Michael Smith has acknowledged his reputation at Rotherham will be 'tainted' after he joined Sheffield Wednesday.

The striker, who scored 19 goals for Paul Warne's side as they won promotion to the Championship last season, will be playing in the third tier once again after rejecting a new deal with the Millers to sign for the Owls.

As you would expect, that didn't go down well among the Rotherham support, particularly as Smith had been with the club for over four years.

However, speaking to the Rotherham Advertiser, the 30-year-old opened up on the move as he admitted he knew it would impact the way he was felt by the fans who had cheered him on over the years.

"I'm a smart enough lad to know that my Rotherham reputation built up over four and a half years is going to be tainted now. I made the decision and I'm big enough to take everything that comes with it. I've given my all for the club. It's really sad that it's ended this way.

"Football is completely ruled by emotion and I 'get' the response to what I've done. Hopefully, once the dust has settled a bit, people might understand. They might not. That's just part and parcel of it."

The verdict

You can understand why the Rotherham fans are angry as Smith was loved by them and when you drop down a division you leave yourself open to accusations that you aren't moving for football reasons.

Having said that, Wednesday are a big club and the chance to be the key man at Hillsborough to help them back to the Championship obviously appealed.

Overall, you can see why he has done the interview here but most Rotherham fans won't have much time for Smith now after the way he left.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.