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31st March
Millwall 2 Swansea City 0: Some Ryan Smith jiggery
pokery sees him get a second player sent off in two games.
This time Tate's absence for Swansea costs them dearly as
they fail to adapt and the home side run out easy winners.
Robinson pops the first in after a neat Hubertz lay off and
the excellent Neil Harris converts his own hard earned penalty.
Darren Byfield suffers a suspected broken ankle...
...Willie Donachie
is full of praise, "The players were buzzing in the first
half. To win against a very good team was very rewarding.
Against ten men it can be hard but when you've got someone
like him [Dave Brammer] running things it makes it easier."
28th March The much anticipated
EGM sees a fair bit of fluff and bluster. Graham Ferguson
Lacey claims something about Ben May being a great prospect
and John Berylson calls us "Millwall Lions", but
all in all it's a variety of people that have nothing to do
with our club playing games.
24th March Port Vale 2 Millwall 0:
Very much a case of capitalising on mistakes. Individual
errors, mainly from our goalkeeper, provide Port Vale with
the goals. In attack most were guilty of squandering at least
one chance and a couple missed absolute sitters...
..."Manager Donachie says, "Our aim now is to win
the remaining seven games"...
...Derby loanee Ryan Smith has a very good debut.
23rd March “Crisis
averted at Millwall” says the South London Press. ‘A
last-ditch deal has saved a £7million package of investment
to secure Millwall's future. Developer Graham Lacey last night
agreed to back the plans for the club drawn up in the last
six months by Chestnut Hill Ventures (CHV).’
22nd March
Graham Ferguson Lacey buys Theo Paphitis’s remaining
5% of shares and releases a statement, “The suggestion
that I should be planning to build on Millwall’s ground
is at a minimum extremely mischievous but in reality is factually
absurd. Firstly because I am not in a position to do so as
a shareholder and secondly because I would oppose any interference
with the enjoyment of football being played at The Den”...
...Mark Phillips joins Darlington for the rest of the season...
...Crawley winger Jack Oberstellar until the end of the season...
...Chris Casement joins from Ipswich Town on a month;s loan,
but is away on Irish under 21 duty...
...According to London
Lite, "the youngster [Marvin Elliott] is set to quite
The Den after being subjected to racist abuse by his own fans
this season."
21st
March Chris Zebroski joins Oxford
United for the rest of the season...
...Derby County left winger Ryan Smith joins Millwall on a
month’s loan.
18th March
Willie Donachie signs a two year extension to his current
managerial role, "I already feel honoured to be the manager
of a club with the proud tradition and history of Millwall.
No matter how long I am here, I am determined to be successful.
I am pleased the board have acknowledged the hard work that
my staff have already put in and I am determined to do everything
I can to help Millwall to the Championship."
17th March Bournemouth 1 Millwall
0: Not a good day at the office, as a Darren Anderton
classic separartes the sides. Millwall seem lack-lustre all
game and don’t have a shot on target for ninety minutes...
...Manager Donachie says, “Everybody has said it was
a tired performance from us and maybe the game we had midweek
against Crewe had an effect. But that should not be an excuse,
we were just not good enough.”
16th March
England under 20s left back Nathan Ashton signs from Charlton
Athletic on loan till the end of the season...
...News reaches TLR
Towers that the club have agreed a deal with Bukta to make
next year’s kit. The home kit will be blue and white,
the away kit will be all white and there will also be a third
kit to clear colour clashes...
...Dawlish Town centre-half Craig Fenner is due back at The
Den for further trials next week.
15th March The American plan
may come under threat as it is revealed investor Graham Ferguson
Lacey, has purchased 2.45m ordinary shares in the company.
His stake is 14.27%. It is believed he has got them via Theo
Paphitis, who has weakened his holding this week. Reports
from the club are that they are not happy about this move.
14th March A variety of reports
suggest that Teddy Sheringham has turned a move to Millwall
down, again. Manager Donachie claims he was just one of the
names that cropped up...
...Veteran Ipswich winger Darren Currie, another target, is
set for a move to promotion hunting Derby County.
13th March Millwall 2 Crewe Alexandra
2: A win would have put the Lions right in the faces
of the Play Off opposition, but the manager plays it safety
first and gets his just desserts. Higdon opens the scoring
against the run of play for the visitors, but fortunately
Byfield equalises on the stroke of half time. Crewe take the
lead with five minutes left, but substitute Poul Hubertz equalises
with time on the clock. Crewe had most of their best players
missing, but Hackett and Hubertz still don;t start a must
win game. To make matters worse, the players that play in
their stead are awful...
...Manager Donachie searches for the positives, “We
wanted nine points from the last three games so this draw
is disappointing, but if we can keep doing the right things
and playing well we’ll win.”
10th March
Millwall 2 Carlisle United 0: After a dull first
half the Lions come to life in the second. Inspired by Neil
Harris, who notches his 100th and 101st Millwall goals the
home side emerge as worthy winners. The main feature of the
game is the effectiveness of the spine; Pidgeley has his best
Millwall game, the centre half pairing are untroubled throughout,
Brammer and Elliott control things nicely in midfield, and
Byfield and Harris pose problems all afternoon for the visiting
defence...
...Willie Donachie comments
on the subject that has replaced relegation talk, "The
Play Offs have been on everyones mind all season, even when
we were in a terrible position. We've got a good run going
now, but we're just looking at the Crewe game next and we'll
see what happens."
8th March Maurice Ross completes
his trial with Viking FK and is expected to sign in the next
few days. We expected much, but were left as disappointed
as Wolves fans with the former Scottish international full
back.
6th March Marvin Williams
rejects Championship Southend in favour of bottom of the League
Torquay United, for a loan switch that the manager isn't happy
about. Williams was justifiably annoyed that he wasn't even
on the bench for Saturday's game. As manager Willie clearly
has his favourites a transfer demand isn't the way to become
one.
3rd March
Millwall 2 Cheltenham Town 0: The difference Dave
Brammer makes to this Millwall side is the stand-out feature
of the game, but Darren Byfield is absolute quality throughout.
Tom Brighton also has his most effective game, setting up
Byfield's opener and scoring himself...
...Manager Donachie
says, "I thought Darren Byfield was a class above today.
It was him pressuring their defender that led us into a winning
position."
2nd March Millwall are now
effectively 'owned' by American speculators, a statement on
the club's official website reads, 'Millwall football club
is pleased to announce that an American consortium, chestnut
Hill ventures has agreed to make a significant investment
into the club of £5 Million.
The consortium, led by Mr John G Berylson, has interests in
business and financial services, retail, property and sport,
and is keen to help Millwall Football club develop and prosper
whilst supporting and assisting with the urban regeneration
project in the locality. Mr Berylson, who is a member of the
Smith family of Boston, Mass, will become non-executive chairman
of Millwall Holdings and a director of the football club.
His colleague Demos Kouvaris will also join both boards. Heather
Rabbatts will revert to the position of executive deputy chairman
and will continue to have overall responsibility for the day
to day running of the company and football club. She will
also continue to lead on the regeneration plans. In addition
to this investment, we expect that a further sum of £1.5
million will be raised from other parties. Furthermore, existing
directors of the company and former chairman Peter de Savary
will be investing another £0.5 million. Heather Rabbatts
commented "This is tremendous news for Millwall and our
supporters. It enables us to move forward with confidence
and continue to plan for future success both on and off the
field. The investment from Chestnut hill ventures indicates
two things in particular. Firstly, in the light of previous
American involvement elsewhere, it would appear that they
see a potential of the link between sport and regeneration
for the localities in which the clubs are situated. Secondly,
and equally significantly Chestnut Hill, having researched
Millwall football club thoroughly, has concluded that we have
a potential above and beyond our current status in League
one, and that we are well placed to progress and develop both
in football terms and also as a catalyst for the regeneration
aspirations both of the club and within the community.'
1st March The Telegraph reveals
a little more about the investment plans, “The unnamed
investors want to put an initial £5 million into the
club.
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