Over the last few years, Millwall have had a very good record at home and a not so good record on the road. This year it seems to be the other way round. With seven league defeats at home this season, the Den is no longer a place to fear for opposing teams. The hostility of our atmosphere may still be there from time to time, but it's not a difficult place to go this season in terms of picking up points.
With no home league wins so far in 2012, this backs up my arguement. There are many reasons for our poor home form, which I'm going to discuss. First of all, tactics. We seem to give teams too much respect when playing at home. Some games we've played five in midfield, or an extra defender in midfield. Occasionally our play is too predictable, when Darius Henderson is playing especially. We rely on our central defenders to lump balls forward to Henderson, allowing him to bring other players into play.
We needed width in the team. James Henry has offered us that since he's been back in the side. We already look a much better proposition with him in the team, however results at home are still bad. You could blame the pitch, which looks truly awful at the moment. I have no idea whats causing it, but it needs to be sorted. Kenny Jackett has used it as an excuse the odd time, well if it's a problem then just sort it. This could be a reason for our downfall at home. In our games away at Brighton and Peterborough, their pitch has been immaculate which allowed us to play on the ground. In those games we came away with a 2-2 draw and a 3-0 win. Both games were arguably our best performances of the season.
Playing infront of our home crowd could be another factor. Some will be thinking that surely this works in our advantage. In some cases yes, but when the team is playing poorly and fans are getting on their back, it can effect players confidence. I'm probably guilty of singling out particular players for abuse whilst at a game, but maybe thats not the right thing to do. We need to be supporting the team from the off, making the opposition feel intimidated and not our own players.
This season, playing away from home seems to be a different story for once. We usually struggle on our travels. We've won our last two away games convincingly, winning four in the league in total this season. I know that isn't brilliant but trust me, this is Millwall we're talking about and that's a great away record going by our history. We probably should have more away wins to our name based on performances. In every away league win this season we have scored three goals. Pretty impressive, but I just wish we could do it at home every now and again.
We seem to adopt a different style of play away from home. We play football on the ground, spreading the ball about the pitch, retaining possession well. The fact that away from home there is less pressure on the players may also result in better performances. Obviously there are less Millwall fans in attendance away from home than at home, so there is less chance of a particular player being singled out for a stupid mistake.
Maybe I've got it all wrong. It's difficult to put your finger on it really. All of these arguements are valid, but may not be accurate. Looking at our fixtures, we play most of the teams around us away and all of our home games are against teams in the top half. Something tells me that we could see plenty more home defeats and away victorys for the rest of the season.
Wednesday, 7 March 2012
Tuesday, 6 March 2012
David Forde: The scapegoat of our season
David Forde. At 32 years of age, Forde is an experienced member of our squad. This season, just like the team itself, he has been very poor and has been subject of lots of criticism. Some will say that he's cost us lots of points this season. From the two poor goals conceded at home against Peterborough back in August, to the more recent mistake last month at Brighton following Kazenga Lua-Lua's late free-kick.
I totally agree with his critics. Infact you could say that I am one of them. In League One he was a very good goalkeeper. He had one of the best clean sheet records in our two Play-Off seasons in League One. We had one of the best defensive records in the Championship last season too. However, something has gone wrong this season.
Forde was prone to mistakes before, however he made up for it with heroic penalty saves and good overall performances where he wins us points. The thing is that this season, Forde has cost us more points than he's won us. Jackett has dropped him once or twice this season when his performances haven't been acceptable. Steve Mildenhall, our backup goalkeeper, isn't brilliant either which shows that Forde doesn't have any real competition for the number one jersey.
One thing that Forde is always singled out for is the fact that he's poor when commanding his area. When a corner comes in, he flaps at it or punches it away instead of claiming it. An example of this was on Saturday against Reading, where he cost us all three points. For the first goal, he punched away a corner kick straight out to an attacker on the edge of the box, who smashed the ball in the top corner.
He is also poor at getting down to shots. Against Peterborough at home in August, he let in two goals from 20 yards which were hit very poorly, scuffed you could say. What happened? Forde got down way to slow to it and they both went in the bottom corner. He had a spell out injured earlier in the season, so maybe he's still getting his confidence back. It doesn't help that he's getting abused, but it's very frustrating to see him making mistakes week after week.
You could also argue that he isn't being coached properly. Tony Burns is our goalkeeping coach and he is approaching his 68th birthday. Yes he's experienced, but maybe we could do with someone more youthful to coach Forde. Then again, what do I know? I'm a Millwall fan.
Forde is also the third choice goalkeeper for the Republic of Ireland national team. Shay Given of Aston Villa and Kieran Westwood of Sunderland are ahead of him in the pecking order. Forde has two caps, one of which came against a weakened Italy side where Forde kept a clean sheet. Possibly one of his proudest achivements to date. Ireland must be desperate if Forde is their third best goalkeeper. No, I'm not exaggerating here.
On some Millwall messages boards, fans of the elder generation have described Forde as 'one of the worst goalkeepers in our history'. There's the evidence that he really is poor. There was Premier League interest in him last season. I bet the clubs interested are relieved that they didn't persue their interest. Basically, we need a new goalkeeper in the summer, if not two.
I totally agree with his critics. Infact you could say that I am one of them. In League One he was a very good goalkeeper. He had one of the best clean sheet records in our two Play-Off seasons in League One. We had one of the best defensive records in the Championship last season too. However, something has gone wrong this season.
Forde was prone to mistakes before, however he made up for it with heroic penalty saves and good overall performances where he wins us points. The thing is that this season, Forde has cost us more points than he's won us. Jackett has dropped him once or twice this season when his performances haven't been acceptable. Steve Mildenhall, our backup goalkeeper, isn't brilliant either which shows that Forde doesn't have any real competition for the number one jersey.
One thing that Forde is always singled out for is the fact that he's poor when commanding his area. When a corner comes in, he flaps at it or punches it away instead of claiming it. An example of this was on Saturday against Reading, where he cost us all three points. For the first goal, he punched away a corner kick straight out to an attacker on the edge of the box, who smashed the ball in the top corner.
He is also poor at getting down to shots. Against Peterborough at home in August, he let in two goals from 20 yards which were hit very poorly, scuffed you could say. What happened? Forde got down way to slow to it and they both went in the bottom corner. He had a spell out injured earlier in the season, so maybe he's still getting his confidence back. It doesn't help that he's getting abused, but it's very frustrating to see him making mistakes week after week.
You could also argue that he isn't being coached properly. Tony Burns is our goalkeeping coach and he is approaching his 68th birthday. Yes he's experienced, but maybe we could do with someone more youthful to coach Forde. Then again, what do I know? I'm a Millwall fan.
Forde is also the third choice goalkeeper for the Republic of Ireland national team. Shay Given of Aston Villa and Kieran Westwood of Sunderland are ahead of him in the pecking order. Forde has two caps, one of which came against a weakened Italy side where Forde kept a clean sheet. Possibly one of his proudest achivements to date. Ireland must be desperate if Forde is their third best goalkeeper. No, I'm not exaggerating here.
On some Millwall messages boards, fans of the elder generation have described Forde as 'one of the worst goalkeepers in our history'. There's the evidence that he really is poor. There was Premier League interest in him last season. I bet the clubs interested are relieved that they didn't persue their interest. Basically, we need a new goalkeeper in the summer, if not two.
Thursday, 1 March 2012
February Review
February produced a month of ups and downs for Millwall. Nothing new there then. The Lions faced a tough and lengthly set of fixtures in February due to their FA Cup and Championship commitments. Our first test came against West Ham United at Upton Park, a fixture which everyone had looked out for when they were released during the summer. Following their relegation from the Premier League last season, the Hammers still had plenty of experienced Premier League and International players amongst their ranks.
The game was shown live on Sky Sports on Saturday 4th February with a 12:30pm kick-off. The home side were reduced to 10 men inside the opening 10 minutes as captain Kevin Nolan was given a straight red card following a two-footed lunge on Jack Smith. Millwall failed to capitalise on the man advantage and West Ham went in at half-time a goal up. Carlton Cole headed in from close range with seconds left of the first period. In the second half, Liam Trotter put Millwall level just after the hour mark with a sublime finish from the edge of the area. This would give us momentum to push on for that winning goal with a man advantage, right?
Wrong. A long punt forward from the West Ham defence was punched away by David Forde who was clattered following a challenge from Julien Faubert. Everyone in the ground thought the ref would blow for a free-kick, but no. Winston Reid smashed the ball into an empty net from outside the area. 2-1 to the referee you could say. Millwall pushed right til the end but couldn't grab the equaliser. 1 defeat after 1 game in February then.
Three days later, Millwall travelled to St Mary's to take on fellow Championship opposition Southampton in an FA Cup 4th round replay. We took a shock lead through Liam Trotter within the first 20 minutes, then Adam Lallana replied for the home side after 35 minutes. In the second half, Rickie Lambert put Southampton 2-1 up with 15 minutes left. Around 5 minutes later, former Saints man Dany N'Guessan made it 2-2 with a header following a well-worked move from James Henry. Then in the 90th minute, sub Liam Feeney's curling shot from 18-yards found the far corner to put Millwall 3-2 up and through to round five.
Surely that would give us the confidence going into our home game with Derby County on Saturday February 11th. Nope, the game finished goalless. There were three shots on target in the entire game. Derby's Craig Bryson missed an open goal from a few yards out. That summed up the game. We need to be winning games like this, especially at home. Brighton away was next up just a few days later on a Tuesday night. One of our best performances of the season, however we drew 2-2. Andy Keogh scored his first Millwall goal after the 20 minute mark. In the second half, Sam Vokes levelled for Brighton before Liam Feeney's tap in restored our lead. In the 88th minute, a Kazenga Lua-Lua free-kick was parried in by Forde and the game finished 2-2. It was a bitterly dissapointing result given how well we played.
The games were coming thick and fast. Saturday, Tuesday every week. Premier League strugglers Bolton were up next at the Den in the FA Cup 5th round. The visitors ran out 2-0 winners but there were some positives. We certainly should've had a goal to our name. We played some nice stuff but to no avail. Ryo Miyaichi and David N'Gog with the goals for Bolton as they progressed to the quarter-finals. Another home game, another Tuesday game. Middlesbrough at home were next as we approached the end of the month. We lost 3-1. Marvin Emnes with two and Curtis Main with the other as Middlesbrough earnt all three points. Darius Henderson scored for us before the break to make it 1-2, but we were punished for not taking our chances. We camped in Boro's half for the whole second period but we still couldn't score.
Last up, the result of the month. A 3-1 away win against Burnley. Keogh gave us an early lead inside 15 minutes smashing home following some poor defending. Then, the goal of the season. Scott Barron's free-kick was headed away, however it fell to Josh Wright some 30-yards from goal. He hit it first time and the ball sailed straight past Lee Grant in the Burnley goal. Some way to score your first Millwall goal. Harry Kane bagged his first league goal for the club in the second half to make it 3-0. Jay Rodriguez replied from the penalty spot in injury time as Millwall earned three valuable points.
Five points from 15 isn't great, but hopefully with some key games coming up in March we can start to turn the corner at the business end of the season. That's it. I'll be back at the end of March for the next monthly review.
The game was shown live on Sky Sports on Saturday 4th February with a 12:30pm kick-off. The home side were reduced to 10 men inside the opening 10 minutes as captain Kevin Nolan was given a straight red card following a two-footed lunge on Jack Smith. Millwall failed to capitalise on the man advantage and West Ham went in at half-time a goal up. Carlton Cole headed in from close range with seconds left of the first period. In the second half, Liam Trotter put Millwall level just after the hour mark with a sublime finish from the edge of the area. This would give us momentum to push on for that winning goal with a man advantage, right?
Wrong. A long punt forward from the West Ham defence was punched away by David Forde who was clattered following a challenge from Julien Faubert. Everyone in the ground thought the ref would blow for a free-kick, but no. Winston Reid smashed the ball into an empty net from outside the area. 2-1 to the referee you could say. Millwall pushed right til the end but couldn't grab the equaliser. 1 defeat after 1 game in February then.
Three days later, Millwall travelled to St Mary's to take on fellow Championship opposition Southampton in an FA Cup 4th round replay. We took a shock lead through Liam Trotter within the first 20 minutes, then Adam Lallana replied for the home side after 35 minutes. In the second half, Rickie Lambert put Southampton 2-1 up with 15 minutes left. Around 5 minutes later, former Saints man Dany N'Guessan made it 2-2 with a header following a well-worked move from James Henry. Then in the 90th minute, sub Liam Feeney's curling shot from 18-yards found the far corner to put Millwall 3-2 up and through to round five.
Surely that would give us the confidence going into our home game with Derby County on Saturday February 11th. Nope, the game finished goalless. There were three shots on target in the entire game. Derby's Craig Bryson missed an open goal from a few yards out. That summed up the game. We need to be winning games like this, especially at home. Brighton away was next up just a few days later on a Tuesday night. One of our best performances of the season, however we drew 2-2. Andy Keogh scored his first Millwall goal after the 20 minute mark. In the second half, Sam Vokes levelled for Brighton before Liam Feeney's tap in restored our lead. In the 88th minute, a Kazenga Lua-Lua free-kick was parried in by Forde and the game finished 2-2. It was a bitterly dissapointing result given how well we played.
The games were coming thick and fast. Saturday, Tuesday every week. Premier League strugglers Bolton were up next at the Den in the FA Cup 5th round. The visitors ran out 2-0 winners but there were some positives. We certainly should've had a goal to our name. We played some nice stuff but to no avail. Ryo Miyaichi and David N'Gog with the goals for Bolton as they progressed to the quarter-finals. Another home game, another Tuesday game. Middlesbrough at home were next as we approached the end of the month. We lost 3-1. Marvin Emnes with two and Curtis Main with the other as Middlesbrough earnt all three points. Darius Henderson scored for us before the break to make it 1-2, but we were punished for not taking our chances. We camped in Boro's half for the whole second period but we still couldn't score.
Last up, the result of the month. A 3-1 away win against Burnley. Keogh gave us an early lead inside 15 minutes smashing home following some poor defending. Then, the goal of the season. Scott Barron's free-kick was headed away, however it fell to Josh Wright some 30-yards from goal. He hit it first time and the ball sailed straight past Lee Grant in the Burnley goal. Some way to score your first Millwall goal. Harry Kane bagged his first league goal for the club in the second half to make it 3-0. Jay Rodriguez replied from the penalty spot in injury time as Millwall earned three valuable points.
Five points from 15 isn't great, but hopefully with some key games coming up in March we can start to turn the corner at the business end of the season. That's it. I'll be back at the end of March for the next monthly review.
Monday, 27 February 2012
The unsettled Algerian
Hamer Bouazza. He's had a bit of a disruptive career hasn't he? Currently with his ninth club at the age of 27. He hasn't surpassed 100 games for any of those nine clubs, showing that he could be seen as 'not being commited to the cause'. Watford was where he enjoyed his best spell as Bouazza helped them to promotion to the Premier League. 83 games, 8 goals. It all went a bit down-hill from there.
He signed for Fulham in 2007 for £3m. Let's just say things didn't go according to plan there. After that he had successive loan spells at Charlton and Birmingham where he failed to cement a place in the first team. A brief spell in Turkey at Sivasspor, where he didn't even feature in a game. Says it all. Then he had short spells with Blackpool in 2009 and French outfit Arles-Avignon a year later. Then Millwall came calling.
He originally signed on loan from Arles-Avignon in the 2010/11 season. On his debut, he came off the bench and scored a cracking free-kick. That wasn't enough to save the Lions from slumping to a 3-2 home defeat by Middlesbrough. At the end of the season, he signed on a permanent basis for a minimal fee. The fee was believed to be less than £100,000. He had shown real promise in his time here and Millwall fans felt that he was an absolute bargain, baring in mind Fulham once paid £3m for his services.
In the 2011/12 season, Bouazza has found things difficult. He refused to travel for Millwall's trip to Middlesbrough on October 15th. Kenny Jackett then left him out of the side for over a month, his next appearance being the 3-2 home win against Doncaster on November 29th, where Bouazza came off the bench. Jackett's reasons for this were because 'Bouazza struggled with tracking back and helping out the team'. The manager felt that we needed a team player on the left-wing, something which I must admit Bouazza isn't.
So, why have I decided to write about Bouazza? Well yesterday, a story leaked from the Algerian press that Hamer Bouazza had said that he wants to quit Millwall at the end of the season. His reasons for this were because he wasn't getting along with the manager. He also said that 'he told the chairman and the manager that he should be walking into the team with his eyes closed'. That's not really the type of attitude we want, especially at a club like Millwall.
My take on Bouazza is that every club has a player like him. Slight attitude problem, isn't a team player. However, we need someone of Bouazza's quality. He may not be a consistent performer, but he is a game changer. He can do something remarkable to keep you or get you back into a game. He has quality in abundance but like I said, he doesn't show it often enough. This frustrates most Millwall fans as here we like players who give 110% every game.
I do see his point however. He's dissapointed about being left out of the team. He's our only real natural left-winger so he should be playing in every game. What does irritate me is his arrogance. No one should disrespect a club thats thrown his career a lifeline by saying 'I should walk into the team with my eyes closed'. These next few months will certainly be interesting. Bouazza has stated that he will continue to try hard and fight for his place whilst he is here.
Club officials are set to have their say on this matter tomorrow, their views will be reported in the local papers. My initial reactions to this story were that surely we won't see him in a Millwall shirt again after the things he has said. Hopefully it's all been mis-translated as after all, it was reported in Algeria. Bouazza is someone we should keep hold of, maybe if he gets a run of games he may change his mind. Who knows, only time will tell.
He signed for Fulham in 2007 for £3m. Let's just say things didn't go according to plan there. After that he had successive loan spells at Charlton and Birmingham where he failed to cement a place in the first team. A brief spell in Turkey at Sivasspor, where he didn't even feature in a game. Says it all. Then he had short spells with Blackpool in 2009 and French outfit Arles-Avignon a year later. Then Millwall came calling.
He originally signed on loan from Arles-Avignon in the 2010/11 season. On his debut, he came off the bench and scored a cracking free-kick. That wasn't enough to save the Lions from slumping to a 3-2 home defeat by Middlesbrough. At the end of the season, he signed on a permanent basis for a minimal fee. The fee was believed to be less than £100,000. He had shown real promise in his time here and Millwall fans felt that he was an absolute bargain, baring in mind Fulham once paid £3m for his services.
In the 2011/12 season, Bouazza has found things difficult. He refused to travel for Millwall's trip to Middlesbrough on October 15th. Kenny Jackett then left him out of the side for over a month, his next appearance being the 3-2 home win against Doncaster on November 29th, where Bouazza came off the bench. Jackett's reasons for this were because 'Bouazza struggled with tracking back and helping out the team'. The manager felt that we needed a team player on the left-wing, something which I must admit Bouazza isn't.
So, why have I decided to write about Bouazza? Well yesterday, a story leaked from the Algerian press that Hamer Bouazza had said that he wants to quit Millwall at the end of the season. His reasons for this were because he wasn't getting along with the manager. He also said that 'he told the chairman and the manager that he should be walking into the team with his eyes closed'. That's not really the type of attitude we want, especially at a club like Millwall.
My take on Bouazza is that every club has a player like him. Slight attitude problem, isn't a team player. However, we need someone of Bouazza's quality. He may not be a consistent performer, but he is a game changer. He can do something remarkable to keep you or get you back into a game. He has quality in abundance but like I said, he doesn't show it often enough. This frustrates most Millwall fans as here we like players who give 110% every game.
I do see his point however. He's dissapointed about being left out of the team. He's our only real natural left-winger so he should be playing in every game. What does irritate me is his arrogance. No one should disrespect a club thats thrown his career a lifeline by saying 'I should walk into the team with my eyes closed'. These next few months will certainly be interesting. Bouazza has stated that he will continue to try hard and fight for his place whilst he is here.
Club officials are set to have their say on this matter tomorrow, their views will be reported in the local papers. My initial reactions to this story were that surely we won't see him in a Millwall shirt again after the things he has said. Hopefully it's all been mis-translated as after all, it was reported in Algeria. Bouazza is someone we should keep hold of, maybe if he gets a run of games he may change his mind. Who knows, only time will tell.
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
My criticism's of Kenny
Kenny Jackett, currently the longest serving manager in the Championship. He's been in charge at Millwall for 4 years and 3 months. In that time, he's saved us from relegation to League Two, achieved back-to-back League One Play-Off finals at Wembley, winning the latter, guiding us to promotion. In our first season back in the Championship, Jackett led us to a 9th place finish, missing out on the play-offs by just 8 points.
Many neutrals will read that and think to themselves, 'He's done a pretty good job there, hasn't he?'. Well, in fairness, yes he has. However, this season he is like a manager who has ran out of ideas. In this blog, I'm going to give you reasons as to why he's ran out of ideas. I've been a fan of Jackett, but now I'm seriously starting to doubt him. He has many faults.
We're candidates for relegation. All of our remaining home games are against sides in the top half. We have to play four of the bottom five away from home. We've lost 6 home games so far this season. The Den is supposed to be a place which teams fear, but this season it's been the complete opposite. In our last 5 league games at home, we have no wins to our name. In those games, we've only scored once but conceded 12 goals, six of which came in the drubbing from Birmingham in January.
Jackett from a tactical point of view has been an absolute shambles this season. We usually go with a standard 4-4-2. He's recently tinkered with that, going with a 4-1-2-2-1 formation. This formation is effective away from home, an example of that was the game against Brighton last week, which in my opinion was our best performance of the entire season. It's effective away from home because the formation can easily be adapted into a 4-5-1 when defending. 4-1-2-2-1 consists of a holding midfield player, two central midfielders in a free role, with two wingers supporting the lone striker. So when defending, the two wingers and two central midfielders can drop back alongside the holding midfielder to form a 5-man midfield.
This is where the criticising begins. The manager has begun to play that formation at home now aswell, in recent games against Derby, Bolton and Middlesbrough. At home we shouldn't be setting up to play negatively, especially with our current situation. We should be going for it, trying to get as many points as we can to pull away from danger. Last night against Middlesbrough, we played the 4-5-1 system for the entire first half, at home. I honestly cannot work that out. Want to know what's worse?
Jackett started with three, yes THREE strikers in a 4-5-1 formation. They were Kane, Keogh and Henderson. Kane started on the right-wing, Keogh began on the left-wing, with Henderson up top. How can you justify playing two strikers in midfield? It makes no sense whatsoever. In the second half, Jackett switched to a 4-4-2, pushing Keogh upfront with Henderson and moving Kane onto the left-wing. Is any of this making sense here? I didn't think so.
The left-wing has been a problem for us this season. Hamer Bouazza has been too inconsistent and far too injury prone to hold down a regular spot. Dany N'Guessan, our back-up, hasn't even started a game on the left-wing. He is a left-winger. Now your starting to see my point. Brian Howard, Scott Barron, Ryan Mason, Harry Kane, Andy Keogh. Those players have all at some stage, played a number of games on the left-wing. How many of these players are even wingers? How many? Oh right, none of them.
The Middlesbrough game last night made me wonder what on earth was going on in Jackett's head. I still don't know but what I do know is, something isn't right. James Henry was on the bench against Middlesbrough, a right-winger who can also play on the left. Jackett waited until the 83rd minute to introduce him to proceedings. In place of Kane right? You know, the target man who Jackett played in midfield all game. Surely it was Kane, wasn't it?
No. He took off Liam Feeney. Yes he'd been poor, but at least he's a winger. What chance did we have down the left with a striker there who lacks any pace? Not to mention the fact that he's only 18 years old and has no experience at all. We had no chance. It's no wonder why Feeney's performances have been poor of late. He's currently our only outlet so every team decide to double up on him. Yet Jackett still couldn't see this. He's a football manager with a vast amount of experience in the game, yet the 10,000 odd Millwall fans who attend games regularly can see what he can't.
Only time will tell what will happen with Jackett. It wouldn't surprise me if we go and get a result away at Burnley this weekend. As like I said, the formation we play is effective but only away from home. Kenny, take note.
Many neutrals will read that and think to themselves, 'He's done a pretty good job there, hasn't he?'. Well, in fairness, yes he has. However, this season he is like a manager who has ran out of ideas. In this blog, I'm going to give you reasons as to why he's ran out of ideas. I've been a fan of Jackett, but now I'm seriously starting to doubt him. He has many faults.
We're candidates for relegation. All of our remaining home games are against sides in the top half. We have to play four of the bottom five away from home. We've lost 6 home games so far this season. The Den is supposed to be a place which teams fear, but this season it's been the complete opposite. In our last 5 league games at home, we have no wins to our name. In those games, we've only scored once but conceded 12 goals, six of which came in the drubbing from Birmingham in January.
Jackett from a tactical point of view has been an absolute shambles this season. We usually go with a standard 4-4-2. He's recently tinkered with that, going with a 4-1-2-2-1 formation. This formation is effective away from home, an example of that was the game against Brighton last week, which in my opinion was our best performance of the entire season. It's effective away from home because the formation can easily be adapted into a 4-5-1 when defending. 4-1-2-2-1 consists of a holding midfield player, two central midfielders in a free role, with two wingers supporting the lone striker. So when defending, the two wingers and two central midfielders can drop back alongside the holding midfielder to form a 5-man midfield.
This is where the criticising begins. The manager has begun to play that formation at home now aswell, in recent games against Derby, Bolton and Middlesbrough. At home we shouldn't be setting up to play negatively, especially with our current situation. We should be going for it, trying to get as many points as we can to pull away from danger. Last night against Middlesbrough, we played the 4-5-1 system for the entire first half, at home. I honestly cannot work that out. Want to know what's worse?
Jackett started with three, yes THREE strikers in a 4-5-1 formation. They were Kane, Keogh and Henderson. Kane started on the right-wing, Keogh began on the left-wing, with Henderson up top. How can you justify playing two strikers in midfield? It makes no sense whatsoever. In the second half, Jackett switched to a 4-4-2, pushing Keogh upfront with Henderson and moving Kane onto the left-wing. Is any of this making sense here? I didn't think so.
The left-wing has been a problem for us this season. Hamer Bouazza has been too inconsistent and far too injury prone to hold down a regular spot. Dany N'Guessan, our back-up, hasn't even started a game on the left-wing. He is a left-winger. Now your starting to see my point. Brian Howard, Scott Barron, Ryan Mason, Harry Kane, Andy Keogh. Those players have all at some stage, played a number of games on the left-wing. How many of these players are even wingers? How many? Oh right, none of them.
The Middlesbrough game last night made me wonder what on earth was going on in Jackett's head. I still don't know but what I do know is, something isn't right. James Henry was on the bench against Middlesbrough, a right-winger who can also play on the left. Jackett waited until the 83rd minute to introduce him to proceedings. In place of Kane right? You know, the target man who Jackett played in midfield all game. Surely it was Kane, wasn't it?
No. He took off Liam Feeney. Yes he'd been poor, but at least he's a winger. What chance did we have down the left with a striker there who lacks any pace? Not to mention the fact that he's only 18 years old and has no experience at all. We had no chance. It's no wonder why Feeney's performances have been poor of late. He's currently our only outlet so every team decide to double up on him. Yet Jackett still couldn't see this. He's a football manager with a vast amount of experience in the game, yet the 10,000 odd Millwall fans who attend games regularly can see what he can't.
Only time will tell what will happen with Jackett. It wouldn't surprise me if we go and get a result away at Burnley this weekend. As like I said, the formation we play is effective but only away from home. Kenny, take note.
Monday, 20 February 2012
What the summer may hold for Millwall
It would be an understatement to say that this year has not just been a bad season, but a dissapointing one at that. After a very successful first season back in the Championship last year, people were starting to think that we could push on towards the play-offs again this season. However, striker and last years top scorer Steve Morison moved on, signing for Premier League new boys Norwich City in the summer. That was a huge blow to our chances for the upcoming season and it's pretty evident that we've missed him.
We find ourselves six points clear of the bottom three, with 31 points from 31 games. On average, thats 1 point per game, which is poor. If we're to continue in that manner, we'll end up with 46 points. That may keep us up this season as the teams below us are very poor. The magic points total for survival is 50, which manager Kenny Jackett has said is achieveable. So with 15 games remaining, we need to pick up 19 points, which is 6 wins and 1 draw. We still have to play Nottingham Forest, Doncaster, Coventry, Portsmouth and Peterborough all away from home. Four of those teams are below us, the other above us by one place. Those fixtures will make or break our season as we're competing against them to stay in this division. Considering that we've only won twice away all season in the league, these games are crucial.
At this point, some of you may be wondering how the title of this post links to the first two paragraphs. Two words, our squad. If we avoid relegation this season, which I believe we will, then lots of changes need to be made to our squad over the course of the summer. We have some very good players, but we also have some pretty average players in amongst the squad, who I feel we need to ship out. So in this post I'll be discussing who I expect to leave, who I think should leave and players who may leave that we need to keep hold of. I'll also be discussing potential replacements and positions which need strengthening. So, here it goes...
Firstly, I'll begin with three players who are out of contract in the summer. Those players are left-back Jordan Stewart, winger Chris Hackett and goalkeeper Ryan Allsop. I'll start off with Stewart, who has been a dissapointing signing to say the least. He signed at the start of the season on a free transfer following his release from Greek outfit Skoda Xanthi. He put pen to paper on a one-year contract as we were desperate for a left-back. He made his Millwall debut against Plymouth Argyle in the Carling Cup 1st round. Since that game he's only gone on to play 6 more times as his stay so far has been disrupted by injury after injury.
One game that sticks in my mind is the home game against West Ham in which Stewart played very well in. We'd been looking for a left-back with pace to bomb forward, but to also defend well. He looked good in that game and I thought he'd go on to do well. Unfortunately things haven't worked out and lots of small niggles have stopped him from playing regularly. He's now probably fourth choice for that position, with Scott Barron, Jack Smith and Tony Craig infront of him. Not to forget Leonard Sowah, the left-back we recently signed on loan from Hamburg. He is also injured, but still. I fully expect Stewart to be released in the summer, we don't need him.
Next up is Chris Hackett, a right-winger who has been at the club since 2006. He has been out of favour here this season, making only two substitute appearances all season which came against Southampton in the FA Cup 4th round and against Watford, both of which were at home. He should've been given more of a chance in my opinion, as he is probably the best crosser of the ball at the club. We need someone with a good delivery, especially as we have a big target man in Darius Henderson upfront, who has a good record at scoring headed goals. Liam Feeney and James Henry are both ahead of Hackett in the pecking order, so it's highly unlikely that we'll ever see him in a Millwall shirt again. He had a months loan spell at Exeter earlier in the season, where he did well. He'll have a good career in League One, which is probably his level.
The last of the out of contract players is young goalkeeper Ryan Allsop. He was signed at the beginning of the season from West Bromwich Albion, on a one-year deal. At 19 years of age, Allsop has played for England U17's, but has yet to make a senior appearance for both West Brom or Millwall. He is our third choice goalkeeper and has only been named on the bench on a few occasions whilst either David Forde or Steve Mildenhall were out injured. So basically, I can't really judge Allsop. It'll be down to Jackett as to whether Allsop is offered a new contract. He's had a run out in the reserves and the manager has obviously seen him in training, so that will be his only judgement on the situation.
Next up, I'm going to discuss the players who I think should be sold during the summer. We have a lot of dead wood in the squad, a lot of players who are probably just League One quality. It may be a little harsh, but players like Alan Dunne and Tony Craig, proper Millwall type players, are two who fit under the category of 'not good enough for this level'. Their influence may be missed amongst the dressing room, but I don't feel that they will be missed on the football pitch. They've served us incredibly well, however maybe it's time to move on. Another player who I feel should go is Darren Ward. In his first spell at the club, which began in 2001 and ended in 2005, he was probably one of the best centre backs in the Championship. However at the age of 33, he isn't getting any younger. It may be time to bring in a younger centre back, an area which we'll need to strengthen if Ward departs.
James Henry is next on my list. Some will say the quality is there for all to see, but I can't see it. If he had quality, we'd be seeing it week in, week out. You can't live in the past, as he had a good season last time out. He score's the odd screamer but if performances aren't good enough then why should we keep him? Ipswich had an offer rejected in the summer, believed to be in the region of £250,000. Maybe they'll come back in for him again this summer. If they did, he wouldn't be a great loss to the team.
The list continues, Josh McQuoid. He signed originally on loan from Bournemouth last season, then a few months later, Jackett threw £550,000 at them without even having a proper look at him. Where is he now? On loan at fellow Championship side Burnley. He's scored 1 goal for us in 19 games (yes, he's a striker). The thing is though, he wasn't given a real chance in the team. When a club like us pays that sort of money for a player, they'll need time. I don't think we'll see him in a Millwall shirt again. He'll leave in a similar fashion to Theo Robinson. Signed on loan, deal made permanent, things didn't quite work out, loaned to a fellow Championship club, SOLD. Ah well.
Finally, Shaun Batt. The striker has been out for just over 18 months with an horrific knee injury. He made his comeback in January in the FA Cup tie against Dagenham & Redbridge, coming off the bench for 10 minutes. He also played a part in the replay, coming off the bench this time aswell. Jackett told the fans that he's still not fully-fit, but also added that he'd be like a new signing when he eventually returns. Well, he's been out for over 18 months, so there comes a time when you start to think 'Should we get rid?'. Yes we should. We could be using the wages for a player of much better quality, plus for all we know we could be waiting for months until he returns fully-fit. Even when he is fit, we'll probably have to loan him so he becomes 'match-fit'.
Those are the players I feel we should ship out to free up some wages, enabling us to bring in some better quality players in the summer. However, we must hold onto our better players. One has been attracting attention from Premier League clubs, that man being Liam Trotter. Some excellent performances this season have alerted the likes of Wigan and Fulham, who may test our resolve with an offer in the summer. I'm resigned to seeing him go, as I do think we'll recieve an offer that Trotter himself will want to take up. Darius Henderson may also be subject of interest, especially if we go down as I'm sure he'll want to continue testing himself at the highest level possible. With a court case looming, I think it's doubtful that anyone will want to take a risk on Henderson. So we're safe there, unless he gets sent down of course.
In terms of strengthening, there are lots of areas that need it, especially the whole of left hand side. We need a new left-back, Scott Barron is OK, but we could do better. We've been linked with Scott Laird of Stevenage, who is out of contract in the summer. Jackett has reportedly watched him a few times, so a summer move may be imminent. We also need a left-winger. Hamer Bouazza is usually our first choice, but he is quite injury prone and also fails to perform when he starts. Dany N'Guessan is second choice but has never actually played on the left-wing for us, which sums up our managers bizarre team selections and tactics this season. We was linked with Leyton Orient winger George Porter in January, but nothing came of it. He is another player that Jackett has watched a number of times and as a boyhood Millwall fan, Porter may be persuaded by a summer move to the Den. He is also out of contract, so that works in our favour.
Another centre back may also be needed, however we still have Mkandawire who is currently out injured. A right-back is a position that needs sorting aswell, as Jack Smith and Alan Dunne have been too inconsistent there this season. As always, we could do with another striker despite the January signing of Andy Keogh from Wolves. Ched Evans is a name that's sprung up before. He's scored 12 league goals for Sheffield United this season and he also knows Jackett from his days as Manchester City reserve coach, where Evans started out. He is another player out of contract, so if we were to sign Laird, Porter and Evans I'd be satisfied. Josh Wright is currently with us until the end of the season but he'll be free to walk in the summer. I've been impressed with what I've seen from him and he is currently in-talks with the club about a new deal. He has said publicly that Millwall is the club he wants to be at, so hopefully things get sorted there.
So, that's everything covered. This is all just my opinion, so if any Millwall fans out there think otherwise, then comment on this post suggesting what you'd change in the summer.
We find ourselves six points clear of the bottom three, with 31 points from 31 games. On average, thats 1 point per game, which is poor. If we're to continue in that manner, we'll end up with 46 points. That may keep us up this season as the teams below us are very poor. The magic points total for survival is 50, which manager Kenny Jackett has said is achieveable. So with 15 games remaining, we need to pick up 19 points, which is 6 wins and 1 draw. We still have to play Nottingham Forest, Doncaster, Coventry, Portsmouth and Peterborough all away from home. Four of those teams are below us, the other above us by one place. Those fixtures will make or break our season as we're competing against them to stay in this division. Considering that we've only won twice away all season in the league, these games are crucial.
At this point, some of you may be wondering how the title of this post links to the first two paragraphs. Two words, our squad. If we avoid relegation this season, which I believe we will, then lots of changes need to be made to our squad over the course of the summer. We have some very good players, but we also have some pretty average players in amongst the squad, who I feel we need to ship out. So in this post I'll be discussing who I expect to leave, who I think should leave and players who may leave that we need to keep hold of. I'll also be discussing potential replacements and positions which need strengthening. So, here it goes...
Firstly, I'll begin with three players who are out of contract in the summer. Those players are left-back Jordan Stewart, winger Chris Hackett and goalkeeper Ryan Allsop. I'll start off with Stewart, who has been a dissapointing signing to say the least. He signed at the start of the season on a free transfer following his release from Greek outfit Skoda Xanthi. He put pen to paper on a one-year contract as we were desperate for a left-back. He made his Millwall debut against Plymouth Argyle in the Carling Cup 1st round. Since that game he's only gone on to play 6 more times as his stay so far has been disrupted by injury after injury.
One game that sticks in my mind is the home game against West Ham in which Stewart played very well in. We'd been looking for a left-back with pace to bomb forward, but to also defend well. He looked good in that game and I thought he'd go on to do well. Unfortunately things haven't worked out and lots of small niggles have stopped him from playing regularly. He's now probably fourth choice for that position, with Scott Barron, Jack Smith and Tony Craig infront of him. Not to forget Leonard Sowah, the left-back we recently signed on loan from Hamburg. He is also injured, but still. I fully expect Stewart to be released in the summer, we don't need him.
Next up is Chris Hackett, a right-winger who has been at the club since 2006. He has been out of favour here this season, making only two substitute appearances all season which came against Southampton in the FA Cup 4th round and against Watford, both of which were at home. He should've been given more of a chance in my opinion, as he is probably the best crosser of the ball at the club. We need someone with a good delivery, especially as we have a big target man in Darius Henderson upfront, who has a good record at scoring headed goals. Liam Feeney and James Henry are both ahead of Hackett in the pecking order, so it's highly unlikely that we'll ever see him in a Millwall shirt again. He had a months loan spell at Exeter earlier in the season, where he did well. He'll have a good career in League One, which is probably his level.
The last of the out of contract players is young goalkeeper Ryan Allsop. He was signed at the beginning of the season from West Bromwich Albion, on a one-year deal. At 19 years of age, Allsop has played for England U17's, but has yet to make a senior appearance for both West Brom or Millwall. He is our third choice goalkeeper and has only been named on the bench on a few occasions whilst either David Forde or Steve Mildenhall were out injured. So basically, I can't really judge Allsop. It'll be down to Jackett as to whether Allsop is offered a new contract. He's had a run out in the reserves and the manager has obviously seen him in training, so that will be his only judgement on the situation.
Next up, I'm going to discuss the players who I think should be sold during the summer. We have a lot of dead wood in the squad, a lot of players who are probably just League One quality. It may be a little harsh, but players like Alan Dunne and Tony Craig, proper Millwall type players, are two who fit under the category of 'not good enough for this level'. Their influence may be missed amongst the dressing room, but I don't feel that they will be missed on the football pitch. They've served us incredibly well, however maybe it's time to move on. Another player who I feel should go is Darren Ward. In his first spell at the club, which began in 2001 and ended in 2005, he was probably one of the best centre backs in the Championship. However at the age of 33, he isn't getting any younger. It may be time to bring in a younger centre back, an area which we'll need to strengthen if Ward departs.
James Henry is next on my list. Some will say the quality is there for all to see, but I can't see it. If he had quality, we'd be seeing it week in, week out. You can't live in the past, as he had a good season last time out. He score's the odd screamer but if performances aren't good enough then why should we keep him? Ipswich had an offer rejected in the summer, believed to be in the region of £250,000. Maybe they'll come back in for him again this summer. If they did, he wouldn't be a great loss to the team.
The list continues, Josh McQuoid. He signed originally on loan from Bournemouth last season, then a few months later, Jackett threw £550,000 at them without even having a proper look at him. Where is he now? On loan at fellow Championship side Burnley. He's scored 1 goal for us in 19 games (yes, he's a striker). The thing is though, he wasn't given a real chance in the team. When a club like us pays that sort of money for a player, they'll need time. I don't think we'll see him in a Millwall shirt again. He'll leave in a similar fashion to Theo Robinson. Signed on loan, deal made permanent, things didn't quite work out, loaned to a fellow Championship club, SOLD. Ah well.
Finally, Shaun Batt. The striker has been out for just over 18 months with an horrific knee injury. He made his comeback in January in the FA Cup tie against Dagenham & Redbridge, coming off the bench for 10 minutes. He also played a part in the replay, coming off the bench this time aswell. Jackett told the fans that he's still not fully-fit, but also added that he'd be like a new signing when he eventually returns. Well, he's been out for over 18 months, so there comes a time when you start to think 'Should we get rid?'. Yes we should. We could be using the wages for a player of much better quality, plus for all we know we could be waiting for months until he returns fully-fit. Even when he is fit, we'll probably have to loan him so he becomes 'match-fit'.
Those are the players I feel we should ship out to free up some wages, enabling us to bring in some better quality players in the summer. However, we must hold onto our better players. One has been attracting attention from Premier League clubs, that man being Liam Trotter. Some excellent performances this season have alerted the likes of Wigan and Fulham, who may test our resolve with an offer in the summer. I'm resigned to seeing him go, as I do think we'll recieve an offer that Trotter himself will want to take up. Darius Henderson may also be subject of interest, especially if we go down as I'm sure he'll want to continue testing himself at the highest level possible. With a court case looming, I think it's doubtful that anyone will want to take a risk on Henderson. So we're safe there, unless he gets sent down of course.
In terms of strengthening, there are lots of areas that need it, especially the whole of left hand side. We need a new left-back, Scott Barron is OK, but we could do better. We've been linked with Scott Laird of Stevenage, who is out of contract in the summer. Jackett has reportedly watched him a few times, so a summer move may be imminent. We also need a left-winger. Hamer Bouazza is usually our first choice, but he is quite injury prone and also fails to perform when he starts. Dany N'Guessan is second choice but has never actually played on the left-wing for us, which sums up our managers bizarre team selections and tactics this season. We was linked with Leyton Orient winger George Porter in January, but nothing came of it. He is another player that Jackett has watched a number of times and as a boyhood Millwall fan, Porter may be persuaded by a summer move to the Den. He is also out of contract, so that works in our favour.
Another centre back may also be needed, however we still have Mkandawire who is currently out injured. A right-back is a position that needs sorting aswell, as Jack Smith and Alan Dunne have been too inconsistent there this season. As always, we could do with another striker despite the January signing of Andy Keogh from Wolves. Ched Evans is a name that's sprung up before. He's scored 12 league goals for Sheffield United this season and he also knows Jackett from his days as Manchester City reserve coach, where Evans started out. He is another player out of contract, so if we were to sign Laird, Porter and Evans I'd be satisfied. Josh Wright is currently with us until the end of the season but he'll be free to walk in the summer. I've been impressed with what I've seen from him and he is currently in-talks with the club about a new deal. He has said publicly that Millwall is the club he wants to be at, so hopefully things get sorted there.
So, that's everything covered. This is all just my opinion, so if any Millwall fans out there think otherwise, then comment on this post suggesting what you'd change in the summer.
Sunday, 19 February 2012
The loan signings of the 2011/12 campaign
As most Millwall fans will know, Kenny Jackett loves a loan deal. There's been the good, but there has also been the bad during his 4 year tenure as manager. I'm not going to go into detail about the bad ones, as I'll be here til Christmas. However, the likes of Liam Trotter and James Henry were originally signed on loan deals. Infact, they've both had two loan spells with the club, Trotter's as early as 2006 as an inexperienced 19 year-old, then again in 2010, this time under Kenny Jackett. James Henry's two loan spells both came in 2009. But where are they now?
They're both still at Millwall, permanently this time, though. Trotter is a key part of the team, who has attracted lots of interest from Premier League clubs. Whether Millwall will be able to keep hold of him is another story. Henry however, is on the fringes of the first team and is going through a bad spell. However, in the club's first season back in the Championship he produced some fine displays, which included four assists in the Lions 4-0 home win against Hull City.
Anyway, I'm not here to talk about them two. I'm here to discuss the loan dealings of the 2011/12 campaign. A campaign which hasn't exactly been one to remember, in terms of loan dealings and in terms of the teams performance. We currently lie in 19th place, six points above the drop zone. Millwall fans of the elder generation would say that's pretty respectable, at least we're in the Championship. Most people don't see it that way though, especially as last season we finished as high as 9th and almost made the play-offs in our first season back. How things have changed since then. Right then, shall we get started?
Dany N'Guessan. Signed on loan from Leicester City at the start of the season. A pacy left-winger, who can also play as a striker. He made his debut in the 1-0 away win against Plymouth Argyle in the Carling Cup 1st Round. He scored the only goal in that game. A goal on your debut, you couldn't ask for anything else really. After that he came off the bench in our first home game of the season, against Nottingham Forest. He virtually changed the game, setting up Liam Trotter to make it 2-0, which is how it finished. Millwall fans were pleased with what they had seen so far. However...
He signed a permanent deal on deadline day in August. I personally had high hopes for him, but he's failed to cement a place in the first team. He has scored a further two goals, which came in the 1-0 home win against Portsmouth on Boxing Day, then in the 3-2 away win against Southampton in the FA Cup 4th round replay. In total, he has played 18 games for us, 9 of them starts. Overall rating? 4/10.
Next up, Jay Simpson. Returning to the Den for a second loan spell, this time from Hull City. He too joined on deadline day in August, on a loan deal until January. In his previous spell with us, he won the League One Player of the Year. He only scored 8 goals, but those goals probably kept us up. This time round, he managed only four goals in 16 appearances, 13 of those were starts. There was talk of a potential bust-up between himself and the manager. Jackett then said he wouldn't be looking into signing him, so he returned to Hull in January, as planned. In my opinion he is vastly overrated due to the fact he came through at Arsenal, who are known for having a brilliant youth system. Overall rating? 4/10.
Brian Howard, an attacking midfielder signed on a three-month loan from Reading. When I first saw him play he looked very good, always on the move, dictating the play, keeping the ball. But then I realised he wasn't really all that. Very weak, tried to do the difficult things rather than the simpler ones. Sometimes he took so long on the ball, he got dispossessed which resulted in everyone having to track back, then BANG. 1-0 down. He was played out on the left wing though, not his natural postion, but that's no excuse. He had a brilliant spell earlier in his career at Barnsley, but he isn't the same player. 12 appearances, 11 of those were starts. Goals? Zilch, zero, nowt, none. You catch my drift. Overall rating? 3/10.
Patrick Agyemang was next up, he signed on a one-month loan from QPR. An experienced striker who doesn't have the greatest goal scoring record. A typical Kenny Jackett loan signing. Millwall fans will know what I'm talking about here. Jackett doesn't have the best track record for signing strikers, with the exception of Steve Morison and Darius Henderson. Anyway, I'll keep this short. He turned up unfit. You could tell from when he made his home debut, coming off the bench. He ran half the length of the pitch and was already exhausted. 2 appearances, 1 start, in which he was substituted at half-time for being unfit. Goals? 0. Overall rating? 1/10.
Shane Lowry was up next. Finally a successful loan signing. The Australian born centre back signed on loan from Aston Villa, where he'd struggled to break into the first team. At 22, he needed regular games. He's a typical Millwall player. Commited in the tackle, strong, never shys away. He is also a leader and at 22 that's quite a good thing to have. He'll captain us one day, I'm sure. He eventually signed on a permanent deal in January, which pleased everyone. 13 appearances, all of which he's started. No goals, but he's not expected to score as a centre back. 1 red card however, from stamping on Birmingham's Nikola Zigic in the 6-0 home thrashing. Overall rating? 8/10.
Nathan Baker, who joined on loan at the same time as Lowry, from the same club, Aston Villa. The 19 year-old left-back had also failed to make an impact at Villa, so came to the Den for some game time. He wasn't great, but he was better than what we currently had a left-back. He looked nervy and most of the time just seemed to punt it forward and hope for the best. His loan spell was cut short following an injury he sustained against Portsmouth on Boxing Day. He made 6 appearances in total, with no goals. Overall rating? 3/10.
Harry Kane. A 19 year-old striker who signed on loan from Tottenham until the end of the season. Kane's only real involvement at Tottenham came in this seasons Europa League, where he scored against Shamrock Rovers. A big unit, who doesn't have any real pace, but has quality on the ball. He's scored two goals so far, which both came in the FA Cup 3rd round replay against Dagenham & Redbridge, where we won 5-0. So far, so good. He'll only get better with more games. He probably won't make it at Tottenham, but he has a chance in the Championship. 12 appearances, 9 of those are starts. 2 goals. Overall rating? 5/10.
Ryan Mason. An attacking midfielder who we also signed on loan from Tottenham until the end of the season. He joined us, injured. So he's had a delayed start to his Millwall career. He made his debut against Watford and failed to deliver. Sometimes you forget that he's even on the pitch. Yet another attacking midfielder who Jackett has played on the left wing. However, in recent games we've seen Mason in his natural position. He had a good game against Southampton in the FA Cup 4th round replay, but then I saw him at Brighton and he struggled. Similar to Howard, very lightweight. Hopefully he'll improve, but I can't see it. He's made 5 appearances, 4 of those being starts. 0 goals. Overall rating? 3/10.
Finally, Leonard Sowah. A German left-back signed on loan from Hamburg until the end of the season. Now this is a bizarre one. An agency recommended him to the club as they'd heard we'd been looking for a new left-back. So we signed him on loan, without anyone at the club even seeing him play. Now he's struggling with a back problem. A back problem at 19 years of age? Oh dear. So I can't even really judge this one, but maybe Jackett will learn his lesson. He shouldn't just go on an agents recommendation without even seeing the boy play. 0 appearances then. Overall rating? 0/10.
So, that is that. As you can see, we've not had the best of luck this season when it comes to loan deals. I may have rambled on a bit, but this is an alternative to rambling on and on over Twitter. I hope you've enjoyed this piece, which will hopefully be the first of many.
They're both still at Millwall, permanently this time, though. Trotter is a key part of the team, who has attracted lots of interest from Premier League clubs. Whether Millwall will be able to keep hold of him is another story. Henry however, is on the fringes of the first team and is going through a bad spell. However, in the club's first season back in the Championship he produced some fine displays, which included four assists in the Lions 4-0 home win against Hull City.
Anyway, I'm not here to talk about them two. I'm here to discuss the loan dealings of the 2011/12 campaign. A campaign which hasn't exactly been one to remember, in terms of loan dealings and in terms of the teams performance. We currently lie in 19th place, six points above the drop zone. Millwall fans of the elder generation would say that's pretty respectable, at least we're in the Championship. Most people don't see it that way though, especially as last season we finished as high as 9th and almost made the play-offs in our first season back. How things have changed since then. Right then, shall we get started?
Dany N'Guessan. Signed on loan from Leicester City at the start of the season. A pacy left-winger, who can also play as a striker. He made his debut in the 1-0 away win against Plymouth Argyle in the Carling Cup 1st Round. He scored the only goal in that game. A goal on your debut, you couldn't ask for anything else really. After that he came off the bench in our first home game of the season, against Nottingham Forest. He virtually changed the game, setting up Liam Trotter to make it 2-0, which is how it finished. Millwall fans were pleased with what they had seen so far. However...
He signed a permanent deal on deadline day in August. I personally had high hopes for him, but he's failed to cement a place in the first team. He has scored a further two goals, which came in the 1-0 home win against Portsmouth on Boxing Day, then in the 3-2 away win against Southampton in the FA Cup 4th round replay. In total, he has played 18 games for us, 9 of them starts. Overall rating? 4/10.
Next up, Jay Simpson. Returning to the Den for a second loan spell, this time from Hull City. He too joined on deadline day in August, on a loan deal until January. In his previous spell with us, he won the League One Player of the Year. He only scored 8 goals, but those goals probably kept us up. This time round, he managed only four goals in 16 appearances, 13 of those were starts. There was talk of a potential bust-up between himself and the manager. Jackett then said he wouldn't be looking into signing him, so he returned to Hull in January, as planned. In my opinion he is vastly overrated due to the fact he came through at Arsenal, who are known for having a brilliant youth system. Overall rating? 4/10.
Brian Howard, an attacking midfielder signed on a three-month loan from Reading. When I first saw him play he looked very good, always on the move, dictating the play, keeping the ball. But then I realised he wasn't really all that. Very weak, tried to do the difficult things rather than the simpler ones. Sometimes he took so long on the ball, he got dispossessed which resulted in everyone having to track back, then BANG. 1-0 down. He was played out on the left wing though, not his natural postion, but that's no excuse. He had a brilliant spell earlier in his career at Barnsley, but he isn't the same player. 12 appearances, 11 of those were starts. Goals? Zilch, zero, nowt, none. You catch my drift. Overall rating? 3/10.
Patrick Agyemang was next up, he signed on a one-month loan from QPR. An experienced striker who doesn't have the greatest goal scoring record. A typical Kenny Jackett loan signing. Millwall fans will know what I'm talking about here. Jackett doesn't have the best track record for signing strikers, with the exception of Steve Morison and Darius Henderson. Anyway, I'll keep this short. He turned up unfit. You could tell from when he made his home debut, coming off the bench. He ran half the length of the pitch and was already exhausted. 2 appearances, 1 start, in which he was substituted at half-time for being unfit. Goals? 0. Overall rating? 1/10.
Shane Lowry was up next. Finally a successful loan signing. The Australian born centre back signed on loan from Aston Villa, where he'd struggled to break into the first team. At 22, he needed regular games. He's a typical Millwall player. Commited in the tackle, strong, never shys away. He is also a leader and at 22 that's quite a good thing to have. He'll captain us one day, I'm sure. He eventually signed on a permanent deal in January, which pleased everyone. 13 appearances, all of which he's started. No goals, but he's not expected to score as a centre back. 1 red card however, from stamping on Birmingham's Nikola Zigic in the 6-0 home thrashing. Overall rating? 8/10.
Nathan Baker, who joined on loan at the same time as Lowry, from the same club, Aston Villa. The 19 year-old left-back had also failed to make an impact at Villa, so came to the Den for some game time. He wasn't great, but he was better than what we currently had a left-back. He looked nervy and most of the time just seemed to punt it forward and hope for the best. His loan spell was cut short following an injury he sustained against Portsmouth on Boxing Day. He made 6 appearances in total, with no goals. Overall rating? 3/10.
Harry Kane. A 19 year-old striker who signed on loan from Tottenham until the end of the season. Kane's only real involvement at Tottenham came in this seasons Europa League, where he scored against Shamrock Rovers. A big unit, who doesn't have any real pace, but has quality on the ball. He's scored two goals so far, which both came in the FA Cup 3rd round replay against Dagenham & Redbridge, where we won 5-0. So far, so good. He'll only get better with more games. He probably won't make it at Tottenham, but he has a chance in the Championship. 12 appearances, 9 of those are starts. 2 goals. Overall rating? 5/10.
Ryan Mason. An attacking midfielder who we also signed on loan from Tottenham until the end of the season. He joined us, injured. So he's had a delayed start to his Millwall career. He made his debut against Watford and failed to deliver. Sometimes you forget that he's even on the pitch. Yet another attacking midfielder who Jackett has played on the left wing. However, in recent games we've seen Mason in his natural position. He had a good game against Southampton in the FA Cup 4th round replay, but then I saw him at Brighton and he struggled. Similar to Howard, very lightweight. Hopefully he'll improve, but I can't see it. He's made 5 appearances, 4 of those being starts. 0 goals. Overall rating? 3/10.
Finally, Leonard Sowah. A German left-back signed on loan from Hamburg until the end of the season. Now this is a bizarre one. An agency recommended him to the club as they'd heard we'd been looking for a new left-back. So we signed him on loan, without anyone at the club even seeing him play. Now he's struggling with a back problem. A back problem at 19 years of age? Oh dear. So I can't even really judge this one, but maybe Jackett will learn his lesson. He shouldn't just go on an agents recommendation without even seeing the boy play. 0 appearances then. Overall rating? 0/10.
So, that is that. As you can see, we've not had the best of luck this season when it comes to loan deals. I may have rambled on a bit, but this is an alternative to rambling on and on over Twitter. I hope you've enjoyed this piece, which will hopefully be the first of many.
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