New kit divides opinion between lions fans.

In the last week Macron released images of Millwall‘s upcoming home and away kits for the new season. I know Millwall aren’t exactly known for droves of fans in home kits, but this time it was different..

If you look at the new kit you might think you’ve seen it somewhere before, and you most likely have, this being due to it using the same template as Leeds and West Ham‘s training kit from last season. To be honest I do not see a problem with this, templates are often re-used by designers, just look at West Ham’s away kit. Take that claret and blue and it was the same kit Millwall had last season, this stuff happens, but this hasn’t gone down well.

One fan saying on message board HOF  ”Nice to see us get the vermin’s training kit, disgrace” with other comments such as “Possibly the worst kit we’ve ever had” and “Without doubt the worst kit in my lifetime, looks like the kids designed it!”

I think the club will be battling to see a few of these. That’s the main problem, getting a club’s throwback won’t go down well. From the kit being shown this also brought up the issue “why not let fans vote on what the kit will be?” This was done by Millwall to celebrate their 125th anniversary, letting the fans choose what will be the home colours, a kit was picked (one of the best in recent years) and this was a rousing success with apparently 15,000 being sold. A great feat for such a club. But fans voting can also mean a turn for the worst.

If anyone has seen Crystal Palace‘s badge choices, no matter what is voted in it will be bad after using a voting poll. At least Lions fans picked a good one. Plus not matter what people think about the new kits it’s not as bad as the ghastly Barcelona wannabe kit from Palace.

I don’t mind the kits to be honest, but can see why Lions fans are disappointed, I mean, I’m sure Charlton fans would love a kit the same design as a Millwall kit from last season, but Millwall fans don’t usually buy shirts. In all honesty, the only way ‘Wall fans would buy a new shirt is if it came with a horse or crocodile on it, and came in a wide range of colours, but sadly that isn’t the case but it is defiantly not the worst kit we’ve ever had.

I’m sure the bright green and white striped kit from the 03/04 season may be close to claiming that prize. The kit is not that bad, and if you don’t like it, you don’t have to wear it.

To be honest along as the team is winning, does it really matter what the kit their wearing is? On the bright side, less then 40 days to go till the first competitive game of the season.

Trotter- should he stay or go?

While Millwall are the early starters for pre-season this coming term, there is one rumour that doesn’t seem to be going away, Liam Trotter.

Southampton FC have kept an interest in him for the last two years and if he did leave, the Lions would be losing a player with Premier League potential. On his day Trotter is a world-beater, but when it’s form, its like playing with 10 men.

Rumours circulated during the summer that Southampton tabled a  £2million bid for Trotter, these rumours were quickly denied by the club, and rightly so, no way under any circumstances should Trotter leave for 2 million, he’s worth more then that.

His quality pushing forward, goals from midfield and potential to be a player at the highest level would surely push he price up, plus the stupid prices go for in modern football, especially by the Saints themselves, paying £7million for Jay Rodriguez from Burnley. A good player? Yes, but nowhere that price. I wouldn’t let Trotter go below the price of £3.5 million, but I could see Berylson selling him on for 2.5 million with percentage sell on clause added on.

Despite Trotters’ bad parts of his game, he has the potential to play in the Premier League; even manager Kenny Jackett has stated this. So if he did leave did this summer I believe he could end up at a lower Premier League club such as West Brom or Fulham (who have already scouted him) plus Everton have apparently been on scouting trips for Trotter, but it looks like the most likely club to sign him would be Southampton, a long standing interest and the backing of a billionaire would make them favorites.

If he went who would replace him?

Fans favorite Jimmy Abdou would most likely fill one of the midfield spaces due to his play last season, but he is more of a defensive one, unlike Trotter. One replacement could be Josh Wright, signing a 3 year deal in May, Wright filled in when Trotter was injured and this brought excellent results with 6 wins out of 7.

Despite his great technique from long-range shots he’s still not quite as attacking as Trotter. Ex Charlton midfielder Thierry Raccon could be the answer after being a strong pacey midfielder at the South London club, but the Lions faithful have only seen him play once competitively due to injury, so I don’t think we’ll see him in the squad anytime soon. If the Lions want to buy an attacking midfielder like Trotter they might have to get the cheque book out.

If Trotter did leave, some of the money would most likely be spent on replacing his position in center midfield, and a strong attacking midfielder. A Peter Whititingham-esq type of player, but a strong attacking midfielder would mean a high price tag.

Kenny Jackett doesn’t just sign million pound plus players on a whim, so I could see Josh Wright being molded into a Trotter-esq player and start to push further forward to support the strikers.

If Trotter did leave he would be missed in the squad, his strong play and finishing helped the Lions out at crucial times this season, like his double against relegation rivals Doncaster Rover for example.

But this somewhat ruined by the other side to his play, his inconsistency. Trotter could go from being world class to shocking in just one game, his game blows hot and cold. Plus little niggling injuries are starting to creep into his play, with the midfielder missing the final games of the season with injuries, but when Trotter was missing from the team, the Millwall starting XI played better then when he was in there. Strange.

I still believe that Trotter is a quality player and should stay to fulfill his potential, but sooner or later a Premier League club will come calling.

Would you sell him for under 2.5 million? How can we replace him?

Starting XI dilemma for Jackett as pre season begins

With England crashing out of the Euros, attention for many football fans will turn to upcoming per season fixtures and the start of the new campaign.

In less then 3 weeks Millwall will kick off their pre season with a tour of Ireland which they start on July 16th against Shelbourne, and the team will be slightly different from last season.

The goalkeeping position will most likely be different from last time out, with Kenny Jackett using 3 goalkeepers last season he’ll want to pick his goalie and stick with him. The most likely player for the number 1 jersey is veteran Maik Taylor, the ex Northern Ireland international was instrumental in the Lions end of season form, including making 2 penalty saves in 2 games and would be the and would be the fans choice.

Then there’s the EIRE international David Forde. This was the first season that Forde has come under any real pressure, injuries at the start of the season saw him replaced, plus high cost mistakes saw Jackett react and bring in Taylor and I would go with Taylor due to his end of season form.

Then there’s the defence. With the signing of left back Scott malone, he would most likely candidate for that position. A good signing for the Lions as he is also known as a forward thinking defender, this means Tony Craig will miss out, a fans favourite who gives his all, but will hopefully be kept as back up for centre back position.

The centre back position will stay the same as last season, with captain Paul “Robbo” Robinson and Shane Lowry as the pairing, and will be hoping the carry on their impressive partnership from last season.

The right back position will be a battle between Jack Smith and one club man Alan Dunne. They both played many games at right back last season but I believe Jackett will pick Smith due to his performances, and he does not get caught out of position as much as Dunne.

Compared to last season there will certainly be changes in midfield, on the right wing it’ll be between James Henry and Liam Feeney. Feeney hit form in the middle of the season and was becoming one of the teams top performers, but his performances dropped rapidly, which saw James Henry come back in with great performances.

Plus something we’ve not seen from Henry before, passion in the way he plays, which was spotted quickly in by the Lions faithful. The centre of midfield will be a three way for two spaces, with Jimmy Abdou and Liam Trotter the most likely due to their partnership last season. But Josh Wright will be pushing them for a spot, coming in on a short term contract, his pin-point passing help open up defences, plus THAT goal against Burnley will live long in the memory; it’ll be interesting to see who Jackett picks.

So far their is only one candidate for left wing with new signing Chris Taylor. Taylor is a left winger who cuts in onto his right, which is where the majority of his goals and assists come from, this will be his first season in the Championship and hopefully he’ll be able to raise his game. There is only one left winger due to Hameur Bouazza leaving for Cyprus but the less said about him the better.

The strike force will have changed from the end of last season with Harry Kane returning to Spurs after a impressive loan spell. The one striker who is guaranteed to start is Andy Keogh, 10 goals in 19 games after signing in January will surely see him play, it’s just about finding a strike partner.

The obvious choice is Darius Henderson, but with his upcoming court case, he might not be an option come the end of August. John Marquis may be available, but he is young and not yet a quality striker, a loan to a League 1/2 club for the season would help him massively.

The one player who could be a good striker is Shaun Batt, he has overcome injuries and is now preparing for his first full pre season in two years, he will be a unknown to championship defenders, a strong tall body with pace, but will be get you 15-20 goals? We shall see.

With this in thought, this would be my team for the season at the moment -

Taylor

Smith-Robinson-Lowry-Malone

Henry-Abdou-Trotter-Taylor

Keogh-Batt

Fixtures give Millwall tough start

The fixtures have come out this week for the football league and the Premier League, and the fixture accumulators have not given Millwall the easiest start of the season by any stretch of the imagination.

The Lions will kick off the season with the exact way they finished it, welcoming the tangerines of Blackpool to The Den, not the easiest game to start of with seeing as Blackpool are the losing play off finalists, after losing 2-1 to West Ham.

It’ll be the second season in a row that the Lions will kick off against the season before play off losing finalists.

This match will go one of two ways, Blackpool will be even more determined to get promoted and provide a usual hard game as usual, or the play off hangover will still be over them and Millwall could see a result go their way. Plus rumours of players such as Thomas Ince and Matty Philips leaving the club, it could be a very different team from the play off final, with all this I could see a Lions win.

The first away trip will be to Peterborough United. This will be considered one of the easier away trips in the division, with players such as George Boyd and Paul Taylor being transfer listed due to contract talks breaking down, the Posh will have lost most of their goal threat.

But players are being bought in by manger Darren Ferguson, even though the majority are being signed from League Two and Blue Square Premier. The Lions managed to record a 3-0 win the last time they played at London Road and I’d expect the Lions to get the same kind of result.

The South Londoners then face a tougher away trip next with a trip to play newly promoted Sheffield Wednesday.

The Owls will be still on a high following promotion, and previous seasons show that at least one of the promoted teams carry on the last season form onto the start of the next season, plus Dave Jones has already bought in players such as Joe Matlock and one time England international Chris Kirkland, the Lions will be hoping to carry on last seasons away form but I can see this being a struggle to get points from this game.

It doesn’t get any easier for the Lions as they then welcome play off hopefuls Middlesborough to The Den. ‘Boro narrowly missed out on the play offs last season and Tony Mowbray’s team will be determined to go one better and on. A vital move away from the Riverside has already happened with winger Barry Robson off to the sunny side league of the MLS by signing for Vancouver Whitecaps, but by losing a vital player, they also signed a new one, Grant Leadbitter, who was undoubtedly Ipswitchs’ best player last year. This will be another strong test.

Milwall will then travel to the KC stadium and play Hull City ,who have recently been taken over in management by Steve Bruce.

With Hull missing out on the play offs, the Tigers were underachieving by their own standards, but Bruce will be hoping to change that. With rumours such as Emile Heskey signing for the club, Hull will be trying to bring a higher quality of player to the club, and Bruce may be the man to do that due to previous Premier League experience. A unknown game at the moment for the Lions, Hull’s starting XI could be completely different come August.

The Lions start the season with some tough games, yet again in the Championship which games aren’t? All I can say is bring it on! Only two months to go…..

Euro 2012 brings confidence to Forde.

Ireland have just played their first game of this years European championships, losing out 3-1 to Croatia. Millwall's David Forde may be third choice goalie for the Irish, but I bet if you told him 4 years ago that he would be in the squad for a European championships, he would've thought you were crazy.

Forde joined Millwall in the summer of 2008 after being released by Cardiff City and he soon endeared himself to the lions faithful, in only his fifth game for the club he dramatically saved a last minute penalty against Huddersfield to secure the lions first win of the season. This was a good first season for Forde at the den, after saving a Jermaine Beckford penalty in the play off semi final against Leeds, before losing to Scunthorpe in the final, despite this Forde had a good season also by keeping the 2nd highest amount of clean sheets. His strong personality shadowed his play on the pitch, from quiet to loud-mouthed in seconds. Plus being described a having a "Jekyll and Hyde" personality by more then one teammate will endear him more to the Millwall faithful, A passionate mentalist.

Forde went on to play in all competitive games the lions in both of their play off seasons as the lions went back to wembley the following season, this time to win as they beat Swindon Town. Forde went from being relatively unknown to being one of the most reliable goalies out of the two top divisions. Forde was also another brilliant example of Kenny Jackett building a successful team on one of the smallest budgets in the division.

A higher division brought a higher challenge for the whole team, especially Forde as higher quality players would come up against them, little faults began to become apparent in the Ireland internationals play, his kicking was poor and looked to be beat easily from long range. Despite this Forde was still the lions number one as the lions flirted with the play offs in their successful first season back in the championship. This season also saw Forde collect the highest honour in playing football, playing for your country. Forde play and collected his first cap against Northern Ireland in May 2011

The lions second season in the championship saw Forde come under pressure for the first time. Poor performances and injuries saw Steve Mildenhall come in for his first run in the team. Forde brought more mistakes into his game, including errors against West Ham and Brighton cost the lions vital points in their relegation battle, which saw him dropped again. This was the final straw for Kenny Jackett who brought in Maik Taylor on loan. Taylor's great performances saw him signed up on a one-year deal for the upcoming season.

Despite less game time, Forde was picked for the EIRE euro 2012 squad. Despite being considered third choice, this could bring new found confidence to Forde. Good enough to beat Maik Taylor to the number 1 jersey next season? Not for me, but he isn’t a bad second choice.

early deals bring early optimism for the lions

It seems Kenny Jackett has learned from one of his major
mistakes last season, signing players way too late in the transfer window,
lions fans were treated to a somewhat panic by on transfer deadline day august
2010 with the signings of Dany N'Guessen, Liam Feeney and loan signing of once
lions loanee Jay Simpson. But it seems Millwall won't have to worry about
deadline day signings just yet. 




Just two weeks after the season ended Jackett made his first
signing, this came in the form of veteran goalie Maik Taylor after his contract
expired at championship rivals Leeds United. With Taylor keeping 6 clean sheets
in the final 10 games of the season, including two penalty saves in two games,
he was always going to be on Jacketts radar. Taylor's arrival also can solve
the problem with the number 1 slot at Millwall with both David Forde and Steve
Mildenhall playing their part. Taylor upstaged them both with strong
performances that will surely will so make him a fans favourite at the den The
goalkeeping position is surely one of the improvements that had to be made and
glad KJ has done it so quickly.




 It also seems like KJ
will be killing two birds with one stone, with the signing of Scott Malone from
AFC Bournemouth. He will join the lions from Bournemouth after only signing for
the cherries from wolves in January, with Josh Mcquoud going back the other way
to his former league 1 club. Malone can play either left back or left wing,
positions that was A major weakness last season. Jackett was so eager to get
the deal done, Malone flew back to gatwick to take his medical, before flying
back to Marbella the same day. Despite the signing Malone, Jackett will
desperately disappointed with Josh Mcquoid, signed with much potential that was
never fulfilled, spent the second half of the season at fellow championship
team Burnley. With a string of rumours of bust-ups, plus persistent little
niggling injuries it was going to be hard for Mcquoid to establish himself at
the den. Mcquoid will be gone but not long forgotten, because of the rumoured
price tag. 




The quick deals seem to be coming thick and fast for the lions
as Chris Taylor of Oldham has held "initial talks" with the club and
will iiallegedly be signing for the lions in the next week. Taylor has only
played for one club, his boyhood town Oldham Athletic, he played over 300 times
for the Latic's before allowing his contract to expire this summer. Taylor can
play as a left winger but can also play right wing due to his strong right
foot, many of Taylor's goals come from cutting in from the left and scoring
with his right. With winger Hameur Bouazza surely leaving the club the left
wing was a position that had to be desperately improved, Jacket will surely
pleased that he's got his man. It seems Kenny has Learnt the error of his ways
an decided to shop around early, 3 signings before the start of June, anyone
getting a bit excited for the new season already?

a toothless lions attack?

With striker Darius Henderson facing a court case in June, the Lions could face the new season without their leading goal scorer from 2010/2011 season, I will be looking at who would be left to lead the Lions attack.

John Marquis- This is Marquis’s first full season in the first team, and he has found it a struggle to adapt to championship standards, with only one goal scored this season, and that came on the opening day at Reading.

Marquis looks a strong player who likes to put himself around the field, a Neil Harris-esq mould of player if you will, but so far he hasn’t produced, plus a twitter rant after losing to rivals Crystal Palace at The Den won’t help his cause with the fans. Can marquis score goals at this level? Maybe, after a loan or two in the lower leagues but not now, he’s nowhere near the answer.

Josh Mcquoid- The Lions faithful have seen little of Josh since his arrival in January 2010.  An injury kept Mcquoid out when he first arrived but the South Londoners did get too see a glimpse of what he could do, a magnificent strike against Preston which won the clubs goal of the season award.

Since then certain rumours of a fall out with Kenny Jackett came out in the open. He only played 11 games before going on loan to Burnley where he impressed at Turf Moor the playing majority of his games on left wing. He played 17 games scoring just one goal before returning to The Den. He could be the new goal scorer at The Den but KJ may have him in plans for left midfield.

Shaun Batt- Batt will just be happy to be playing football again after suffering a horrific injury in pre season of 2010, missing the whole of 10/11 campaign.

He started to make his comeback in January 2012, including two games against his old club Dagenham & Redbridge. He was sent to League Two promotion winners Crawley Town where he played only six games. He was then brought back to The Den for a string of sub appearances, including the final game against Blackpool. With an awkward body to play against and his blistering pace, BATTman, a unknown quantity, could be the answer Jackett is looking for.

Last but nowhere least is Andy Keogh – Keogh was brought in on transfer deadline day from now relegated Wolves and his first few lions games were played on the wing but Kenny Jackett soon pushed him to a striker. With 10 goals in 19 games since January he’s gone from being in the reserves at Wolves, to being a top, on-form championship striker and on the fringes of Ireland’s Euro 2012 squad,  another gem found by KJ.

By looking at this the only real quality striker The Lions have is Andy Keogh, so surely another striker to accompany Keogh leading the strike force should be priority for this summer.