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Tepid Terriers v Voracious Lions - jjamez - 27-10-2022

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A lacklustre season so far for Huddersfield and it sees them welcome on Saturday, arguably one of their most challenging opponents so far, an inform Millwall side. The Lions of London Town sit in 6th place, and come into the game on the back of 4 wins in the last 5 games, Town in comparison come no where near, with just the 3 wins all season.

Still managed by Gary Rowett of Burton Albion fame, the Lions have had a bit of a change of identity. Gone are the days of being perennial survivors who depend on bullying teams and using the intimidating atmosphere of The Den, they are now a side that can challenge the upper echelons of the league, play decent football... still utilising the bullying and atmosphere though. In theory, they're relegation they suffered a few seasons back allowed them to regroup and come back stronger with a better group of players. It took them a couple of seasons to get back up but would it happen the same for us should we go down? knowing us, no.

Appointed back in October 2019, Rowett had had a miserable spell as manager of Stoke who he had left Derby to join and was in need of a club to try and restart his career with. His first game in charge of the Lions was against his old side Stoke and he was able to show them whats what with a 2-0 victory. They finished the covid hit season with an 8th placed finish. In that season they drew against Town in Yorkshire, Fraizer Campbell scoring for Town, with House of Dragon star Matt Smith scoring for a then Neil Harris side, they also saw Shane Ferguson sent off in the last 10 minutes. The fixture in London saw Danny Schofield take a young side to play the last game of the season, Hodgkinson had just sacked the Cowley mafia as Town survived by the barest of margins. Town lost that day 4-1, Karlan Grant scored for Town, after one Conor Mahoney opened the scoring for the Lions, the second half saw the hosts run away with it as they scored three to compound the misery of the season. The following season and Covid was still around so there was still no fans in grounds and we were left watching games on our computer screens. The first game between the two was at The Den, where a Carlos Corberan side won 3-0. An inform Josh Koroma opened the scoring for Town before two late goals from Pipa and Lewis O'Brien sealed the points. The return fixture came when Town were massively out of form and Corberan was lucky to still be working, The Lions left with the 3 points as former Terrier Scott Malone scored after just 4 minutes, Campbell had the chance to score from the spot but could only crack it against the woodwork. The Lions finished the season in a fairly mediocre 11th ahead of finishing 9th last season, which doesn't show the entire story as they were will in the play off hunt up until the final few weeks of the season. The first meeting of last season between the two, saw prolific finisher Jonny Hogg score with less than 10 minutes of normal time still to play whilst the return fixture finished 2-0 to Millwall thanks to a Benik Afobe brace, I wondered why I didn't remember much of it, but I was enduring a hard time in Barbados, oh how I would dread to return there...

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In terms of other head to heads, the first 4 meetings between the two sides were in the 20's in the FA Cup, with Town coming out on top overall, losing just the one tie, drawing one but winning the replay and it wouldn't be until the 60's when the two sides would meet again in competitive action in league division two. It wasn't until the late 60's that the Lions registered their first win over Town, a league double in the 68/69 season including a 5-1 defeat away. That double would set in motion a period of time where Town would struggle to get a result over the Lions and it wasn't until the 00's and 2010's that Town would rediscover a bit of dominance over our guests.  Altogether, Town have won 23 times against Millwall, with them winning 21 in return with just the 7 draws between the two sides. The most notable of which were the two play off games in Lee Clark's first season in charge, the home leg finished 0-0 and Town were bullied and intimidated in the away leg and lost 2-0, Clark then lost his guts and changed his style of play. Oh what could have been, as that was one of the best seasons of football I have seen Town play with Pilks and Roberts on the wings attacking all the time. Instead he went more defensive and direct and has since plummeted his way down to Newcastle Blue Star as a director of football as well as done his best Lawrence of Arabia impression by managing in Sudan and Oman.

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The story of the season so far for Millwall is that it was a fairly busy summer in terms of additions and departures, with 8 new players joining the pride. Charlie Cresswell and Jamie Shackleton both joined on loan from Premier League strugglers Leeds United, Hungarian international Callum Styles also left Yorkshire as he joined on loan from recently relegated Barnsley whilst Sunderland till I die star George Honeyman left Hull Tigers to join the London Lions. Also joining the club was Birmingham keeper Connal Trueman, which sounds more like a Jim Carrey spin off film, Benik Afobe joined permanently from Stoke but the big two signings were those of German Andreas Voglsammer from Union Berlin and Zian Flemming from Fortuna Sittard for 2.25 million. Did you know that Voglsammer means Bird Trapper in Norwegian and video trash in German? (only one is true. Which?) Flemming had been linked to a couple of teams in England before his move to London, Forest were credited with an interest in him but upon promotion, they looked elsewhere at a show pony like Lingaard, the other, Town, who if rumours are to be believed, he rejected. In terms of being cut from the Pride, a few younger players went on loan to the national leagues, whilst from the main squad Mikael Kieftenbeld went back to Holland to play for FC Emmen, experienced defender Alex Pearce went to AFC Wimbledon, right back Mahlon Romeo joined Steve Morrison at Cardiff, Mahoney set up camp at the corner flags at the John Smiths Stadium, but the big loss was that of Jedward Wallace who joined promotion dreaming West Brom, who currently sit 23rd and have appointed Corberan as their new manager, hopefully he doesn't walk out on them as often as he did us when he didn't get his own way!

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They began the season at home to Stoke and got a 2-0 victory thanks to a brace from Charlie Cresswell, they followed that up with a 1-0 loss away at Cambridge in the League Cup and then failed on their first trip to Yorkshire with a 2-0 defeat away at Sheffield United, Iliman Ndiaye and Sander Berge scored for the Blades, whilst former town man Oliver Norwood missed a penalty. They were back to winning ways when Coventry came to town. They found themselves 2-0 down as Kyle McFadzean and Matt Godden both found the back of the net, but big Jake Cooper pulled one back before the interval. After the break Honeyman scored his first goal since January before Gustavo Hamer saw his second yellow. Coventry nearly held on but George Saville scored 5 minutes from time to seal the turn around. A trip to Wales to face Swansea saw them set to leave with nil points after Michael Obafemi and Ryan Manning scored for the Swans, but a disastrous injury time saw the Swans implode as Harry Darling scored an own goal and with the last kick of the game Nathan Wood (some relation to Paul Clements) scored another own goal which sent the dodgy back street bookies in deepest darkest Asia into raptures, presumably. A taste of Friday night football for the Lions as they faced the Canaries of Norwich, Josh Sargent was at the double as he scored twice in the second half as the Millwall defenders failed to give him attention. It was two defeats in two as Reading visited the Den and left with 3 points as Naby Sarr scored on debut for the Royals. August finished with a trip north to the happy place of Turf Moor, but it was unhappy Millwall fans that were leaving as two second half goals from Vitinho and Jay Rodriguez sealed the win for Burnley.

September had a better feel for the Lions as they firstly welcomed former striker Steve Morrison's Cardiff to the Den. Goals in the second half from Cresswell and Afobe saw Millwall back to winnings ways. It didn't last long as QPR visited on a Wednesday night and left 2-0 victors with second half goals from Chris Willock and Stefan Johansen, but a month of home games finished for Millwll with a 2-1 win over Blackpool. Rowett was rumoured to be under pressure as Flemming opened the scoring before Arsenal loanee Charlie Patino equalised for the Tangerines, however Benik Afobe would score in the second half to seal the points going into October. The month began with a trip to Ewood Park to face Blackburn. Tyrhys Dolan opened the scoring for Rovers before Ben Brereton Diaz doubled the lead, Cooper pulled one back for Millwall but they weren't able to muster a comeback. Millwall made another Yorkshire stop off on the way back down to the capital as they faced Rotherham at the New York Stadium. Daniel Barlaser scored from the spot for the Millers in the first 10 minutes before Flemming equalised for Millwall just before the break. Flemming maintained his scoring streak as he scored a brace against managerless Middlesbrough at The Den, he would then go on to score the winner as they visited Bristol City, Tom Bradshaw opened the scoring for The Lions before Shaun Hutchinson scored an own goal, but the Dutch midfielder scored minutes later to seal the win. Back at home and Watford were the visitors, but they left empty handed as Tom Bradshaw scored a first half hattrick as the Lions roared to a 3-0 victory. Last time out they played host to the Baggies of Brom and welcomed back Jed Wallace, he would tee up the Baggies opening goal which John Swift converted, but the Lions hit back through Callum Styles. Kyle Bartley received his second yellow four minutes from time but Tyler Burey scored in the 90th minute to lift Millwall into 5th for a short period of time.

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Leading the way in terms of goals for Millwall is Flemming with 5, whilst Bradshaw has 4, Cresswell has 3 with Cooper and Afobe both on 2. In regards to assists, Malone has 4 before a host of players on 1 apiece. So who should we be weary of as Town fans?

Well Flemming is one and is one a few at Town should be aware of as they were wanting him to come here, probably to replace Sinani and be the main creative force with Rudoni and Holmes operating as back up, it would probably have seen Mahoney not signed at all. The Dutchman stands at 6"4 and started his career in the Ajax set up, where he would have been in the same side as former town midfielder Carel Eiting. He left to join PEC Zwolle where he had two seasons and scored 8 in 29 appearances, with one of those seasons being out on loan at NEC Nijmegen, where he managed 16 goals in 24 games. His time at Zwolle ended and he joined Fortuna Sittard, where he had another 2 seasons and scored 29 goals in 56 games. So you do wonder why we didn't do everything we could to sign him when he is still only 24.

Scott Malone is another name that should be known to Town fans following his solitary season in West Yorkshire. Signed after having numerous seasons tormenting us on the left flank, Town signed him to add competition to Chris Lowe at left back. Whilst his time here didn't work out, the idea behind the signing was sound and one we should have continued with going into the next season, sign good championship players that have done well over a period of time, so if relegation was to happen we would have players who are more than ready for the league below. We didn't and we are still paying the price, although one could argue that we have learned from those mistakes as we are doing that right now. Anyway back to Malone, after his spell at Town, he was sold to Derby for a rumoured 4 million. He had three years at Pride Park and made 45 appearances for the Rams, he spent the final year of his contract out on loan at Millwall, whom he had had 3 seasons at earlier in his career. After his deal at Derby expired he would sign permanently at The Den.

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Jake Cooper is a defender who you'd love to be on your side, standing at 6"6 he is easy to spot, but a pain at set pieces to mark, so under Fotheringham, you would expect one of Kasumu or Camara to be given the task of dealing with him. He also has an eye for a special goal, having scored a couple from over 30 yards out last season. He has been at Millwall since signing from Reading back in 2017 and has made over 225 appearances scoring 20 goals. He began his career with the Royals and made 40 appearances for them in a 3 year spell.

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Manager talk

Fotheringham

"First of all, what I'd like to say is when I first came to the Club I met Leigh Bromby and Dave Baldwin, who are two really experienced men. I did get the chance to meet Dean and Janet, and really admire what their family has done for the Club."

"Leigh and Dave Baldwin have been in contact with me a lot since I arrived. Dave is always full of energy and has a really high standing in the game - I've enjoyed working with him and look forward to continue doing so. Our focus is to keep the Club in this league."

"We really frustrated Middlesbrough who'd just won 4-1, but we also had our own chances to win the game. You can see we're starting to find consistency in the line-ups and performances, we've had more clean sheets in this period since I arrived, which is a start."

"I'm disappointed because I think we should've taken more points from those Rotherham and Preston games, and that would leave us in a much better position. I have full belief in this team and squad, and we've got more than enough here to stay in the league."

"It's going to be one of those games against Millwall where they'll have concerns about us and we need to be aware of the threat they have too. We're in a transitional period after the summer, but the players are training with a real desire ahead of the weekend."

"The capability and confidence is there in the squad, but we have to keep improving and know the situation is in. Our supporters are magnificent, I know they'll get behind this young team on Saturday."

"We're not likely to see Jonathan Hogg or Tino Anjorin any time soon, it's more long term with all of the players that are currently missing. Our medical staff are working really hard with them. We're just trying to monitor them, but this gives others a chance too."

"We are creating chances as well, but it's just that final pass or timing of the run that's missing - the guys have been at it this week and the atmosphere is great. When we play at home we're a different beast and we'll show real aggression to win at home."

"I think both Ward and Rhodes have been excellent, being a striker isn't just about goals even though that's the most important thing - they put in complete performances for the team. When the luck changes, I'm sure they'll both start scoring with regularity."

"It's not going to be easy to play against us and Millwall will be in for a game against us at the weekend. Playing at a home is a massive advantage for us, when they get behind us the players will run through brick walls for them."

So it seems like we aren't being told the full story about Hogg by the club...wonder why that is?

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A few anagrammies for yous

1) Rely Johns Nob

2) Marvel Slow Rill

3) Lodgers Old Nor Nun

4) Oh Smokies Aids

5) All Erosive Egg

6) Waylaid Linseed

7) Footed Horseflies Riot

8) Blemish Trap

RE: Tepid Terriers v Voracious Lions - theo_luddite - 27-10-2022

Thumb up Thumb up jjamez

Interesting

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not very interesting

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Millwall don't travel too well anywhere north of the M4, let's make sure that continues.
Voglsammer - well, my Norse ain't that good (even after half a bottle of vodka), but a lot of their words turn up one way or another in our northern dialects and that ain't one of them, but ....video is a "new"ish word that most (especially older, like German) languages don't have an alternative to, so they mostly use video (and maybe something else tagged on the end). Additionally, there's at least two umlauts and a capital letter S missing (even if it is one word) for it to be German. So my guess is that it is a trapper that is pining for the fjords that on his days off is usually nailed to his perch to stop him falling over.

RE: Tepid Terriers v Voracious Lions - Lord Snooty - 28-10-2022

1) Rely Johns Nob - Looks like Beryl Johnson, but don't know who she is or what she's got to do with Millwall.
2) Marvel Slow Rill - Millwall Rovers

RE: Tepid Terriers v Voracious Lions - theo_luddite - 28-10-2022

Millwall Rovers was another of my disappeared posts, ho hum

RE: Tepid Terriers v Voracious Lions - Lord Snooty - 28-10-2022

Oh for goodness sake. It's not just you, theo. What the heck is happening here? Doh

RE: Tepid Terriers v Voracious Lions - jjamez - 29-10-2022

Wondered where everyone was

RE: Tepid Terriers v Voracious Lions - Lord Snooty - 29-10-2022

Town’s team vs Millwall
21. Lee Nicholls
2. Ollie Turton
7. Sorba Thomas
18. David Kasumu
22. Jack Rudoni
24. Etienne Camara
25. Danny Ward
30. Ben Jackson
32. Tom Lees ©
33. Yuta Nakayama
39. Michał Helik

Substitutes
Nicholas Bilokapic; Jon Russell, Jordan Rhodes, Will Boyle, Josh Ruffels, Duane Holmes, Brahima Diarra

RE: Tepid Terriers v Voracious Lions - theo_luddite - 29-10-2022

Hoggy still on the naughty step then

RE: Tepid Terriers v Voracious Lions - theo_luddite - 29-10-2022

Lions? Just a bunch of kittens wrapped up in a comfy towel. They've still only got one point in games north of the M4. Far better all round from Town but Sorba the Taff will miss the Blunderland match for 5 yellows and Turton will be lucky to make the bench. That looked like one of those owies that takes a couple of weeks to recover from.

RE: Tepid Terriers v Voracious Lions - Lord Snooty - 29-10-2022

A belting afternoon's entertainment. And an absolute wonder goal to win it.  Whistle