Millwall boss Rowett can’t explain why his side failed to do some key basics against Luton
Gary Rowett was at a loss to explain Millwall’s lack of determination and drive in today’s 2-0 loss to Luton Town.
The Hatters won at The Den for the first time since 1999. Harry Cornick produced two excellent finishes as the South Londoners, looking to close on the Championship play-off places, saw their seven-match undefeated run come to a halt.
Rowett said: “We’ve got to be better. We have to give the fans something so they want to come and support the team. A large part of our games this season we’ve done more than we did today.
“We’re not going to win every game, we know we’re not the sort of team that will just turn up and have the expectation to do that, but we’ve got to show that little bit of grit and determination. If we don’t win a game it has to be like the last two games, where we’ve done everything to try and win the game. Yes, we scored last-minute goals and late goals but sometimes that isn’t going to happen. The performance has to be the same sort of determined performance.
“We turned up wanting the game to be nice. Our fans want to see a bit more passion, determination, running and energy. We didn’t really show that today and that’s why I’m disappointed.”
Asked why he felt that was, Rowett replied: “I’ve got no idea. It’s the Championship…maybe we’ve won two games and felt as though we don’t have to do that now. Maybe off the back of an international break, it hasn’t helped us. I don’t know. We say the right things – we have to go out there and do it. For me, our intention was to try and get on the front foot and take the game to Luton. But the two times they caused us issues in transition they looked like scoring. They looked like doing that another two or three times as well. They deserved to beat us – it’s very, very simple.
“I want to see a little bit more drive and honesty from our team in games like that, when we need to go and work a little bit harder to make things happen.”
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Let me see if I can help you understand what is going wrong……
You continue to play a 5 (or 3?) at the back which doesnt suit us
You continue to play a raft of very poor cental mf players who are either not creative – nor committed to the club
You continue to leave out Thompson – a young and energetic MF player committed to the club and its future – and one who is better than others who you have brought in and you continue to play.
You have a completely negative approach to the game as has been the case at other clubs you have managed – you must tell the players – “when you get it pass it square or backwards”
You have not signed any decent forwards and dont pick any player with any creative flair – Mahoney
The above points have changed us from a good solid defensive team that yes mainly lacked imagination to a team that leaks goals and looks poor – very poor.
You and you alone have changed us – please leave the club