Millwall boss gives verdict on Birmingham man taking on key role in SE16

Gary Rowett has welcomed Harvey Bussell’s appointment as Millwall’s new head of recruitment.

Bussell has moved from fellow Championship side Birmingham City – with our website exclusively revealing he was Alex Aldridge’s successor in SE16.

Bussell started in the job on January 1.

Lions manager Rowett said: “It’s an important appointment for us. We needed to bring someone in to take that weight of that role off us.

“We’ve got the likes of Bully [Terry Bullivant] in there and Josh [Kennard] to look at players, but to have a head of recruitment was really important. It was a weight on the shoulders of myself, Joe [Carnall] and Adam [Barrett] – in terms of watching games when maybe your focus should be on watching games of the teams you are playing. We were having to mix the two objectives up – that takes a bit of a toll.

“It was important it was someone I can trust and I’ve worked with previously as well. But Harvey’s role will be to come in, work hard for the club and take that vision forward – make some good appointments for the club long term, not just for the team short term.

“He’s experienced in the role and been working in the Championship for the last four or five years. He has a really, really good knowledge of European football as well as domestic football. He has good connections.

“I’ve already had some really, really good discussions on players. Now it’s going to be whether we can get some of those players and deals over the line.”