Freelance journo and Millwall fan Lucas Ball caught us up on summer at The Den as the Lions look to defy their limited budget and make good on their regular pre-season status as play-off dark horses.

How was last season for Millwall? I quite fancied you guys before it started but that didn’t materialise…

Overall, positive still given the circumstances despite the pre-season hopes of a top-six finish. We had multiple injury crises throughout the season as well as a couple of Covid outbreaks so to finish in the top-half was still a success. A few young players emerged and other, more established players developed their games. We also adapted to a new system that suits us better, in my opinion. There was disappointment with some of the loan signings not working and it once again left us needing to fill a gap in attack this summer.

Millwall’s 2020/21
Millwall 0-0 Stoke
Rotherham 0-1 Millwall Wallace 50
Millwall 1-1 Brentford Wallace 4 — Toney pen 19
Swansea 2-1 Millwall Bidwell 46, Cabango 68 — Bradshaw 51
Wycombe 1-2 Millwall Kashket 9 — Wallace pen 48, Leonard 63
Millwall 2-0 Luton Cranie og 45, Mahoney 79
Millwall 1-1 Barnsley Cooper 45 — Mowatt 44
Preston 0-2 Millwall Zohore 54, Wallace pen 84
Millwall 0-3 Huddersfield Koroma 18, Pipa 89, O’Brien 90
Norwich 0-0 Millwall
Sheff Wed 0-0 Millwall
Millwall 1-1 Cardiff Smith 35 — Moore 79
Millwall 1-1 Reading Wallace 45 — Joao 53
Birmingham 0-0 Millwall
Blackburn 2-1 Millwall Elliott 25, Armstrong 90 — Malone 34
Millwall 0-1 Derby Knight 69
Millwall 1-1 QPR Bodvarsson 70 — Chair 53
Boro 3-0 Millwall Watmore 13, 20, Tavernier 15
Bristol City 0-2 Millwall Bradshaw 17, Bennett 68
Millwall 1-1 Forest Bradshaw 47 — Mighten 49
Millwall 1-2 Coventry Wallace pen 74 — Cooper og 20, Hamer 26
Bournemouth 1-1 Millwall Solanke 45 — Smith 79
Forest 3-1 Millwall Ameobi 34, 70, Yates 83 — Thompson 89
Huddersfield 0-1 Millwall Malone 4
Millwall 0-0 Watford
Cardiff 1-1 Millwall Moore 71 — Flint og 9
Millwall 0-0 Norwich
Millwall 4-1 Sheff Wed Zohore pen 39, Malone 68, Thompson 69, Romeo 90 — Paterson 10
Reading 1-2 Millwall Semedo 17 — Smith 76, Bennett 85
Millwall 2-0 Birmingham Wallace 2, Thompson 75
Millwall 0-0 Wycombe
Luton 1-1 Millwall Adebayo 55 — Evans 90
Barnsley 2-1 Millwall Woodrow 2, Helik 59 — Bennett 6
Millwall 2-1 Preston Malone 39, Bennett 86 — Evans 12
Millwall 0-2 Blackburn Dack 18, Gallagher 75
Derby 0-1 Millwall Hutchinson 45
QPR 3-2 Millwall Austin 51, Johansen 67, De Wijs 86 — Wallace 6, Bennett 39
Millwall 1-0 Boro Hall og 31
Millwall 1-0 Rotherham Wallace 64
Stoke 1-2 Millwall Brown 41 — Wallace 35, Bennett 71
Millwall 0-3 Swansea Ayew 45, Lowe 76, 85
Brentford 0-0 Millwall
Millwall 1-4 Bournemouth Wallace 49 — Billing 16, Danjuma 27, Brooks 44, Solanke 67
Watford 1-0 Millwall Sarr pen 11
Millwall 4-1 Bristol City Wallace 5, Malone 31, Mitchell 52, Bradshaw 58 — Conway 16
Coventry 6-1 Millwall Shipley 16, McFadzean 45, Hyam 59, O’Hare 62, James 67, Walker 84 — McFadzean og 54

What do you make of the job Gary Rowett is doing?

A few called for his head after a really poor run from October to December last season where we won just once in 15 games, but I can honestly say I believed we should have stuck with him and think that opinion has since been vindicated. He's arguably the most tactically astute manager we've ever had and has the pulling power with players that we wouldn't have signed under previous managers. Under Rowett, we've pushed on both on and off the pitch and have really established ourselves as a mid-table or higher Championship side, which is a huge achievement for a club of our stature and budget. The job he's done since taking over has been very impressive.

Run us through your summer transfer activity and what you make of it…

We've made five signings so far, but any other business relies on outgoings.

Scott Malone signing on a permanent deal is a great piece of business - he was immense last season and even had his own goal of the season competition after netting some brilliant strikes. His energy is crucial in getting us up and down the pitch from left wing-back and he's got that quality to produce a moment of brilliance be it a cross, pass or scoring himself. George Long arrives to provide competition for Bartosz Bialkowski after Frank Fielding's release and seems to have done well in pre-season. Bialkowski is certainly the number one still heading into the campaign, but Long harbours big ambitions and believes he can play at the top level so will be looking to dislodge the Pole.

Dan Ballard impressed last season at Blackpool in League One and has been one of the standout performers in pre-season, with even Rowett surprised at how well he has performed and how quickly he has settled in. The Arsenal loanee adds depth at centre back and it will likely be between him and Murray Wallace with regards to who plays in the back three - most of the time - with Shaun Hutchinson and Jake Cooper.

Benik Afobe has scored goals at this level before and Rowett will be hoping to get the best out of him after a tough time at Stoke and away from football. He will likely lead the line with Jed Wallace once the season starts and could be the 10-15 goal striker that we so badly need to push for the Play-Offs.

Our lack of goals from midfield was a concern last season and George Saville has been brought in to try to combat that issue. He knows the club well with this being his fourth spell and offers both quality and energy from midfield. He'll be looking to replicate his last full season with us at this level where he netted 10 league goals.

We're still looking for another attacker but that would be reliant on the likes of Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Ben Thompson leaving, with deals hard to come by with League One sides. I'd love to see us go back in for Josh Windass given he can play as a ten and up front, which would also offer some much-needed creativity - though another bid seems unlikely at this stage.

Ins >>> George Saville, 28, CM, Boro, Undisclosed >>> Scott Malone, 30, LB, Derby, Free >>> George Long, 27, GK, Hull, Free >>> Daniel Ballard, 21, CB, Arsenal, Loan >>> Benik Afobe, 28, CF, Stoke, Loan

Outs >>> Shaun Williams, 34, DM, Pompey, Free >>> Shane Ferguson, 30, LM, Rotherham, Free >>> James Brown, 23, RB, St Johnstone, Free >>> Frank Fielding, 33, GK, Released

How’s pre-season gone?

Generally, quite well. We've tested ourselves against better opposition than we usually do, which can only be a positive going into a gruelling Championship campaign. I believe us usually playing poor sides in pre-season is part of the reason why we tend to start slowly. We beat both Motherwell and Barnet, drew with Fulham and Gillingham and were unlucky to come out on the wrong side against Watford. Arsenal were a class above but that's to be expected.

Where is the team strong and weak?

Defensively, we'll be one of the best in the league again. Our back three is very strong and they also have one of the best shot-stoppers in the league behind him. In midfield, I feel we're lacking someone to play that holding role like Ryan Woods had in the last season-and-a-half but Rowett thinks George Evans can do that role well enough so we'll see. For me, we still lack a bit of creativity from midfield and it remains to be seen whether Afobe, Matt Smith and Tom Bradshaw can score the goals we need in attack. There may be a lot resting on the shoulders of Wallace and Mason Bennett one more, who formed a good partnership at the back end of 2020/21.

How do you see this season going?

I think we'll be there or thereabouts when it comes to the Play-Offs. We've added quality in a number of positions and also seem to have found a way to score from set pieces which could add a good number of goals to our tally this season. It's just about adding goals from open play which hopefully we can do - especially if we get another attacker in following some departures.

Links >>> Millwall official website >>> South London Press — Local Paper >>> News at Den — Blog >>> North Stand Banter — Forum >>> News Shopper — Local Paper

The Twitter @LucasBall2211, @loftforwords

Pictures — Action Images

Action Images

TacticalR added 13:32 - Aug 7 Thanks to Lucas. We thought we'd done really well last season, finishing 9th, but actually Millwall weren't that far behind us, finishing 11th. My question about Rowett has always been whether he is a bottom of the Championship manager or something more. Stoke didn't enhance his reputation, but it sounds like he is gradually putting the pieces together at Millwall.
0

Queens Park Rangers Polls