Millwall in freefall as love not in the air on Valentine’s Day night at The Den

BY DANIEL MARSH

Unfortunately for Millwall and Joe Edwards, there wasn’t much love lost between the Lions and the Den faithful on Valentine’s Day following another humbling defeat.

To put it bluntly, Millwall are in freefall. The Lions are bottom of the Championship form table and nobody really fancied them to trouble Ipswich Town on Wednesday night.

The Tractor Boys were steamrolling teams left, right and centre when they cantered to a 3-1 win in the reverse fixture back in November. This was a completely different proposition for Millwall against a side who had won just one of their last nine games, yet an all too familiar outcome.

Just like in Sunday’s match at Coventry, the Lions started brightly and looked the more likely to score before Nathan Broadhead broke the deadlock with a header which looped beyond Matija Sarkic.

From that moment on, though, there was an air of inevitability over what would come next.

Wes Harding put through his own net to double Ipswich’s lead.

Kieffer Moore – a former Millwall transfer target – headed a third on the stroke of half-time to kill the game off. Former Wimbledon striker Ali Al-Hamadi’s late penalty was the icing on top of the cake for an Ipswich side that barely had to get out of second gear to record a 4-0 win.

All four goals were incredibly poor from a Millwall perspective and underline the stark fall from grace the Lions have endured over the past few months.

Once one of the Championship’s most resolute teams, this is a Millwall side bereft of resilience. Unfortunately, that’s been a recurring theme this season. This wasn’t a capitulation like we’ve seen previously, rather more of a surrender.

The Lions are now a place and four points above the bottom three and if anybody seriously had any doubts about the fact that the club are in a relegation battle – and yes, that includes the management team – then Wednesday night confirmed it.

Not only are Millwall now teetering perilously above the drop-zone, it’s hard to see where the next result is going to come from.

That’s a concern, but perhaps more worrying is the fact that the core of this team has already proven it doesn’t have the stomach for a dogfight after capitulating against Blackburn in the play-off race last season. You wouldn’t exactly fancy them to come out the right side if they are dragged into a relegation scrap in the coming weeks.

Whether you agree with it or not, it feels like Edwards is starting to be properly scrutinised for the first time following the Lions’ recent run.

It doesn’t feel like the head coach is the root cause of Millwall’s problems, but more and more people are beginning to ponder whether or not he is, in fact, the solution.

It’s worth noting that for a club committed to starting again with a new philosophy, the backing that Edwards probably required in January is a far cry from what he actually got.

For a club which has been plagued by injuries and fitness issues so often in recent years, banking on two players in Japhet Tanganga and Michael Obafemi – who have undoubted quality but had also hardly kicked a ball all season – was a bold if not naive strategy. It’s still only mid-February, but as things stand, it’s a gamble that’s not paid off.

At the same time, though, even the most ardent of fans would struggle to brand Edwards’ stint at the helm as anything but underwhelming so far.

It’s now four wins from 17 matches – relegation form. This doesn’t look like a relegation team but the campaign does have all the hallmarks of a relegation season.

Tomorrow’s match against 23rd-placed Sheffield Wednesday is absolutely vital.

Millwall are already on the ropes and failing to land a result against their beleaguered opponents at the weekend would knock out whatever stuffing is left in this group.

Forgive the soundbite, but if ever Millwall needed a Millwall-type performance, it’s tomorrow.

Fittingly, Edwards oversaw a resounding 4-0 win over Wednesday in his first match at the helm – how he could do with a repeat performance and result this weekend.

There’s never a good time to succumb to relegation, but if ever there was a season not to go down, this is it with the reformed television deal on the horizon.

Such thoughts seemed a million miles away a few months back, but make no mistake, Millwall are in deep, deep trouble.

STAR MAN
Ryan Leonard. Kept going until the end. Keeping him fit is crucial.

BEST MOMENT
The final whistle. One of the poorest nights in recent memory.