Today was always going to be tough, despite it being only Millwall after all. Up against another big, physical, confident outfit with weapons up front to hurt us, in the form of Azeez, who tormented us all afternoon, up against Chambers making his debut, and a centre-forward Coburn, who battered Ramsay in particular and whose only good contribution to the game from our perspective was to miss a sitter in the first half that would have put them two up.
We struggled throughout, but like any game there were ifs and buts, with some key refereeing decisions going against us at important times. With VAR Millwall’s opener would have been ruled out for offside, and the shove in the back of Campbell in their box which sent him to the ground would have been ruled a penalty. There was far more contact than when Bamford fell over in our box and Wilder considered that to be a stonewall penalty (it wasn’t but our one today did merit one). Also, at only one down in the second half we were unfairly denied an equaliser as Dykes got in behind their defender, only for a distant ref to decide that there had been a hand involved. In truth the ball came off his head and bounced off his shoulder, not handball. The shot may have been saved but the rebound dropped to Fullah and he put the ball into an empty net.
Who knows how the game would have panned out if these decisions had gone in our favour? This isn’t to say we deserved something, or would have got something if they had. Just that the game would have been different had correct decisions been made. As it was, their second goal with 10 minutes left on the clock settled the contest and Jones contributed to turning defeat into debacle by a crazy substitution. The same gung-ho change had nearly worked against Derby when we were chasing the game, but it was never on today. It contributed to us conceding two more goals to end the game with our tails very much between our legs.
The team showed three changes from Derby, with Chambers making his debut at left-side wing-back and Clarke starting on the other side, with Ramsay, Jones (fortunately recovered from his foot injury) and Gillesphey the central three, Burke providing the back-up from the bench. In midfield Anderson was retained and Rankin-Costello started, with Coventry back on the bench, while Carey kept the more forward place, while Fullah and Apter were among the subs – and still no sign of Docherty. Up front Campbell was freed up to play alongside Dykes, with Leaburn, Kelman and Godden the potential replacements.
I’ll admit that before the game my preference was for a 4-4-2, with Campbell and Apter starting on either flank, and reverting to the Docherty and Coventry pairing which had performed so well early in the season. I don’t know if the rumours of Jones falling out with Docherty (and/or Apter) have any substance, but I am at a loss to understand why Docherty is not featuring. The priority today was surely on keeping a clean sheet. With the defence involving a player who has only just joined and not played much football and another returning from injury, surely the expectation would be that it needed protection.
We actually started the game quite brightly, but Chambers had an early taste of what to expect as he failed to prevent Azeez getting in a dangerous cross from their right. And after just six minutes we fell behind to a dreadful goal fashioned from another ball in from that side. This time Azeez was given all the time he wanted to weigh up his ball into the box. That ball was flicked on by a Millwall guy, with Jones making an ineffective challenge. At the far post it was a case of who would get there first: Kaminski, Ramsay, or the Millwall centre-forward. Kaminski did, but he was unable to make a decisive interception, only diverting the ball to hit the incoming Ramsay, who didn’t see it coming because he was intent only on trying to ensure that the Millwall guy couldn’t get to it. The result was another own goal borne out of poor defensive play.
The goal knocked our confidence at the back, with more chances coming their way. After 10 minutes another cross from the right side was headed over by their guy unchallenged. After that Dykes did play in Campbell, whose shot with the left foot was comfortably saved, then came the moment when Campbell was shoved over from behind in the box and nothing was given. As the pendulum swung back a Millwall break caught Chambers out of position and a guy in acres of space, only for Kaminski to save his shot. Then on 26 minutes we were confused again at the back, ending with Ramsay and Kaminski contriving to concede a corner.
On 36 minutes everyone watching the game assumed it was going to be 2-0. From our corner Millwall broke down their left side. The guy skipped past Anderson, who being already on a yellow couldn’t make the challenge, and went on to deliver a low cross which reached Coburn. All he had to do was hit the target but directed it wide, to our huge relief. After that we did have another shout for a penalty as Campbell went down again, although I thought this one was less compelling.
At the break it was evident we would have to play better to get anything out of the game, but at 1-0 we were still in it. Although their goal was poor, they might have had others. Pretty much the same situation as against Derby. What we had to do was ensure we didn’t concede again.
Jones made a change at half-time, with Chambers withdrawn, TC reverting to wing-back, and Fullah introduced, to cause the same sort of confusion he had for Derby. It did mean compromising our main attacking threat to that point, but was understandable. This was no game to measure Chambers by, up against a very good opponent and thrown in at the deep end.
The change didn’t have the desired effect this time as Millwall put us under pressure pretty much from the start. Balls into our box caused panic and desperate defending. On 52 minutes Millwall thought they had there second as a ball whipped in from their left found Azeez beyond Campbell at the far post and he tucked it away.
Jones the Boss obviously didn’t like what he was seeing and after that let-off made a triple substitution. On came Burke, Coventry and Kelman for Gillesphey, Carey and Anderson. That involved a switch to a 4-4-2, with Burke and Jones the centre-backs, Ramsay and Clarke full-backs, and Campbell wide left while Fullah was shifted to widish right. Would have been harsh on him of course, but with a change to 4-4-2 and Apter on the bench, surely he would have been the better alternative to asking the youngster to change position after less than 10 minutes on the pitch.
It was taking a while to sort that out, when on 66 minutes out of the blue we were almost back level. The ball over the top saw Dykes run onto it and stay ahead of their defender, getting his shot in. The whistle had already blown before Fullah put away the rebound, but it shouldn’t have done. Have to see the replays again, to see just where the referee was when he made the call, but at the least he was on the blind side and some way behind play. He made a guess – and the replays showed a wrong one.
That was the closest we came to levelling things up. On 80 minutes Millwall won another corner and a routine ball to the far post was met by their guy, who got ahead of Burke and headed down and inside the post. Have to examine how he got away and to consider how it is that we had all 11 back but nobody on the far post to clear anything goalbound.
We all knew that was game over. But for some reason Jones the Boss decided on one more throw of the dice. Off came Rankin-Costello and on went Godden, with Fullah now required to compete alongside Coventry. No way to treat the youngster. With us wide open Burke was turned in the box and brought down Azeez. Kaminski saved the penalty but the ball didn’t go dead and was squared for someone to tap home. And to really rub salt into the wound in stoppage time another ball into the box was weakly headed away by Ramsay and dropped to their guy, who scored.
This one is going to hurt us for some time to come, until we play them again, which hopefully will be next season. Jones and the players have a week to forget about it and for some honest discussions about how we start to turn this around. We knew before the game we are in a relegation scrap, with away at Leicester coming up next. We need pride, determination, cohesion, and unity, perhaps after some choice exchanges to clear the air. Whether or not we come away from that game with anything is arguably less important than seeing that the resolve is there for the challenges ahead.
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