Cant believe nobody has mentioned King Ronnie or Tiger Towner or Rod Fern. All 3 came to us without fanfare or great expectations but History tells another story.
Bobby Williamson from West Brom reserves - and Smudge of course
Maybe I read the OP wrong? I thought this was about players who went on to be better than expected when they left us not about players who were better than expected after they joined us?
Somebody who went on to exceed expectations after his stint at Rotherham would be Keith Kettleborough. An excellent mid-field passer of the ball in the Beckenbauer mold, he really came into his own after he was sold to Sheffield United and helped them get promotion to the First Division/Championship. He was a regular in that fairly successful team in the mid-sixties (highest finish fifth; FA Cup Semi-Finalists) and moved to Newcastle. In the run-up to the 1966 World Cup he was selected as part of Alf Ramsay's initial squad of prospective players but didn't make the cut for the final squad.
He was also a pretty decent cricketer
Last edited by CTMilller; 14-03-2019 at 03:45 PM.