Millwall boss: Gary Rowett: It’s like the police mugshots you see, football management is high pressure – but I absolutely live for it

By RICHARD CAWLEY
richard@slpmedia.co.uk

“It’s like the police mugshots you see – six months before and six months after. Certain substance abuse, you tend to look slightly different. Some people have likened that to management.”

Gary Rowett is back in the high-pressure world of being a football boss. And he couldn’t be happier about it.

Millwall appointed the 45-year-old as Neil Harris’ successor on Monday.

And the South London Press got the first exclusive sitdown with the former Burton, Birmingham, Derby and Stoke manager, not long after the ink had dried on his contract.

Rowett looked relaxed. He looked rested. He has walked away from doing EFL punditry work for Sky Sports and Quest to take on the challenge in SE16.

“I don’t think I needed a break but when you’re having one you realise, at times, how stressful football management can be,” he said.

“When you’re in it, it is hard to see clearly at times. When you come out you have an opportunity to pick the bones out of it.

“I’m sure I could have sat there in the studio, doing lots of games and watching without the stress of being on a sideline. But every time you watch and see the atmosphere, there is always a piece of you that wants to be down there.

“That’s what me and my staff want to do. It’s that passion of a Saturday, that passion of a midweek game.

“If I wasn’t in the game I’d be watching it most nights. Now I’m back in it, I’m sure I’ll be watching even more of it.

“We’ll certainly put a lot of effort into this job, hopefully we can take the club forward and put a team out on the pitch the fans can be really proud of.

“It’s like any pressure job where you feel responsible for a number of peoples’ satisfaction that weekend or week.

“That’s a responsibility all  managers bear. We want to give the fans what they want – that enjoyment of seeing their team win.

“That’s what we’re in the game for – we love that. Whatever picture someone is going to take of me I can guarantee in three months I won’t look like I do now! I won’t say I’m radiant now, as that is doing me too much justice, but hopefully I look bedraggled and pressured – that will mean I’m really enjoying the job.

“Just walking around the stadium, it reminds me a little bit of when we came into Birmingham first. It’s two different clubs – but a similar ethos to it. It really gets my juices flowing, if I’m honest.”

Rowett took the Blues into Championship play-off contention. He had a bigger budget at Derby, where he lost in the 2018 play-offs to Fulham – who went up. Money was not the obstacle at Stoke City – but a damaging relegation from the Premier League did not bring a quick fix.

Millwall are not big spenders, but that doesn’t mean you can’t aim high according to a boss who has clocked up 337 matches and an average win percentage of 41.5.

“I don’t think from a budget perspective in the Championship there are limitations,” said Rowett.

“It’s the one division in the world where hard work, organisation, determination and skill can take you an awful long way.

“I don’t think it necessarily matters how much that has cost you. There are players here who are good enough to be in other teams higher up the league.

“I’m not suggesting we are going to hit the ground and win every game. But what we will try and do is build quickly, filter and layer in however fast we feel is appropriate in how we want to do things.”

Rowett had picked Preston out as promotion contenders before the season started. He sees North End as an example of what can be achieved.

“Alex [Neil, Preston manager] has had that little bit of continuity there and the chance to work,” said the Lions boss. “They are a team that hasn’t got the biggest budget in the league, but they very cleverly follow a consistent model that they all believe in.

“That’s the biggest thing. They look like a club who are all together. This club has the same feel. That’s why I refer to Birmingham, because we did the same there – we built a team that gradually improved and challenged. I believe this team can do exactly the same.

“I don’t like to put targets on things. You might say: ‘There are 30 points – let’s target 15’. What about the other 15? You’re probably not going to win every game but it’s having a method that quickly dissects games and you move on. Wherever that will take us, it will take us.

“We’re certainly ambitious. I don’t see a reason to put a limit on that ambition. What I will ask is just that little bit of patience for any new start, any new era.

“We want to do it quickly but it might take the players a little more than a day or two to get used to our methods. We want a team on the pitch that is competitive straight away, like it has been.

“We want to play quick, attacking aggressive football. There also needs to be layers of control – so sometimes we’ll want more possession, at times we can be comfortable out of possession.

“You have to win games. In this division you can’t just do it one way. If you do it one way you become predictable.

“We’ve played 4-3-2-1, 4-4-2, five at the back and 4-3-3. We’ve played with teams who have counter-attacked quickly and incisively.

“We have played with teams who have defended deeper or pressed high. We had a lot of possession at Stoke – something like fifth highest in the division when we left. You have to be flexible.

“It’s about us – not the opposition. Our method is to focus on what the players do and be positive about our game plan.

“Go out and find a way, we can’t guarantee we will, to win every game.

“We want to come here and build something, like Neil has done, over a period of time which is successful.

“We went to Burton and improved them to the play-off semis, then we got them to the play-off finals and then we were on the cusp of automatic promotion.

“We went to Birmingham – they were down near the bottom and we took them to two top-10 finishes and on the edge of the play-offs. We got Derby to the play-offs. So I suppose we had relative success – it depends how you define it at each club.

“Stoke was probably the first time that we hadn’t had that success. Although if I look back now, after the first six or seven games, I still see a lot of good things we did. We were actually very consistent in how we did it.

“But sometimes it is those experiences, which are not how you want them to go, that you learn the most from. It’s like anything in life – you learn from those mistakes and negative experiences in some ways.

“We have a more rounded approach to this job. I think that I’m a better manager for being out for eight months – and also a hungrier and more motivated manager. That is another reason why I think everything is such good timing here.”