Troy Parrott’s Millwall loan-deal was terminated on Transfer Deadline Day, with the 18-year-old striker joining League 1 outfit Ipswich Town for the remainder of the 2020/21 campaign.
The highly rated Irish international originally put pen-to-paper on a season-long loan deal on the 1st August with big things expected of him. However, after suffering a quad injury in pre-season, Parrott would not make his Lions debut until the 23rd September in a 2-0 home defeat to Burnley in the Carabao Cup.
It was a debut that didn’t entirely go to plan either with Parrott suffering another injury woe after picking up a knock to his ankle and coming off at half-time.
After the game, Millwall manager Gary Rowett admitted that he ‘should have probably taken him off’ earlier.
The on-loan Spurs striker would not come back into the first-team fold until the 21st November against Cardiff City, when he came on in the 76th minute replacing Matt Smith.
Millwall Appearances
Parrott’s injury-struck time in South-East London saw him make just 14 appearances for the Lions, of which four came from the bench in a frustrating spell for the young striker.
In his 10 starts for the club, Parrott played in three varying roles; he played as a lone striker, on the left-hand side of a front-three, and also just in-behind a lone striker, of which predominately was the aforementioned Smith.
During his time with the Lions, he struggled to cement his place in the side and often fed on very few opportunities. He amassed a total of 15 shots of which three were on target, he had three shots off target and had nine blocked.
He failed to hit the back of the net in any of his appearances, but that tells the story of Millwall’s season.
It’s Not Just Parrott
In all competitions this season, the Lions have only lost nine times (seven in the league) and have won the same amount, with six of those wins coming in the league. Crucially however, the South-East London side have drawn 14 times this campaign, all of which have come in the league.
Jed Wallace is Millwall’s top goal-scorer this campaign with six goals, all of which have come in the Lions Sky Bet Championship campaign, where they sit in 14th.
Although Parrott’s failure to score may be disappointing considering the expectation he came with, it does highlight the recognised trait for Lions’ strikers this term.
Of the four others who are recognised as strikers, Smith has the most goals with four, whilst Tom Bradshaw has three, Kenneth Zohore (on-loan from West Bromwich Albion) has two, and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson has just the one in all competitions.
It perhaps indicates why Millwall, who came so close to making the play-offs last season, have failed to recreate that same sort of form this year. To succeed at this level of football your strikers need to score goals consistently but to do that, they need to be provided with the service.
Converting The Chances
Millwall’s main problem isn’t having shots though – their main problem is converting them.
In the Sky Bet Championship this season, they have had a total of 301 shots, but have only scored 22 times. That’s a goal conversion rate of 7.3%, meaning on average the Lions have scored 0.81 goals per game in the league this season.
This indicates that there is a severe lack of clear-cut chances being created, and perhaps also once again highlights the need for a striker who will score 15 plus goals a season if the Lions are to challenge for the Play-Offs in the future.
All the teams that currently occupy those positions have strikers who have all scored either more or the same in the league than Millwall’s strike force put together. Smith, Bradshaw, Zohore and Bodvarsson have scored a total of seven goals in this campaign.
Jamal Lowe of Swansea has scored nine whilst Lucas Joao of Reading has scored 15. Watford’s Troy Deeney has scored seven whilst AFC Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke has scored a total of 10.
Although Millwall’s Wallace has got six goals and is only one away from that of Deeney, his goal conversion rate is only 18% compared to the Hornets man’s 32%. His shot accuracy is actually not much worse than Deeney’s, but it does prove how important it is to have an out and out goal-scoring striker in the Sky Bet Championship.
More Energy In The Midfield
With this issue becoming more and more apparent since the season started, the Lions faithful were calling out for a potential signing of a striker and an attacking midfielder in the January Transfer Window.
They saw bids for Brighton & Hove Albion’s Jayson Molumby and Barnsley’s Alex Mowatt turned down. Whilst neither of these two players are strikers, their contribution in the middle of the park could have potentially led to an increase in goals, especially in the case of Mowatt.
He’s scored four times this season and has three assists to his name so far this campaign. His playing style is somewhat similar to that of Wallace’s and could have added that extra bit of quality in the final third that has severely lacked in the Lions games so far this season.
Whilst Molumby is a completely different player to what Millwall were perhaps aiming for, his undeniable energy in the middle of the park in the Lions last campaign allowed them to push much higher up the pitch.
Although that didn’t see an up turn in goals, it did allow for them to be more aggressive as a unit and in turn prevent the opposition from passing their way through the middle of the park. At times this season, we have seen the Lions concede more goals both at home and away.
Their 3-0 home loss to Huddersfield Town and the 3-0 away defeat away to Middlesbrough being two of the heaviest, as well as their recent home drubbing by Bristol City in the FA Cup.
Rowett decided instead, to sign two players who he’s familiar with, Maikel Kieftenbeld from Birmingham City and George Evans from Derby County.
Kieftenbeld has given the Lions more energy in the centre of midfield and whilst it hasn’t seen them score more goals, it has gone in some way to preventing the opposition from scoring.
In the three games Millwall have played since the Dutchman’s arrival, they have conceded just one goal. In the three games before, they conceded six.
His arrival has seen Ryan Leonard play at centre back and despite that not being his natural position, has excelled there. The addition of Evans might allow for Leonard to move back into his more natural midfield role, which could mean that either Ryan Woods or Ben Thompson find themselves out of the starting-11.
Thompson has recently had a bit of a revival after it looked like he was going to be leaving The Den once again, most probably going on-loan to Portsmouth.
Since he has come back into the fold playing as part of a midfield three or just in behind the front pairing, the Lions have not lost in the league, drawing three times and winning once. In that time, they have scored twice and conceded just the once.
If Rowett wants to keep Thompson in the squad, that might mean Woods drops out. After being a hugely influential figure in Brentford’s pushes for the play-offs between the 2015/16 and 2017/18 seasons with three goals and nine assists – Woods struggled to find that same sort of form at Stoke City.
In his 35 appearances, Woods failed to score for the Potters and only got one assist. Although showing glimpses of that same form that he had at Brentford, Woods has struggled to recreate that for Millwall.
Despite that, he’s been a consistent starter in Rowett’s side.
What’s The Solution?
Obviously, Rowett is going to have to deal with his current crop of players until the Transfer Window re-opens in the Summer.
Individually, the Lions have a great set of players, but collectively things haven’t quite clicked for them this season. That being said, they are still 14th in the table, six points above the relegation zone and 10 off a Play-Off spot.
The introduction of Kieftenbeld, the revival of Thompson and the signing of Evans indicates that Rowett’s philosophy will remain the same in the long-term. He wants his team to enjoy having possession of the ball, but also to use it well.
The potential return of Leonard to his midfield role will give the Lions another option in the final third whilst Kieftenbeld sits back and protects the back line, with his hard-working and aggressive playing style fitting in with the ‘Millwall way.’
However, it still doesn’t solve the ‘Elephant in the room’ that is a natural goal-scoring striker.
This is the void that Parrott was meant to fill. It must be noted that the Calf injury sustained to Zohore 75 minutes into his full debut provided an unlucky break to the South-East London side as well.
Bodvarsson has struggled to cement his place in the starting line-up since his arrival from Reading in the Summer of 2019. He has failed to hit the same heights that he did at Reading where he bagged himself 17 goals in 56 appearances for the Royals.
Bradshaw is a very hard-working player and does a lot of running when neither he, nor the team even have the ball. Whether that’s him running down the channels or leading the Lions high press. However, he too has failed to cement a place in the Millwall starting-11 continuously.
Smith is the Lions most dangerous striker with four goals this season, of which two have come in the league. However, Smith’s natural build and stature doesn’t entirely fit in with Rowett’s style of play.
He’s typically gone with a lone striker for games this season, but Smith’s game heavily relies on him winning headers and getting flick on’s for a strike partner to run on to. He’s not the type of player who can hold the ball up with his feet or run the channels.
It seems then that the strikers Millwall have are either too inconsistent or don’t entirely fit in with Rowett’s tactics.
However, the bad-luck with Zohore’s injury lay-off may have also had an effect, as well as the injury sustained to Connor Mahoney. He is the Lions most creative player in the final third with an average of 2.09 chances created for every 90 minutes of Football he’s played.
His hopeful return may distract the need for a consistent goal-scoring striker, which any team in this division needs if they want to challenge or push for the Play-Offs.
The Lions desperately need an out and out goal striker. Someone who positions themselves in the six-yard box or in goal scoring positions if they wish to pursue their ultimate dream.
Header image courtesy of Keith Gillard.
