Gary Rowett has been announced as the new manager of Millwall Football Club – taking over from Lion’s legend Neil Harris after a poor start to the season in the EFL Championship.
“Getting an opportunity at a club like this – a really, really passionate club with a great history – for me that’s what it’s all about and I can’t wait to get started”.
Adam Barrett, who has been serving as the caretaker boss, will stick around as first team coach. Rowett will bring in Callum Davidson and Joe Carnall, two of his backroom staff from his time at Stoke, to freshen the approach behind the scenes.
The former Birmingham, Derby and most recently Stoke boss knows the Championship well and is the latest to take over at The Den following Neil Harris’ resignation on October 3rd.
Predicament
Poor form has seen The Lions dip to 17th in The Sky Bet Championship, however Rowett has thrived in this predicament before, taking a Birmingham side from 21st to an eventual 10th place finish, when he took over during the 2014/15 season.
Rowett showed in spells at Derby and Stoke of trying to ingrain a philosophy and create a real team spirit and he has insured that he wants to carry this on, “We feel we can build something – we’re respectful of the fact that Neil and David (Livermore) have done work to bring the team to this level – and we want maintain a lot of these characteristics but also take it on and improve in our way”.
Clash
The Lions will be hoping to hit the ground running in Rowett’s first game in charge, ironically against Stoke City, the club who sacked him in January. He will be in the stands, however, for the club’s clash against Cardiff on Wednesday, to see over Barrett’s last full game as caretaker.
Millwall’s chairman, John Berylson, insisted that Gary Rowett is the correct man to take the club forward and told the club’s website, “This marks the start of a new beginning for the club and complete unity between the management, players, staff and supporters, which will be key to future successes”.
