Millwall in 2024/25 - Part One

Another season in the Championship has passed for Millwall, and for the eighth season in a row, Millwall will remain in the same league come next year. However, there was some faint hope towards the end that that wouldn't be the case, what with Millwall fighting for the playoffs up until the last matchday - but Jaiden Anthony scuppered those chances all too painfully.

At the start of the season, I felt some optimism for Millwall. Having gone on an impressive run under Neil Harris towards the end of the 2023/4 season, finishing comfortably in midtable having been threatened by relegation and Joe Edwards' managerial skills, I reckoned they would have another campaign fighting for the playoffs before missing out, though not to the extent that they did in reality. 

Ahead of the season, various transfers were made. Shaun Hutchinson returned a few weeks after leaving, and Macauley Langstaff joined after scoring 70 goals for Notts County in just two seasons. Femi Azeez came in from Reading, adding more attacking flair to what had been a squad that had struggled to score often, and some Serbian striker called Mihailo Ivanovic joined for a club record fee of £2.8m. Twelve goals and a chant later, he's certainly proved himself.

However, a few weeks after the season end, the club had to contend with the sudden death of goalkeeper Matija Sarkic, at the young age of just 26. This came as a shock to everyone, and when I first learnt of the news, I couldn't believe it myself. He had only been at Millwall for a season and was brilliant in goal during it, and was also a great person. May he rest in peace - he will be missed by everyone at Millwall. 

Watford at home, 10th August 2024

The first match of the season was a home game against Watford, played at 12:30 after Sky decided the first matches of the Championship should be televised for all to see. This was the beginning of an irritating trend where three matches each matchweek were played at 12:30, which is convenient for local fans but not for away visitors - anything for financial pursuit goes, I suppose.

There were touching tributes to Sarkic, and the away fans also held up a banner in honour of him. The match itself wasn't the greatest display by Millwall, with Watford going 2-0 up in the 55th minute, before Duncan Watmore, coming off the bench, nearly changed things completely, scoring twice to make it 2-2 in the 88th. Yet Watford scored immediately after, a goal which I suspected may have been offside, however the linesman didn't bother flagging anything. Perhaps he was right after all, I've never gone back to watch the highlights.

From here, Millwall's form was shaky to say the least. A 3-4 loss to Bristol City the next week was a similar affair - Millwall losing 2-0, they then led 3-2, before throwing it all away in the 88th minute. There was an impressive 3-0 win against Sheffield Wednesday immediately after, but further defeats to Luton and Cardiff, who would eventually get relegated this season, saw Millwall in 15th position after eight games, scoring 12 but conceding 11. There was also the loss to Leyton Orient in the Carabao Cup to sour the mood.

Yet things suddenly improved after the Cardiff loss. A 0-0 draw to high-flying West Brom, and then a home match against Derby County. 

Derby County at home, 19th October 2024

Unfortunately, this game lacked the thrills of past matches. It was a 3pm kickoff at least, but quite a mundane one, only truly kicking into life come the second half and even then most of the action was in the final fifteen minutes - Derby taking the lead in the 78th, before Ivanovic scored his first goal for Millwall in the 85th - and it was a fine strike too, a tidy finish which sent the fans into euphoria. Millwall finished the game in 20th position, two points ahead of Cardiff in 22nd, but little did we know that this was just part of a nine-game unbeaten streak:

• A 1-0 win against struggling Plymouth sent us into 13th...
• before beating Swansea 1-0 to climb up into 10th...
• and then beating Burnley 1-0 at home to get into 7th. This was Burnley's last defeat of the season, and gave Millwall quite some vertigo.
• And then a 1-0 win against Leeds brought us into 6th on goal difference. How delightful.

Clear skies at The Den, as the playoffs came into view

Sunderland at home, 23rd November 2024

From here, there were three 1-1 draws to Stoke, Oxford, and Sunderland - I blogged about the latter match already, and even if the draws stunted Millwall's momentum a bit, it is worth remembering that Sunderland did look like the real deal at the time, going head to toe with Leeds and Burnley at the top. To steal a point from them in the last minute and stop them from going first was beautiful.

And then it all went downhill from here. Losing to Coventry City, now managed by Frank Lampard, was irritating. Losing to Sheffield United was understandable, but still unpleasant. Yet Neil Harris suddenly announcing that he would leave the club was unforeseen. His parting gift was a loss to Middlesbrough, and Millwall were down to 13th, nine points off the playoff hunt. 

The rest of the year saw David Livermore take charge, and Millwall beat Blackburn 1-0 with a dramatic late winner, before an away game to Norwich, which I have also already blogged about, on Boxing Day. 

Norwich City away, 26th December 2024

Before the game, I visited Lowestoft, and the game proved to be as dreary as that industrial Norfolk town. This happened to be the only away match I've ever been to where Millwall lost, and unfortunately it was a rather uninspired performance that hardly brought any optimism. From here, it was a 0-0 draw to Coventry, and so at the end of 2024, Millwall were 13th in the league, on 29 points - the same points tally at this stage as last season. Nine points off the playoffs, seven points clear of the dropzone.

Unlike last season, though, things would get slightly more exciting...