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First his mentor and long standing head groundsman Bill Corby is made redundant as the Millers looked to save money during administration, then a last minute move to Don Valley Stadium, and a pitch that has only had Javelins, metal balls and rugby on it to sort out.
Speaking to the Advertiser, the Millers new head groundsman Jim told of the work he's been upto on that once bobbly pitch at DVS.
"The pitch at Don Valley has never been used for football. It's always been for rugby and athletics and to get it ready for football was a big task because the requirements are so different. Normally, on a professional football ground, you get six to eight weeks at the end of the season to rip a pitch up, re-seed and dress it, as happened at Millmoor. We didn't have that luxury. We had to grab a week here and there." he said
"It's an unusual situation. We have to treat the pitch as if it's ours even though it doesn't belong to us. There's rugby matches on it between February and September. The Eagles do most of their training elsewhere now but still do one light session on it once a week, without boots." Jim added.
Jim is no stranger to working on grass though, having worked at Doncaster Racecourse and Worksop Town, even though Jim was full of praise for former groundsman at Millmoor Bill Corby; "Bill was good. If you can't learn things off him, you can't do the job,"
"It's a challenge but given the right tools we stand a good chance of making it a really good playing surface, although we're still not 100 per cent there with it. We've done our own renovations here and there and I can honestly say it's getting better every day. It's come a long way since that first pre-season friendly against Derby."
"I've supported Rotherham all my life and this is all I've ever wanted to do. Ever since I was a lad I wanted things to look nice and I'd always take notice of parks and greens. At the moment I can't wait to get up in the morning. It's a great job. I'm working with nice people and Tony Stewart is a good guy to work for. The money is there to help us do our job."
"We get lot of help from Don Valley's own groundsman, Matt and Dave, and all the help we want from Pat (Smith) and Richard (Exley). Whenever I ask for new grass seed or fertilisers, they are only too willing to help."
Although we've yet to even seen firm plans on the much talked about new stadium, Jim is hoping to be looking after the grass there; "I want to be around for the new stadium and put my stamp on it, I can't wait for us to go there. It's what everyone wants." he said