Millwall lost 4-0 at home last night at the hands of promotion hopefuls Ipswich Town. This loss has made fans question the club’s decision to hire the inexperienced head coach Joe Edwards as they continue to plummet towards the relations spots.
From being only 45 minutes away from the play-offs to sitting in 21st place and only four points above the bottom three, it’s been a fall from grace for Millwall since the end of last season. It seems like the club from South London has never fully gotten over the disappointment of their final game of the campaign against Blackburn Rovers last year. A football hangover is real and it’s clearly showing that the players still haven’t recovered yet. Gary Rowett leaving in October with the Lions in 15th place was the first warning sign that something was wrong.
These players need to show their fans that they have something about them, otherwise, it could get ugly from now until May. On paper, Millwall have a good squad, not great, but it should be more than enough to keep them in the division. Since being appointed as head coach, Edwards has only won four times and although he’s not had long to make it his own team, he should be doing a lot better.
That’s not to say he hasn’t been let down tremendously. The Championship side have not won from a losing position since they beat West Bromwich Albion at home in October of 2022 and under the 37-year-old, they have dropped 16 points from winning positions. The fact that this problem has not been addressed or even solved is worrying. It’s clear that the current squad needs to be revamped and a new era is due in South Bermondsey.
It was always going to be a risk to hire a head coach with a lack of experience and the ambition to change the style of play and so far, it hasn’t paid off. In January, the club secured the loan signings of Japhet Tanganga and Michael Obafemi as well as the permanent addition of young winger, Adam Mayor from League Two side Morecambe. It’s going to take time to instil his own vision at The Den but judging from his first signings, there are promising indications of what he can bring to his first role as a head coach at senior level.
Edwards was Frank Lampard’s assistant manager when Everton managed to avoid relegation in 2022. His experience of being in tough spots of form should help him guide his team out of the mess they find themselves in and understand what players he can rely on beyond his first year at the Championship outfit. Regardless of what happens from now until the end of the current campaign, the former Chelsea U23s boss must be supported and given the chance to make his mark in South London.
Whether fans like it or not, they are in a relegation battle and with 23rd-placed Sheffield Wednesday at home on Saturday, it might be one of the most important games they have in 2024. If they lose at the weekend, calls for Edwards to be sacked will likely be heard and the tension at the club will be immense.
The 37-year-old has one heck of a job on his hands at Millwall, but his first task is to keep them in the Championship. If he is successful and they stay up, there is no reason why they couldn’t surprise a few people next season and resume their hunt for a playoff place that they came so agonisingly close to achieving less than a year ago.
