Lee Gregory netted twice and Ryan Leonard once as Millwall comfortably beat the Blues 3-0 at the Den, highlighting the extent of the job now facing new manager Paul Lambert who was watching from the stands along with his staff. Gregory profited from Town’s set-piece frailties on 26 and 51 before Leonard made the most of a mix-up between skipper Luke Chambers and keeper Bartosz Bialkowski with 20 minutes left on the clock.

Andre Dozzell, Grant Ward and Trevoh Chalobah came back into the team for caretaker-manager Bryan Klug’s one game back in charge in a 3-5-2 system.

Ward returned to the right wing-back role he occupied in the first two games of Klug’s stint as caretaker-boss last season, having previously played there during the academy head of coaching and development’s time working at Spurs.

Chalobah lined up on the right of the centre of the defence with Matt Pennington on the left and skipper Luke Chambers in the centre with Jonas Knudsen the left wing-back.

In midfield, Dozzell joined Cole Skuse and Flynn Downes while Freddie Sears and Kayden Jackson were up front.

For Millwall, skipper Shaun Hutchinson returned from two months out for James Meredith, who dropped to sub, while Jiri Skalak came in for the injured Jed Wallace. Ex-Blues loanee Ryan Tunnicliffe was on the bench.

After a rather confused minute’s silence with the game Millwall’s Remembrance Day fixture, the Lions started the more positively and went close on six when Hutchinson nodded over from a corner having been given a free header after Knudsen had slipped.

Following a lengthy stoppage for an injury to Gregory the Blues, wearing their all orange away strip, began to make an impression in the Millwall half, Downes turning his man on the right but his cross deflected behind the Town players in the area.

On 15 Knudsen whipped over a low ball from the left which was cleared just ahead of Sears at the near post.

But Millwall continued to see most of the ball, although without seriously threatening. On 22 they claimed a penalty when Shaun Williams went to ground as he exchanged passes with Gregory in the area but referee Robert Jones wasn’t interested.

A minute later, Ryan Leonard chested down a loose ball and shot not too far wide and in the 27th minute the Lions went in front.

Jake Cooper nodded Williams's corner from the right back into the six-yard box from the far post having risne above Chalobah and Gregory turned home from four feet. Town claimed a foul - probably a push on Cole Skuse as the ball came back in - but referee Jones wasn’t interested.

Set-piece goals have been Town’s Achilles’ heel all season and in the 31st minute they almost conceded another. Hutchinson knocked Shane Ferguson's freekick from the left back across goal and Cooper was just unable to add the final touch at the post.

Aside from the two crosses around the 15-minute mark the Blues had been largely been pressed back in their half with Millwall well in control.

The home side again went close to their second of the game from another set piece in the 39th minute. Ferguson’s freekick whipped in from the right and Elliott’s header rather fortuitously flew straight to Bartosz Bialkowski.

Dozzell had seen little of the ball but on 42 he was twice involved in a move which saw Ward break down the right and cross but far too deeply.

As the half moved into two minutes of injury time Pennington nodded a ball over the top back to the advancing Bialkowski.

The Lions were well worth their lead at the break having been much the better side with the Blues fortunate that they had conceded only the one set-piece goal.

Millwall had been in charge from virtually the start with Town struggling to keep possession and only fleetingly able to get Dozzell on the ball.

Millwall keeper Ben Amos will rarely have had a quieter 45 minutes with the Blues not registering a shot on or off target. If he hadn’t prior to the half, incoming manager Lambert - pictured top with, from left to right, first-team coach Matt Gill, assistant manager Stuart Taylor and fitness coach Jim Henry - will have had a good idea idea of what his new job will entail by its end.

The Blues were put through their paces by academy physio Jimmy Reynolds on the pitch prior to the second half with Klug, who as last season was again being assisted by Chris Hogg and Gerard Nash, switching Skuse, who had gone into the game carrying an ankle knock, making way for Jordan Spence with Ward moving into midfield.

Six minutes after the restart Millwall doubled their lead and again the goal came from a set piece. Leonard’s long throw on the left was flicked on by Cooper and Gregory turned home his second of the afternoon from close range.

Given Town’s history this season a comeback looked hugely unlikely but on 54 they at least managed their first shot of the afternoon, however Downes scuffed his 20-yard effort well wide.

Jackson, who had hardly been involved, was replaced by Lankester two minutes later before Millwall swapped Elliott for Steve Morison, moments after Pennington had been yellow-carded for a foul on Williams. On 63 Aiden O’Brien came on for Skalak.

Skipper Chambers scraped a shot well wide from the left of the area in the 67th minute after Millwall had made heavy weather of clearing Town’s first corner of the afternoon and the Blues had worked an opening on the left.

But on 70 Millwall made it 3-0 with Town again the architects of their own downfall. Ferguson pumped a long ball from deep into the area from deep and Chambers got in Bialkowski’s way as the keeper punched. With the Polish international grounded, the ball fell to Leonard 30 yards out from where he looped it into the corner of the net. For once not a set piece but a goal equally as poor as the earlier two.

Millwall denied Gregory a chance of a hat-trick by replacing him with Tom Bradshaw in the 75th minute. The striker was clearly not overly impressed to have been withdrawn. Gwion Edwards took over from Dozzell with nine minutes of the game remaining.

With the match over from a competitive perspective, the Blues saw more of the ball in the latter stages and on 88 Chalobah smashed a shot from a tight angle on the right which slammed against Amos’s left post and behind.

Another miserable afternoon for the 2,000-plus strong Town support was brought to a close with Millwall having settled for their three goals.

If new boss Lambert was unaware of the situation he is inheriting at Town he will now be well aware from watching another thoroughly lacklustre display.

Very much second best throughout, if anything the 3-0 scoreline flattered the Blues who looked like conceding from every set piece.

Town, now three points behind second-bottom Hull and five off safety, have shipped at least two goals in each of their away games this season barring the first two at Rotherham and Exeter.

The Lions, hardly one of the division’s top sides, although now up to 18th, were well in control throughout and cantered to what will be their easiest three points of the season.

"Chalobah’s late strike against the post, at a time when the match was already over as a contest and Millwall had essentially declared, was the only time the Blues, who now haven’t scored for three matches, came close to getting on the scoresheet.

Lambert is set to meet the players and staff tomorrow when he will begin what on today’s evidence looks the very tough job of rescuing Town’s season and preventing the Blues from dropping into the third tier for the first time in 62 years next May.

Millwall: Amos, Hutchinson (c), Cooper, Williams, Gregory (Bradshaw 75), Ferguson, Romeo, Elliott (Morison 57), M Wallace, Skalak (O’Brien 63), Leonard. Unused: Archer, McLaughlin, Meredith, Tunnicliffe.

Town: Bialkowski, Ward, Pennington, Chambers (c), Chalobah, Knudsen, Skuse (Spence 46), Downes, Dozzell (Edwards 81), Sears, Jackson (Lankester 56). Unused: Gerken, Nolan, Rowe, Nsiala. Referee: Robert Jones (Merseyside). Att: 15,386 (Town: 2,195).

Photo: Pagepix

andygizmo added 17:43 - Oct 27 Does Lambert's contract have a 7 day cooling off period?
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blueboy1981 added 17:43 - Oct 27 Credit yet again, to the 'very best' travelling support in the Championship - by far.
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Gforce added 17:45 - Oct 27 Let's hope Mr Lambert knows of 11 out of contract players,as it's our only hope !! As by January we'll be 15 points adrift and already down.
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jdtractor96 added 17:45 - Oct 27 Well done to the 2,000 strong fans who made the trip today. I play football on Saturday afternoons and live between Lincoln and Peterborough so don't get to many games. I was at Leeds on Wednesday evening and I'll be at PR next Saturday (week off from playing). We seem desperately short on attacking options but hopefully Lambert can at least make us difficult to beat and pick up a few results sharpish. Our season starts next Saturday, 5 points from safety. COYB

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OliveR16 added 17:49 - Oct 27 Contrary to some posts on here, I imagine Lambert is quite pleased. This was the game that exposed us as the worst team in the Championship (and not just one of the poorer teams with low morale). If he achieves anything he will have achieved something. He can move on with some dignity, like a doctor who has done their best for a dying patient. Our problem is different. We love the dying patient.

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ihatecanaries added 17:51 - Oct 27 When MM joined we were in a similar position, 7 points from 12 games I believe but the difference between then and now is MM inherited a squad of players that were capable of getting us out of that mess, Lambert is inheriting a squad incapable of scoring or keeping a clean sheet which means only one thing!!!
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chopra777 added 17:52 - Oct 27 Why did this bunch of idiots not up their game, considering they were playing for their places. Did not they get inspiration from Kevin Beattie legendary past. I think PL has to rip up this team and use every player within the squad to defend resolutely against other teams until January. We could even get Peter Crouch as a loan player with some other ex prem players. At this rate 21st place will do.

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Michael101 added 17:53 - Oct 27 Bluearmy,what you said about managers is not just in football ,take a look at the bankers through there incompetence the country is broke but they still have themselves a 300 million pension pot.
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scants_itfc added 17:54 - Oct 27 Paul lamberts eyes look so sad in that image, he must be regretting his choice!! I can make three statements from today. 1. This is the worst professional team I've ever watch. 3 shots in 3 games I think that is now. I'm ashamed to be a town fan right now, and won't be buying any more tickets this season. I have far more entertaining things to spend my money on. 2. Please let's not get on Lamberts back. Pep guardiaola wouldn't keep this team up. He is inheriting a huge turd of a squad and you can't polish a turd 3. Next season is the most important in our history. We have to clean out and start again and compete in league one to rebuild. Otherwise Accrington Stanley won't be the worst ground we are visiting in a few years. The likes of Dozzell and Downes will have their careers ruined if they stay with our club unless it drastically changes. They will need to leave to progress and hat is a shame. 4. Sorry I know I said 3. Kayden Jackson is the fastest player I've ever seen to never beat a defender for pace, he also has the same affect as a bouncy castle if you throw the ball at it, it bounces 20 yards in the other direction. Season over. The end

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runaround added 17:56 - Oct 27 Paul Lambert has a massive job ahead of him to keep us up. We are lacking in confidence and quality in all areas of the pitch. Confidence can be improved. Quality not so easily without a huge slice of luck involving certain players regaining & keeping fitness plus some youngsters reaching their potential very soon. OR investment in January from Evans to a level we have not seen since the days of Jewell & Keane, which seems unlikely. I have supported the club for over 40 years and seen some bad times but there was always hope that things could improve but this time it really needs a massive improvement in a very short space of time. I am concerned about how low the club can actually drop

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scants_itfc added 17:57 - Oct 27 Also, for the complete morons amongst you who were fighting, and I mean men getting in kids faces, go and support Millwall. Scumbags! Not what or fans need right now
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delias_cheesy_flaps added 17:59 - Oct 27 Another waste of 90+ minutes. Embarrassing is an understatement! After watching that Lambert must be thinking I knew it was bad but I can't believe it's as bad as what I've just seen? The players cannot even do the basics, Sears failing to block the ball from a throw-in and the ball rolls out for a goal kick summed up just how inept our players have become. If PL can pull this season round from relegation he really is a quality act...hopefully he will drop the likes of Chambers, Knudsen and Skuse who really are a liability in favour of younger models.

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BlueandTruesince82 added 18:00 - Oct 27 Blueboy Not for long. Best in lg1 next year. When will see Huws again? Will Adeyemi ever kick a ball again? Will we ever score another goal? Who knows......
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blueboy1981 added 18:09 - Oct 27 The caption is of three unimpressed people - possibly even depressed after watching that.
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RobsonWark added 18:09 - Oct 27 Well, well, well...that was a surprise result today - NOT!! As soon as I saw our inspirational captain was in the team I knew we would lose today. How come all these highly paid managers and coaches can't see how useless and a liability Chambers really is? Week in week out for the last few years we've heard MM and PH saying we conceded soft goals and yet he still gets picked to play every game!!!! If our strikers don't score they get dropped and a different player is played up front. If Bart lets a goal in then Jerk-en gets a call up. Why the heck will they not drop Chambers???

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bluesman added 18:10 - Oct 27 Let's hope Lanbert can do a McCarthy. He'll need a thick skin and some money.
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masetheace added 18:11 - Oct 27 Perhaps those who drove McCarthy out of the club are still happy now . Despite losing Dozzell Huws Adeyemi Bishop and McGoldrick for the majority of the season they still expected quality football . Now all his best signings gone, replaced by less than average players and we are in a mess . Don't forget that Murphy was sold without a replacement . Good luck Paul - you will need it

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blueboy1981 added 18:12 - Oct 27 ........ have they ever been trained / shown how to defend set pieces ? - every team we play against us seem to score from them. Defending set pieces is not difficult - but we seem to continually make it so, so difficult, time after time.
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WoodfordTim added 18:14 - Oct 27 Well, we'll be back again at PR Saturday. Let's give PL & the team as much support as we can & try and play our part. PL will at least have a week's training to sort out a system & a team. So disappointed with the transfer buys of Paul Hurst. One or two from L1 & 2 perhaps, but not all this lot at one go. Gives them no chance to adjust. Sad to think it, but I think Paul Hurst is a 21 carat, gold plated twerp.

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Henrietta_R_Hippo added 18:14 - Oct 27 We are awesome (NOT)!!! Was in agreement with most here before kick-off that the starting lineup, with just 1 of Hurt's largely out-of-their-depth appearing lower league signing in there btw, looked better -- no let me refrain that "less terrible" -- than any The Departed One constantly experimented with.... but the bottomline is this: Way too much 'Dead Wood' still around the core of this sorry squad, starting with Captain Calamity & ExSkusey! And including even 'Likable Freddie, who despite his hard work ethics nevertheless still looks to me like a man who have are somewhat traumatized by previous droughts & thus clearly having serious troubles scoring ... possibly even in a Bangkok Brothel as they say... and unless the player quality & service to him & around him(and any other of our hapless strikers for that matter) improves dramatically, will likely if continuing to start go on with yet another goal-drought for all I know , in addition to the 2 ultra surreal ones he is already unwillingly in the history annals for! Aye I know especially the first 2 mentioned players are luved or at least rated by a sizable portion of our fans -- hmmm with a large chunk of said portion appearing to me to be fans who also think Mick McCarthy The Manager is the best thing happening to not only football but Mankind in general!, since ehhh the invention of Viagra! : -) lol :-) -- and while I'm largely for "each to his or hers own"here and all that, seriously people! C'mon! Please remove them epoxyglued-on bluetinted spectacles & be 100% honest: That as Lambert has a monumental task ahead of him, well, among other radical tough measures he simply MUST bench and replace all the 'Dead Wood' ...including those ITFC veterans who besides mostly being extremely passing-poor, on average are either more useless than useful or even occasionally worse: As in more calamitous than positively contributing!, a.s.a.p.

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RoyalAscotBlue added 18:14 - Oct 27 Fans turning on each other everywhere I looked today. Some fans thought MM was fantastic. Some fans thought he was awful. Some fans will not accept PL because of his past. Some fans won't let that bother them, and will give him a chance. The infighting which we have seen on here over the last year or so will continue. Sad times.
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blueboy1981 added 18:15 - Oct 27 ....... and someone STILL has to mention 'you know who' - get a life, move on, accept what's gone - or go and follow his current team ..... !! - now that may be a problem.... !!
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blueboy1981 added 18:18 - Oct 27 So called fans who turn against each other in these times - simply aren't fans of our still great Club. They need to be ignored, and hopefully will eventually move on with their lives, and more importantly - GROW UP.
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EssexTractor added 18:19 - Oct 27 Sadly cannot turn clock backwards. Only way now is forward and Paul Lambert knew before today's game the strength of our squad Today it was underlined..heavily .No strength. But his hands are tied unless he knows of " free transfers" ( anywhere in The World!).. before January..but as has been said who then of " class" would want to join what might be a doomed Club. I believe he has serious personal concerns that , despite his ability, he has insisted on a 3 year contract, becausehe fears his task will be to regain Championship status next season with his players. In all honesty Hursts transfer exploits must be the worst ever seen at this level ..and no one with any real football knowledge appeared to have overseen his actions. Yes we have had slumps, bad seasons but never since I watched my first match in 1958 have I seen such a collection of , what can I say " powder puff" performances. We now have players purchased by Hurst on contracts...Nsiala, Nolan, Jackson,Harrison who are simply not up to it...The weakest forwards, I have ever seen.. We all hope Paul Lambert and his new team are magicians....but for this season with this squad...how likely ?

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62WasBest added 18:30 - Oct 27 How can any professional football team, no matter what system they play, not get one shot on target in 94 minutes of football? It is ludicrous. Quite frankly, what is the point of trying to play to set systems week in, week out and not have a leader on the pitch willing to say, "This just isn't working", let's ditch the tactics and just play to attack and see where it gets us". Even losing 6-0 but giving it a go is preferable to this fear of playing football. Sometimes I think initiative has been coached right out of players when they are young and that many, many managers and coaches are guilty over overthinking an essentially simple game. On this weekend in particular, the players should be made to see every snippet of how Beattie played in every match. They may not have all his talents but his greatest was his passion and clear-headedness on the pitch. He never had to be told to play like that. I wonder though, if the penny would ever drop with these so-called professionals.

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