‘The onus is on the new lads’ – Millwall boss says January signings must work for first-team places
BY MITCHELL HALL
Millwall manager Alex Neil spoke out about his approach to integrating the influx of signings that the club brought in in the late stages of the January transfer window.
The Lions brought in eight players over the course of the window, with the likes of Aaron Connolly and Luke Cundle already amongst the goals for Neil, and others such as club-record signing Camiel Neghli raring to make their mark.
They join a team that has won three games in a row and climbed to 14th in the Championship, while being just five points off Blackburn Rovers in fifth.
“What makes it really straight forward is the lads that have been in the team have performed very well,” said Neil. “So the onus is on the new lads to come in and stake their claim, train well, and to try and have an impact when they get the opportunity.
“Luke Cundle came in for the last game because I felt we needed that link between midfield and front line, which I thought he provided very well. Tristan Crama has come in due to an injury and done really well. Aaron Connolly had to bide his time but he had a real impact coming on as a sub at Luton and then through injuries he has gotten his chance to play.
“So really the team has sort of formed itself as much as anything else, and that is not through me making a lot of changes or through me trying to be too smart with anything, the team is the team and it is up to the rest of them to try and work their way in.
Neil highlighted that although signings may be made with certain timelines and expectations in mind, the bottom line is always down to what they can bring to the team in the moment to push them forward.
“It’s fair to say there’s levels of acquisitions that the club have made,” he said. “There are ones that are ready for the here and now, there are ones that hopefully, over the course of time, will manage to work their way in.
“Ra’ees Bangura-Williams would not have been one that anybody four or five games ago thought was going to feature on a regular basis, but what he has done on merit is worked his way into the team and provided some great performances for us.
“So albeit we sign these players with a certain intention, that intention goes out the window depending on how they’re performing.
“Equally that goes for the ones we deem to be for the here and now, if they are not performing as well as they should, or they are not training properly, then naturally people move ahead of them in the pecking order.
“We don’t go: ‘Listen, we’re happy if you only win x amount of games,’ the challenge always is how well can we do? And when we do that well, can we stretch that a bit more? Can we do a little bit better?”
PICTURE: BRIAN TONKS