‘We’ve got two Championship number ones’ – Millwall boss delighted at Long and Bialkowski contract news

Millwall manager Gary Rowett has expressed his satisfaction at his goalkeeper options after George Long and Bart Bialkowski both signed new deals.

The keepers were due to be out of contract at the end of the season although the Lions had an option as part of Long’s switch to SE16 in 2021.

Bialkowski is a two-time winner of the club’s Player of the Year award but lost his starting spot in the middle of September.

“Really pleased,” Rowett told the South London Press when asked about the duo committing their futures. “You want to create that continuity, where you can, within the group. We’ve been very close, over a period, to getting to where we want to be.

“There is no reason to change that. We had a slight change in dynamic but the characters and quality remain the same.

“George has had a chance as a number one, which he has waited for, and shown a real appetite and potential to grow into that role. He has performed really, really well. I’ve been very pleased with him and I feel there is still more to come.

“But I’ve also valued how good Bart is a goalkeeper and as a character. It’s been tough for him but he has been absolutely brilliant behind the scenes – the consummate professional and totally supportive of George, which I know isn’t always easy to do. He showed, when he came into the team for two games, how good a goalkeeper he is still.

“We’ll see that over the next period again.

“Just because they have swapped places for the time being it doesn’t mean to say they aren’t both goalkeepers we want here for the long term. That department, with Marshy working them really well, is very strong. We didn’t see any need, at all, to change that.”

Long had played back-up to Bialkowski after arriving from Hull City. The 29-year-old has kept seven shutouts this season, the latest in the 1-0 victory at Cardiff City on Saturday.

Rowett said: “He had to wait 18 months of me saying: ‘You’ve got to wait for your opportunity, you’ve got a goalkeeper in there who has earned so much credit and doesn’t deserve to come out’. I’ll be honest, I don’t think Bart did deserve to come out but I had to make a big call as a manager that we needed something to change, dynamically, earlier in the season.

“George brings something different. They are keepers with different qualities but he is very loud, he organises the defence with his voice, he has got great distribution and he’s gone in and shown a good level of consistency.

“It’s early days yet. He’s had to bide his time but he has deserved the opportunity. He’s pretty keen and determined to take it.”

There had been some expectation that Bialkowski, who had such a long spell as the starting stopper, could look to move on to secure regular football.

The 35-year-old has made 127 Championship starts since joining from Ipswich Town in July 2019.

“He has got a family and he knows what we’re like as a club, how well he is treated and how much he is respected here,” said Rowett. “Everyone has that choice at some point, but you can’t make that choice for people. It’s down to them to make the choice and for us to be quite open about it.

“You’re never far away from being in the team, whether it is poor form or an injury. Hopefully we’re not in that situation. But it’s when you need someone to step in and be capable. You need two number ones in the Championship and that’s what we’ve got.

“It’s up to them to perform to stay in the team or perform to get in the team. I’m really pleased Bart has decided to stay because he is such a popular member of the squad and with the fans as well.”