Match Thread Millwall v Notts Forest KO 3pm
- Thread starter mamalion
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norwichmark
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Isn’t it great that Danny and billy are frequently our mom
norwichmark
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Said before opposing centre halves love strolling through the middle to well into our half
CrawLion
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Very disappointing afternoon at the Den, felt like Grabban had personally lifted twenty quid from my wallet at the end. Topped off by the bearded wonder cupping his ear to the West stand on his crawl back to the restart.
Played so well until our most effective attackers had to leave the field, followed by the bizarre replacement of Ojo by Tommo. Good to see him back but imo Burey or Mahoney would have been more apt replacements.
Hutchinson had a torrid time coping with their big No 9 but to be fair no one else could tackle him either. Was pleasantly surprised when he went off. If they want to swap Jed for him that would be fine with me, just what we need a big unit, good with his feet, who can bully defenders
Played so well until our most effective attackers had to leave the field, followed by the bizarre replacement of Ojo by Tommo. Good to see him back but imo Burey or Mahoney would have been more apt replacements.
Hutchinson had a torrid time coping with their big No 9 but to be fair no one else could tackle him either. Was pleasantly surprised when he went off. If they want to swap Jed for him that would be fine with me, just what we need a big unit, good with his feet, who can bully defenders
Stompie
Well-known member
Apologies for the late reply. I make your right about the fitness. No team can keep Intensity up for 90 minutes, but we seem to abuse that notion. It's not a problem limited to Rowett, we had It under Harris and before him so I don't know who to apportion blame to.
It Is a managers job to get the team fit and conditioned, organised and playing with a degree of pupose. The control of the training ground Is the managers prerogative and he Is the one who sets the standards that should turn out on to the pitch. So If he Is happy with It then the buck has to fall with him.
However, as this Is not a problem related to his tenure, and from what I've seen It's clearly a piss poor set up, It makes me question why are the club allowing this to be the norm? Do that have no Idea what goes on at the training ground? Have they agreed that the players and staff don't have to work hard In lieu of not paying them more money? Do they just not care?
None of our players are good at crossing. They ain't that good at passing either. No amount of training and pratice Is going to make you David Beckham or Xavi If you ain't got that natural gift, but It will Improve you tenfold and you'll be more likely to be able to make a 15 yard pass Into space and you'll be able to direct a ball Into a rough vicinity Instead of struggling to get It past the first man. Why Is this not happening? Why are our players not getting fitter? Fuck me when was the last time you saw a player Improve at Millwall. They all seem to get worse and stale the longer they stay with us and It had to come from our training set up. I worry for McNamara and Mitchell.
Again how much of this Is down to the manager and how much Is a club problem? We haven't Imtpoved our training In years but a self respecting manager will put his stamp on a team and gets them working because It's a reflection on him and his abilities. If Rowett's happy with the way we go about It all then It doesn't say alot about the character or mentality of the man. He gives me the Impression he's just here for the job security and wage and not the football or the desire to win. Sooner rather than later I think he will be taking us down the depths of the table
Going back to the original point, I think It's about more than fitness though as the players all seem to drop off collectively, like a switch has been flicked, and that Is not a coincidence. We have complete mentality and character shifts where we are chalk and cheese, where even players who were lively as fuck loose all Impetus to try and find a way unless they are given the ball on a plate. We go from making runs, overlapping, pulling defenders away and looking for the counter to dropping deep, standing still, getting In each others way, and hitting passes aimlessly. It's because this seems to happen all at once and not In the different stages that would happen when players dropped off due to their own levels of fitness that makes me think there Is something negative and obstinate projected on to them from the management. Running out of puff Is one thing, running out of desire Is another entirely.
Life with the Lions
Well-known member
This.
Stompie, you’re 100% right, and it’s why me and others on here, want Rowett out! We know he won’t go of his own accord (as you said, job security and all that), and JB won’t sack him when he has got us safe in mid table, so until something catastrophic happens, like hitting the relegation places with no chance of survival, it looks like Rowett will be with us for a long time!
I put some of the blame for this on JB and the board! Berylson is a savvy businessman, and has done a lot for our club (and we all thank him for that), but is he a savvy football chairman? He says he has an affinity for us, but does an American, brought up on American sports, really understand who we are as Millwall supporters, what our club means to us, and what we want to see from our players when they cross that white line: hunger, pride, passion, hard graft, as well as wanting a manager who understands and wants those same things as well? His choice of Gary Rowett as our manager tells me he’s not in sync with most of our supporters. The same can be said of him appointing Steve Kavanagh, a man with previous ties to the Vermin and the Spotters, and someone that a lot of our supporters don’t trust or like! It could be said that had Berylson had someone else other than Kavanagh as his CEO, the club might be in a better place than it is now!
I appreciate that, as an American, he is going to spend most of each year living and working in the US, so for him, it is imperative that he has a strong team supporting him and his interests over here in dear old Blighty! The question is, does he have that strong team? I think many of us would say no, he doesn’t! We all know that Kavanagh is shit at what he does, and we can’t trust him, but is Berylson, living thousands of miles away, able to trust him as well? Is JB having the wool pulled down over his eyes when it comes to the day to day running of the club?
Does JB really know how shit the club shop is? Does he know how shit and badly priced the food is on match days? Is there someone (Kavanagh?) keeping him up to date about the Jed and Bradshaw situations, as well as the need for potential new signings? I ask all this because it just seems to me that JB doesn’t have as firm a grip on the tiller, as he should have!
What exactly, after nearly 15 years of being our chairman, does John Berylson want to achieve for Millwall Football Club? He has been a great benefactor to our club over the years, especially dealing with the ramifications of relegation and now Covid, but what is Berylson’s end game here? Does he want us to get promotion, or is he secretly happy to finish anywhere between 7th and 15th in the league, every year? If it’s the former, then to be sure of getting his £40M back, he has to make available the funds for Rowett to buy the necessary players to get us that promotion! If it’s the latter, then it strikes me that he has no ambition for the club, and if that’s the case, then why is he still funding the day to day losses of the club, out of his own pocket, with no positive end result?
It would be easier and simpler for Berylson to be actively looking to find a buyer who will pay him his £40M back, thus allowing him to sever all ties completely with the club and go off and enjoy semi-retirement, if that’s what he wants to do! At the moment, with the exception of Rowett’s 3 year plan (which looks to have been scuppered because of Covid), and knowing that there’s going to be a new training facility built, no one knows what other plans the club has (if any), or what direction the club wants to go in!
Stompie
Well-known member
No he don't. Not a chance. He probably thinks he dose but that Is far from the same thing. You can't just Invest, attend a few games, talk to few fans and then be Millwall. You can't just appropriate Wall, you have to live It. Even cunts 5 miles from us don't understand It. It's an anomaly to them. A rich Yank, even one well Intentioned, has little to no chance.
Believing he's one of us and that he 'gets us' Is bordering on Spotters territory.
Rowett looked a good apointment at the time and It made sense to give him the job so I can't knock the chairman for that. Things don't look so rosy now with his football and negativity, but that Is a fans problems, not a chairmans at this current time. What he will see Is that the manager Is keeping us competitive through a difficult period with little Investment required, against what may seem the odds. However we can all see It's unfeasible In the medium term so, If he was conscientious, I would hope he Is looking about how we can move forward from him when either his contract Is up or things look a bit brighter.
If he could do his job for us well and with dedication for us as a club and fan base then It wouldn't matter who he has worked with before. As It Is the geezer Is a cunt. But the last one was also a cunt. I will go out on a limb and say that most corporate men and women Involved In football are cunts so It don't leave much room for manover. However the chairman, If he did get us, would understand that this man Is the enemy of Wall fans and Is hurting the club with his running of It and that maybe he wasn't best placed to do the job with his previous club experience.
If he his Involved then he ain't as good a businessman and judge of character as he believes.
This Is the big question and one I have no Idea about but It scares me thinking about It. He certainly ain't doing It all for love though. The more money he Invests to keep us treading water the less he Is going to recuperate. When he does decide to leave you can be sure the deal will benefit him a hell of a lot more than It will benefit us. We will be fucked.
No one will pay that money for us. Not unless they can utilise all the land and knock out a shopping parade and a monstrosity of flats and charge us as much money as possible for the privalige of being Millwall.
Rowett never had a three year plan. I doubt If he has a three week plan. The direction for now should be to stay as stable as possible and to keep as many fans onside as possible. However, that would mean treating the fans with respect and trust and our football Improving so I'd say we're In for a bumpy next season and a half.
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Life with the Lions
Well-known member
“Rowett never had a three year plan. I doubt If he has a three week plan.” 
Thanks, Stompie, that really made me laugh!
I agree on your points, especially your thoughts on Berylson and Kavanagh!
On the point that no one would buy us for £40M (Berylson’s refunded money), I think I’d read on here previously that perhaps Huski are interested in buying us? Of course that might be just a load of old bollox, but I think Huski certainly have the money to fund us!
If there is something in Huski being interested in buying us, the question still remains: why is Berylson still our chairman? Like you, I don’t understand Berylson’s end game here!
Thanks, Stompie, that really made me laugh!
I agree on your points, especially your thoughts on Berylson and Kavanagh!
On the point that no one would buy us for £40M (Berylson’s refunded money), I think I’d read on here previously that perhaps Huski are interested in buying us? Of course that might be just a load of old bollox, but I think Huski certainly have the money to fund us!
If there is something in Huski being interested in buying us, the question still remains: why is Berylson still our chairman? Like you, I don’t understand Berylson’s end game here!