You can already make a strong case for Millwall overachieving – even if they miss out on Championship play-offs

BY RICHARD CAWLEY

I’m a firm believer that when it comes to assessing whether a club’s season has been a success or failure then you only largely need to look at their wage bill compared with their competitors.

Millwall still have 12 matches left to play in the Championship this season and the play-offs, while improbable, cannot be totally discounted.

But there is an argument to be made that they are already exceeding realistic expectations – just not as spectacularly as Barnsley. The Tykes will be one of only a handful of clubs who operate on lower expenditure than the Lions. The others are Luton, Wycombe Wanderers, Rotherham and Coventry – that latter trio are all ensconced in the bottom five.

That’s not me saying football is decided solely by finances. But it sure helps. It’s why Norwich, Brentford, Watford, Cardiff, Bournemouth and Middlesbrough are all in the mix for promotion to the Premier League. Forest are underachieving. Luton are overachieving.

So Millwall are doing more than alright. It’s worth hammering home the point that Gary Rowett has only really paid a transfer fee for George Evans – and that is already beginning to look a shrewd piece of business at £750,000.

Payments to Derby for Mason Bennett, who bravely headed in the winner against Preston North End on Tuesday, are based on his appearances.

Scott Malone, another Pride Park cast off, has been an excellent loan signing.

Some of the fanbase were unhappy to see the attack-minded left wing-back heading back to SE16 in August. There won’t be so many dissenting voices – if any – now. Malone has added a vital offensive outlet for the Lions and his superb equaliser in midweek underlined his threat when he breaks into the final third.

Tuesday’s 2-1 victory over Preston North End extended Millwall’s unbeaten run at The Den to six matches. They have lost just once in their last 11 games – managing to halt a poor run of results despite injuries to Murray Wallace, Connor Mahoney, Ryan Leonard, Kenneth Zohore, Maikel Kieftenbeld, Billy Mitchell and Jake Cooper.

Millwall need another 22 points from 12 fixtures to match their final total from the 2019-20 campaign – but a repeat or improvement of that was always likely to be a challenge if they could not keep the majority of their squad fit with the normal schedule truncated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

It’s also worth pointing out that they have got two points more than they accrued a couple of years ago, a joyless slog to the finish line under Neil Harris with safety only achieved after a 0-0 draw at home to Stoke on matchday 44.

For Millwall to improve their prospects of reaching the top flight they need to add more goals. They are the lowest scorers in the top half of the table. That issue might have been solved in the short term if Zohore had not suffered ankle issues. They have lost only two of the 12 games he featured in – winning five. He has not been available for 18 others.

The question is whether the South Londoners can afford to look at options away from the loan market when the next transfer window opens.

Football club owners can spend huge sums of money – and quite a few do without any responsibility for the balance sheets – without any significant improvement on the pitch. Nobody said running a football club was easy.

But the foundations are solid at Millwall – backed up by the fact that they can look forward to a fifth successive season in the Championship. They possess assets – both more finished articles in the shape of Shaun Hutchinson, Cooper, Mahlon Romeo and Jed Wallace as well as the exciting potential of Danny McNamara and Billy Mitchell.

Rowett held Preston up as a template to follow when he took charge. Millwall ended up finishing a place above them in July. They are on course to do so again.

STAR MAN
Mahlon Romeo. Has responded to Danny McNamara’s competition by putting in a consistent run of impressive performances.

BEST MOMENT
Scott Malone seems hell-bent on winning the club’s Goal Of The Season award.