The Lion Roars Diary - May 2007

25th May A revealing comment from Willie Donachie, "What I am really looking for is a tight squad of about 18 players who are totally committed to Millwall. In my mind that means keeping the players who finished in the side towards the end of last season and maybe bringing in another four"...

...The manager adds that he wants one of those four to be Ryan Smith, "He knows we want him badly but he is a Derby player and it is out of our hands until the play-offs are over."

24th May Willie Donachie plays down rumours that is will sign Gilllingham's out of contract pair Danny Spiller and Mike Flynn: "They are just two people I am interested in"...

...Zoumana Bakayogo is called up by Ivory Coast to play in Olympic Games qualifiers. Well everyone needs a summer holiday...

...Former loanee Charlie Lee joins Peterborough United on a three year deal.

18th May Richard Shaw signs a new one year deal. He is expected to receive his telegram from the Queen on the pitch, on the last day of next season.

16th May After being released by MK Dons, defender Ben Chorley is linked with a move to The Den...

...Another player released is Curtis Weston, by Swindon Town...

...Two pre-season friendly dates are confirmed: 14th July v Dundee, and 18th July v Falkirk.

15th May The City are finally told of Andy Ambler's arrival, as the new financial director is elevated to a boardroom position.

14th May In the middle of the west ham scandal, Millwall get hauled up on a FA charge relating to the recent Huddersfield Town match.

11th May Young defender Andrew Callaghan signs his first professional contract.

9th May At it again the following day; someone at the News Shopper is obviously a Charlton fan: "Millwall player to stand trial for murder plot." This time the story is about Gavin Grant.

8th May Doing its best for community relations the news Shopper includes a story with the headline, "Millwall fan convicted of manslaughter." The story obviously does not relate to our football club, it could have easily said somthing like, 'keen angler'...

...Oxford United lose to Exeter City on penalties in their Play Off match. Chris Zebroski misses the all too vital spot kick.

5th May Bradford City 2 Millwall 2: In the these meaningless end of season games it is often traditional to play youngsters for the future. The purpose of this is two-fold; to provide supporters with hope for the coming months, and to ensure the regulars don't stroll around comparing notes about forthcoming holidays. The manager fields the regulars, who stroll around comparing notes about forthcoming holidays. It's the first away draw of the season; Byfield and Craig scoring the completely unimportant goals...

...Willie Donachie moans, "I expected us to win this game to give us a chance of ending in eighth place but the attitude of the players, particularly in the first half, was not good enough. They treated it a bit like a pre-season game"...

...The season closes with Millwall in 10th position. Despite the odd obvious error, this is a superb performance from a man new to the managerial game, especially when considering that his new team looked so much more like relegation candidates than the promotion candidates they have looked since Christmas.

3rd May Millwall are handed an FA misconduct charge. The alleged breach of FA rule E20(a) - failing to ensure that players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion - relates to the recent Huddersfield match.

1st May Willie Donachie prepares fans for the inevitable in the South London Press, "I want to help anyone, but they must work for this club first. It is a great club for the players - they travel in style,and a lot of money has been spent on the training ground. And they are well paid. The board have done their bit in looking after our best players. I don't care who it is - if they don't want to be with us, I don't want them here. That goes for people as important as Darren Byfield as well. If your heart isn't with Millwall, and you don't really care about the team, I don't want you here." We are going to need a very good striker to replace Mr Byfield if we want to go up next year.