Earlier today Millwall confirmed that Shaun Williams had signed a new 12 month extension to his contract.
The Irish midfielder signed his 12 month extension but the deal does already include an option for a further 12 months, and with 147 starting appearances for the club with a further eight from the substitutes bench following his arrival back in January 2014, clearly he’s an important member of the squad.
Speaking to the official site as he penned his new terms, Williams explained.
‘I’m really over the moon. Having such success last season made it an easy decision for me to sign another contract. I’m delighted to finally get it all sorted out. I have been here for three-and-a-half years and have had a lot of ups and downs – but I’ve loved every minute of my time here.’
Having more than played his part in helping us back into the Championship, the 30 year old went on to say.
‘It’s a whole new ball game for us. You look at the teams, the budgets and the players that are in the division and it will be a different beast next season. Hopefully we can hold our own and do the club proud.’
As for Harris, he was clearly delighted to have the player tied down for the coming campaign.
‘I’m delighted – Willo has been immense for us. When I took over, I changed the style of play from a possession based team to a slightly more direct style of play, a more Millwall team with a lot of second ball regains and a lot of higher pressure. It took Shaun a while to adapt to that, but his ability is there to be seen. He has adapted his natural game to fit into our team and that is the measure of the man – a real team player. His performances this last year have been really consistent and arguably he was one of our best players during the course of the season. I’m delighted to tie him down. He has Championship experience and he is a good leader within our group.’
Harris went on to say that competition for places will be as important as ever as we head back to the second tier.
‘It’s important to have competition for places. There’s going to be a need to adjust in certain games next season – a need to adjust from our style of play that has served us well for two years. We won’t come too far away from the ethos of what I believe in, but we will have to be versatile and Shaun gives us that. Whether it’s in a two-man or three-man midfield, or at centre-half, there’s plenty there to work with. He’s complemented Ben Thompson, Jimmy Abdou and Calum Butcher with his performances over the last season, so it was important to keep him here. In stepping up a level, you need good players that will cope with being under pressure week in, week out. If they aren’t, then they know they’ve got people breathing down their neck.’
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