New Millwall chairman James Berylson has helped make transition period smooth and supported transfer business

Gary Rowett has talked about a smooth transition for Millwall since James Berylson replaced his late father John as chairman.

The Lions had a period of mourning after their American owner was killed in a car accident at the start of this month.

Millwall have already paid their respects, opening a book of condolence at The Den and they also laid a wreath on the pitch before their friendly at Gillingham.

The Lions will pay a full tribute before their first home Championship match against Bristol City on August 12.

Millwall play Charlton tonight at The Den and both teams will wear black armbands with Charlton manager Dean Holden and captain George Dobson set to lay some flowers. The Lions will concentrate their activity on the City match, when the maximum amount of supporters will be in attendance.

The Lions confirmed earlier this month that James Berylson would succeed his father.

Millwall signed two players last week – Casper de Norre and Wes Harding – the first transfer activity since the club went into mourning.

Rowett told the South London Press: “I’ve had good conversations with James and I think that there is a real feeling of ‘how do we get better and how do we move forward?’

“James will do it in a different way, of course, to John but there is always going to be some similarities because he is his son and he’s been involved in the process for a few years alongside him.

“It’s been really good so far. It is always going to feel a little strange without John here but the conversations so far have been really good. The transition hasn’t felt too different and we’ve managed to be supported by him on making the signings. He wants to support further.

“As a manager you want the players all in and you value that time on the training pitch before the season starts. If you’re people in charge of money at clubs then you just want to do the best deals – if that means waiting two or three weeks then that means waiting two or three weeks.

“It’s always a balance and you have to respect that football is a business as well. There are ways of going about it and it isn’t always easy to say ‘want that player – let’s get him quick’. Normally if you get them quickly then it means you’ve had to overpay.

“I’m always the one texting Alex (Aldridge) saying: ‘Anything happening?’. I can rest assured that the likes of Alex, his team and Steve (Kavanagh) are working incredibly hard to try and make things happen. We’ve got less signings we need to make right now but we’re still working hard. It’s never easy to do.”