HarryfromBath assesses the mood in the opposition camp ahead of Monday's game by delving into their forums.

Mid-Table and a Great Cup Run

“My tickets have landed”, “So who is in what block?”, “Thread for Posters wanting Wembley Tickets”. With thread after thread discussing the FA Cup semi-final against Wigan, and with games in hand in the Championship Demolition Derby, the great majority of Lions see their glass half full right now.

“We have a good set of remaining fixtures, with six at home and four away”, “Mid-table is a good season for us”, “With a run of wins, we could end up playing and stuffing Pala*se in the play-offs. It is a dream but a real possibility.”

Awareness of the Drop

Some Lions are cautious: “Are we really playing that well? Don’t get me wrong. I’m well happy, but in the two Blackburn (cup) games, I would say we were just… less sh*t than them”, “Nobody is going to want to injure themselves for Wembley. Expect some poor results."

In 1995/96 Millwall were relegated with 52 points at Portman Road on the final day of the season. “The last 15 minutes was the first time we slipped in to the bottom three”, “We can’t look at patterns this year because this division is so similar in quality from top to bottom. We can beat sides which were in the Premier League last year, and get thrashed by sides who will be League One next Year”.

“I was happy as Larry at half-time (watching Saturday’s results). Then look what happens. Every one of the f***ers. It’s going to be tight right down to the last day”, “It’s like a rash. It won’t go away”.

“This year is bonkers. No mid-table end of year kickabouts this season for anybody. Either looking over your shoulder at the relegation spots or you have half an eye on the play-offs”, “The way things are going, the entire table below sixth will be on 57 points”.

Kenny Jackett

On a ‘Hate or Plate’ poll, running for several months, Kenny Jackett (KJ) has a 74% plate (positive) rating. His judgement is highly esteemed: ”Generally speaking, in terms of actual signings, KJ get more right than wrong."

“King Jackett”, “Six years at the club and three Wembley appearances. KJ totally out-thought Chris Powell (against Charlton)”, “KJ got a great team spirit going in the squad”. He is praised for a 43% win ratio at a smaller Championship club. “It’s KJ and KJ alone that’s made us push above our weight”.

The Tactical Overview in One Sentence

The Lions are very happy with their defence, but they are less content with the balance of central midfield, and they are ruing the loss of two key strikers in the January window.

Defence

“We have a stable back five, and all our success with Kenny has started with a solid defence”.

”A decent goalkeeper who relies too much on his confidence, but he came back and has been outstanding”. Republic of Ireland keeper David Forde was hugely praised after his clean sheet against Leicester, making an “outstanding reflex save”. “He seems to have turned a corner, thank f*ck”.

Danny Shittu is “becoming a ‘Wall legend”, especially after his winning goal against Blackburn in the Cup quarter-final. “When he plays, we don’t ever look like conceding from crosses. He’s an animal”, “He seems to have embraced our attitude in the last few months”.

The former Watford and QPR player is “quick over long distances, but slower over shorter distances. He uses his experience to avoid getting caught out much”. They are worried about losing their vice-captain: “So what if he’s 32. He is easily worth a two-year deal."

Former Sheffield Wednesday centre back Mark Beevers will be back from suspension, and will probably partner Shittu at the back. “He quietly goes about his job without fuss or panic”, and been “first class since his arrival”. He is highly respected.

“Beevers uses the ball intelligently. It makes a difference for a player to care where he is clearing it to. He will put his foot on the ball and calmly make a pass instead of dashing along with it before hoofing”.

Australian Shane Lowry “fits in the side whether a full-back or centre-back”. “He took his time, picked his spot and perfectly executed” an outstanding freekick against Charlton". “That’s the second time he cleared one off the line” against the Foxes. “He reads the game well.”

“Proper Millwall”. Alan Dunne joined Millwall’s academy aged eight. “He has blue blood, that boy”. The full-back “gets unnecessary stick and gets c***ed off more than any oppo player, but he comes back stronger. Since he’s been back, he’s been outstanding”. His “passing has improved but his positioning is still suspect”, but “he has made the defence a more solid unit”.

“Alan is not the sharpest tool in the box, but thank f*** he remembered”. He scored the winner on Friday at Leicester, and nearly took his shirt off having already been booked. “He must be a joy to play with”.

Dunne is “always a better defender than Adam Smith, but not a patch on him attacking”. Full-back Adam Smith has “got his confidence back after a dodgy start, and has made some good crunching tackles”. “His attacking prowess flatters to deceive when getting forward from right-back supported by (currently injured winger) James Henry”.

“Adam Smith doesn’t have a left foot to cross, unfortunately”. Some Lions are unsure about the 21-year-old Spurs loanee “Kenny prefers Dunne when N’Guessan is playing in front of him on the left”.

“Surprised at this signing. Could be a massive coup for us”. Sean St Ledger has joined on loan from Leicester until the end of the season. “Don’t forget St Ledger has been out for six months with an injury”. “I wonder if he’s here because Shittu hasn’t has a deal sorted out yet”.

Midfield

With inconsistent performances from Liam Trotter, Nadjim Abdou and Dany N’Guessan, Kenny Jackett has been working hard to get the right balance, switching from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3, and bringing in Richard Chaplow on loan from Southampton.

“Acres of space out wide, but we have no wingers on the pitch”. The 4-3-3 (used against Leicester) gives more solidity in the centre but at a real cost out wide. “FFS we need width! This is making my teeth itch”.

“Much as I like Jimmy’s effort, it’s embarrassing that he cannot pass or shoot at Championship level”. Defensive midfielder Nadjim Abdou “has been shadow boxing for weeks, and just can’t make any sort of decent forward pass”.

“Jack Smith has made more forward passes in one game than Abdou has made all season”. The former Swindon player “brings the ball forward and passes well. I always feel safe when he is in control”. He has a “decent football brain and is calm on the ball. He is willing to throw himself into a tackle“. He is “tidy”, and “now looks a sound midfielder”.

“Very good on the ball and very composed,” loanee Richard Chaplow has fitted in well. “We will be able to see what a proper midfielder can do now, after having Abdou so long”. He “never stopped running,” was “full of determination” and provided “a spark in midfield” against Charlton.

“The less said the better”. Former Leicester player Dany N’Guessan “gets into good positions but his timing is non-existent”, “If he could pass the ball instead of trying to take on everyone we might actually get somewhere”, “Shocking. Absolutely frustrating as he is f***ing greedy”.

“He fails to make a simple pass”. The left winger’s technique is heavily criticised. “F*** me. How is this bloke playing Championship football? Has he got a first touch?”

On the right side, Chris Taylor “shows the sort of spirit every ‘Wall player should show every time he puts the shirt on”. The former Oldham winger is a “blinding little player with some fire in his belly”. “You always need a player who can run at the defence and carry the ball. He does that well”.

“He’s tenacious in the tackle. Many times I have seen him leave far bigger players on their arses”. Taylor is “a future captain”, and Lions are anxious to see contract talks concluded soon for him.

Liam Trotter

“You know how a building needs to sway and be slightly culpable [sic] to earth tremors while not falling down? Well, that’s what Trotter is”, ”Trotter in the team is like having a Frank Lampard who doesn’t score”, “The only player whose shirt was even more clean after 90 minutes than we he came out of the tunnel at the start”.

The former Blue was mercilessly slated during the Leicester game. “He hasn’t moved into space once we’ve been in possession”, “He’s just a spectator – it like 10 v 10. (The Foxes had a man sent off early in the game on Friday).

“Trotter is our only attacking midfielder, but his passing at close range is the worst I have seen from a professional footballer”. He has been “off the boil since Christmas”, and “gone down the khazi”.

“His performances this year have been terrible”, “Shame, has the ability to be one of our best midfielders”. “Usual in and out game”, his inconsistency is a constant theme. “A lazy player with no imagination”, he is “a big lump, who doesn’t have the engine to be a centre midfielder.

Strikers

The loss of Chris Wood to Leicester and Darius Henderson to Forest in the last transfer window has been heavily linked with Millwall’s poor run in this calendar year.

The arrival of Jermaine Easter on loan from Palace is seen as a timely response to these losses, but many Lions feel that real damage to their campaign has been done in the New Year.

“The invisible man had more about him than Hulse”, “The invisible man wouldn’t get caught offside so much”. QPR loanee Rob Hulse is heavily debated. “We call him ‘inchey’ because that’s how high he gets off the ground”, “I don’t think he has won a header since he came in”, “Piss poor”.

“KJ hasn’t brought him in for his goalscoring, but more for his all-round play”. The former Ram has supporters, albeit qualified: “His movement is clever, but he is unbelievably slow”. Several Lions praised his hold up play.

Former Wolves striker Andy Keogh has “had a dreadful season”, and “needs one goal to get going again”. Criticism of the Republic of Ireland international is muted, for the sad reason that his fiancée lost a baby in autumn when abnormalities where detected during a pregnancy. “No criticising. He had a bad experience eight months ago”.

Academy graduate John Marquis is still seen as work in progress. “He tends to drift into the middle and tries to hold the ball up against the two centre-backs, but doesn’t have the upper body strength. When Marquis traps the ball, bless him, he loses it about 10 yards away”.

“He’s an intelligent player”. Hope has arrived in the form of Palace loanee Jermaine Easter. “He came on against Charlton and created space”, “He provided movement and options for Trotter to capitalise on”. The 31-year-old “is fast and experienced”. Lions are “gutted he is cup-tied for Wembley”.

Millwall Fans' Views on ITFC and the Game

“Massive game on Monday and they are scoring again by the looks of it”, “We have got to keep winning. Those bottom teams don’t give up. It is a crucial game on Monday”, “Think three points are a must on Monday”.

”An even bigger semi-final will be Ipswich given our home form and inability to attack teams of recent. Two of the worst performing sides have recently taken us to the cleaners”. The lack of results at the New Den is a running concern. “It’s the home form that worries me”.

With confidence high, the overwhelming majority of Lions are confident of a home win. There has not been much specific discussion of ITFC as a team yet. I will pop a thread on the forum on the day of the game with anything I can glean.

A Particular View of Themselves

”Well, that’s Millwall for you mate. A horrible little club from an ‘orrible place, but once the Lion disease bites you it is there for life - a feeling like no other when the Den is in full cry. Every hair on your body stands up. We have a set of fans who won’t be put down no matter what.

“A special club like no other in my book. The likes of Charlton and Palace are nonentities in comparison. We might be the horrible kid in the corridor doing detention again, but we won’t bow down and we will never be ignored."

“We have the only set of fans who live in the real world. We know the situation, accept it and get on with it”, “Too many (other fans) act as if their sh*t doesn’t stink”, “They can’t believe that their multi-talented sides actually lose to us”.

Occasionally, they can go too far: “They hate us but secretly want to be us”.

A Particular View of Palace, Charlton and West Ham

Millwall’s home game with Palace (the Nigels) has been moved to April 30th – a Tuesday evening -because of the FA Cup semi-final. This has been met with relish: “Sweet”, “The teachers will line them up in twos and take them to the gate”, “Lots of packed lunches. Cheese rolls and Scotch eggs”.

Lions are relishing a last evening home game against the poetically named “Acned Suburban Surrey Sainsbury Sh*tehawks”, “If they get too excited they may be made to walk in pairs holding hands”, “The Nigels are plastic confused Eminem wannabes”.

“Charlton Pathetic” are known,amoongst other things, as “the Anoraks”. Their description of Millwall as “spanners”, from a game when a spanner was hurled on the pitch by Lions, is snorted at. “The smaller they think we are, the better we love it”.

Greatest venom is reserved for “Wet Spam”. “Dirty F***ers! I bet the dildo kings will sell up for a massive profit when the vermin move in”. There is contempt for the Hammers proposed move to the Olympic Stadium.

However, one Lion did add this insightful comment: ”Wet Spam will be the biggest losers. Moving from your spiritual home hurts”.

Websites

It was not possible to access the legendary House of Fun forum, which now can only be accessed by members. I tried registering twice without success. The best website I found was North Stand Banter. Some additional feedback was found on footymad.net. Watch out for the omnipresent industrial language!

wkj added 18:06 - Mar 31 thanks for another great blog- I get the feeling their cup run might distract them from their league campaign and we are good for a point - however confidence with McGoldrick is probably through the roof - he played brilliantly in attack vs Leeds - we may be good for a win. I've not been a great lover of JET but he really took off (haha) vs Leeds on Saturday and if he can pull off another performance like this vs Millwall it may be worth considering tayloring the midfield around JET next match vs Drury - who quite frankly frustrated me on Saturday (minus he's fantastic clearance). I think Drury needs to accept he is more of a defensive midfielder and maybe towns formation doesn't suit that- he tries his best but going forward he needs major work to cut it at championship level; We always seem to really battle with Millwall and I think our new found defensive stamina will really be key into scrapping a point- lets hope we can rustle the bet of the goal too

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BillBlue added 18:50 - Mar 31 Great again Harry, many thanks. I will settle for a point tomorrow, four from six would look pretty good. Glad to hear they are ranting about Liam, last time they were singing his praises and had me worried. Suffered my most frightening match ever at the Den - mind you we had won 6-1!
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Sindre94 added 04:22 - Apr 1 Cheers mate, a great read.
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HarryfromBath added 12:00 - Apr 1 Many thanks for your kind comments and feedback. They are hugely appreciated. wjk - Totally agree with your comments about McGoldrick's confidence. Millwall's defence doesn't give much change, and it will be a more difficult proposition than the Leeds game. It is interesting that the introduction of Drury has unleashed Hyam to so extent. It could be that their chemistry in central midfield is better than when N'Daw is playing. BillBlue - It is funny when fans get stuck into their own players. As I said on the forum last week, my eyes light up when the more poetic criticism appear. I went back a couple of weeks into their forums, and the criticism of Trotter is not just recent. Alas, I was in Ireland when the 6-1 (plus free riot) happened, and have heard may terrifying stories about that fabled day. I know we will do better than last year, when Jewell put out a scratch defence which was promptly shredded by the Lions. Sindre - Thanks for your comment. Feedback is greatly appreciated.

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