Neil Harris on benefits of his new long-term Millwall deal in terms of helping to attract new signings

BY RICHARD CAWLEY

Neil Harris reckons his new long-term contract will only help in attracting players to Millwall.

The Lions manager, assistant David Livermore and first-team coach Adam Barrett all recently penned extensions.

“The thought process of all of us – myself, Steve Kavanagh [chief executive] and the board, certainly John [Berylson] – was that we had really enjoyed the last three years.

“We have enjoyed building the squad up, the backroom team has come a long way as well. It has been an enjoyable journey and I still see huge potential in terms of what we can achieve, especially with a young group of players who are growing all the time.

“I want us to keep doing that. The natural next step was to commit ourselves and try and be a part of the club for the immediate future.

“Stability at the club is pivotal to us attracting players. You’d be amazed at the amount of agents and players who ask about the board and management set-up.

“Modern-day football is so much hire and fire. A lot of players don’t just come and want to look at the balance sheet – they are trying to improve and be successful and be stable.

“The club, under John’s stewardship, has had a great amount of stability. That’s can’t go underestimated in the modern game.

“You can see huge clubs in financial fair play difficulties and I 100 per cent support the board – we won’t put ourselves in that situation. We won’t run our club like that.

“We want to be stable and build a platform, which we have done. I just want that to continue.”
Kavanagh added: “Having a manager and chairman on the same page in terms of commitment shows to the players that Neil is here for a long time and that he’s building a long-term legacy for the club.

“This club is built on unity and Neil is an important part of creating that unity. The board have shown their long-term belief in Neil and he has shown long-term faith is the club.”