Football Manager Blog | Football Manager Guru | Millwall Continues Unbeaten Run

Hello and welcome, hope you are all well. This month takes us to the Den 3 times and to Swindon and Stockport  as well. At the end of last month, I had been unbeaten in 10 games in the league and sit 1^st in the table. We have to play the league favourites and the league over-performers this month to help us on our quest for promotion.

First match is against Tranmere at the Den.

I set out  in this match for a big win as Tranmere were sitting in 10^th position but have had a bad run of performances recently. I put out a strong side including my player of last month, Steve Morison.

The game started in favour of Tranmere when they took the lead in the 21^st minute through a Ian Thomas-Moore header. The header was lofted over Neil Sullivan who was in goal for this game.

During the second half, I told the players to focus and control the game. In the 64^th minute, David Martin smashed home a belter from 35 yards which went right into the top corner. 7 minutes from the end, Steve Morison scored a tap-in from 6 yards after David Martin hit the post with a shot.

The game ended 2-1. My man of the match goes to David Martin, closely followed by Steve Morison. David had an excellent game and I hope to see more from him in the coming months.

Next up is an away fixture to Swindon.

Swindon weren’t performing well in the league table at this point, so I set out attack minded.

The first half was a very boring half with only Alan O’Brien of Swindon getting injured.

Just 3 minutes into the second half, Darren Ward headed in a fine goal to put the Lions up 1-0. The corner came from David Martin who crossed the ball in to the front post where Darren Ward was running onto and header it into the near corner of the net. 6 minutes after, we killed off our opponents making it 2-0 and giving us the 3 points, through a Neil Harris goal. The ball came to him on the edge of the box and he turned and hit it, right into the bottom left corner of the net.

At the end of the 90 minutes, we got the 3 points which kept us at top of the league for a week longer. Darren Ward snatched the man of the match away from Neil Harris with that superb header and a great contribution at the back.

A trip to Stockport next.

Stockport were sitting mid-table before this match, and I wanted them to slip down a few places and not gain any points from this match.

I felt confident that this was going to happen when Steve Morison scored early, in the 6^th minute to put us 1-0 up. His goal was a typical strikers goal, following up a Neil Harris shot that the keeper saved but let go for Steve Morison to smack into the net from 5 yards out. Stockport pulled one back in the 34^th minute through James Vincent, when John Sullivan slipped up and allowed James to slot home from 2 yards out.

The 2^nd half was a very close half with no side getting a real chance on goal. The only chance of the half came in the 83^rd minute when Neil Harris struck the ball from outside the box and it flew into the corner to give the Lions the 3 points.

A Lucky 3 points for the Lions, which keeps us top of the league and unbeaten so far. Steve Morison gets man of the match for my side today, puting in a solid performance up front and scoring the opening goal which was a vital one.

Next game was a big one against Leeds.

This game was a big game as it would show if we were really up for getting one of the promotion places, if not, the top spot on the league as Leeds were favourites for the league and were showing that they can play football with big wins over sides that were sitting in 4^th,5^th and 6^th place.

The game started well for us, with the Lions having all the possession. All of that possession payed off when Jason Price slotted home a good goal, in the 29^th minute to put us 1 ahead. The ball was switched sides from David Martin to Jason Price who ran into the box and hit the ball into the far corner to put us 1 up.

The first 10 minutes of the 2^nd half was boring, Andy Frampton made it 2-0 Millwall in the 59^th minute, when he headed home a nice goal. The ball was played over by Jason Price, and Andy Frampton was in the right place to head home a great goal. 20 minutes from the end, Robert Snodgrass pulled one back for Leeds when he ran through the Lions defence to slot it past John Sullivan. Leeds had 5-10 chances in the last 10 minutes as they were piling on all the pressure and Mike Grella scored a tap-in from 2 yards to get the equaliser and upset all the Millwall fans.

We got 1 point, which should have been 3, if the defenders where playing attention. We are still unbeaten, and still sit top of the league by 4 points ahead of Colchester, who we play next.

Colchester up next to pull even further ahead of at the top of the table.

This game was the last game of the month and was the game that could pull us further away from Colchester and Leeds, or, Make us 1 point in front of Colchester. The Lions had to win!

I set of in this game, focusing on closing out 4 of the oppositions players. John-Joe O’Toole, Kevin Lisbie, Clive Platt and David Prutton. They were all the players that I needed to close out during the game to win. We had all of the possession during the first half and also went 1-0 up through Steve Morison who scored his 10^th goal of the season. Neil Harris played a short ball through the middle of the defence, to which Steve Morison ran on to and slotted home the first goal of the match.

The 2^nd half started of not so good as the defence was unable to capitalise, and allowed John-Joe O’Toole to score from 18 yards out. With 11 minutes to go, Neil Harris played exactly the same ball through to Steve Morison that he did for the first goal, and Steve Morison finished it in class to give us the 3 points and and 2-1 win.

Steve Morison is man of the match yet again for his splendid performance. He scored the 2 goals that gave us the 3 points.

We sit top of the league with 37 points from 15 games. We are still unbeaten, and it doesn’t look like changing.

I got given the Manager of the Month award for October after winning 4/5 games and drawing the other one. The board agree with me that I am having a good season at Millwall in the League 1.

Thanks for reading and please comment.