawl
The incident happened at the end of the match in March resulted in the referee following the players into the tunnel and issuing 5 red cards.
However, it will be current club Rotherham who will be reeling from the news, with the South Yorkshire club now set to miss their manager for up-coming matches against Torquay, Rochdale, Barnet, Oxford, Accrington and York. The ban means Evans will not be allowed inside any of the stadiums on match day, and only time will tell if his presence has a negative effect on his side’s performances on the pitch.
Evans surprisingly left Crawley in April to become manager of Rotherham. While Crawley were eventually promoted up to League One, the Millers could only finish 10th. They have since made an average start to the new season, with seven points from their opening five games, a tally which puts them 10th in League Two. However, they have been dumped out of both the Capital One Cup and Johnstone's Paint Trophy at the first hurdle, and on top of that suffered a 6-2 thrashing at the hands of Port Vale last weekend.
Despite that heavy defeat Rotherham remain the 4/1 favourites with Paddy Power to win League Two, while they have odds of just 5/6 to get promoted at the end of the season. Evans, who has decided not to appeal the ban, will start his suspension immediately, therefore missing his side’s match at home to Torquay on Saturday. Paddypower have priced the Millers as the 10/11 favourites, while Torquay can be backed at 14/5, with a draw available at 12/5.
