Marching On Together

A visit to the Den for the mighty whites this Saturday

Cooper is fit to start which is great news as Liam & Jansson have developed a formidable partnership bagging six clean sheets assisting our climb to the top of the table

Millwall got off to a slow start after their promotion from League One however they have shown a bit of decent form in their last three games thumping the Canaries 4-0, only beaten 1-0 at Wolves & drawing 2-2 at QPR after leading the Hoops 0-2 with only 17 minutes to go last Tuesday night.

Tom Elliott will miss out on facing his former club Leeds United – with the Millwall frontman set for another three weeks on the sidelines.
The big striker suffered a quad injury in the closing stages of the final training session before last weekend’s 1-0 defeat at Wolves.
Elliott, who began his career at Elland Road, sat out Tuesday’s feisty 2-2 derby at QPR.
“Tom is not going to make the weekend,” said Millwall boss Neil Harris. “Tom is going to be ruled out for another three weeks at least.”

The Lions are waiting to hear on their appeal against Lee Gregory’s dismissal in midweek. If it fails then the frontman will be banned for three matches.
But Aiden O’Brien is back from his one-match suspension.
“Aiden being available is great news,” said Harris. “It is another attacking option.
“It would be nice to have Lee available, but we’ll have to see the outcome of that.”

Hopefully another clean sheet & a win for Leeds

The Den is hell on earth. This is a bad blood duel.
If ever there was a stumbling block for Leeds this is it.
The crowd are usually rabid, and the players viscous.
I expect our technical players to get hacked.
I would rest Pablo cos he does better at home
I would put Roofe in instead, and I think Dallas would be
a better option than Alioski to be a starter. It will be
a blood on your studs game. If Brum was a challenge
then Millwall is steam hammer time. Hate to say it, but I would
be happy with a draw. Morrison may come back to haunt us.

Agree with Rab - Millwall is a cesspit, and in normal circumstances, I wouldn't be confident of coming away with any points. However this team under TC is thriving and hopefully they can keep the run going. I would play both Saiz and Alioski. They may get a few whacks, but they will also wind up the Millwall crowd. I would rest Hernandez. |Whomever comes in for him depends on whether Pierre's baby arrives or not. If it does then it might be worth playing Grot up front (for his bulk), and Dallas on the left. I would also swap Anita for Berardi, although I doubt that TC will change the defence.

Gandalf wrote:Agree with Rab - Millwall is a cesspit, and in normal circumstances, I wouldn't be confident of coming away with any points. However this team under TC is thriving and hopefully they can keep the run going. I would play both Saiz and Alioski. They may get a few whacks, but they will also wind up the Millwall crowd. I would rest Hernandez. |Whomever comes in for him depends on whether Pierre's baby arrives or not. If it does then it might be worth playing Grot up front (for his bulk), and Dallas on the left. I would also swap Anita for Berardi, although I doubt that TC will change the defence

Anita has stood up to the task in every game he's played

As the Geordie fans said Anita produces a 7 to 8/10 performance throughout the season

1964white wrote:Anita has stood up to the task in every game he's played

As the Geordie fans said Anita produces a 7 to 8/10 performance throughout the season

... and Berardi doesn't ? You've changed your tune. Anita hasn't filled me with total confidence defensively, and he doesn't add much going forward (Neither does Berardi tbf). I think Berardi would relish playing at Millwall.

Beradi is still the best full back at the club especially defensively. I don't see him getting much game time in the near future though, he's a just necessary back up in TC's plans along with Vierra and soon Roofe.

This match for me reminds me of when we went to Cardiff in the FA Cup when we were sitting pretty at the top of the league and everything was looking rosy. We encountered an extremely hostile crowd and it affected a lot of our players not only for that match but the rest of the season. This will be a huge match for a lot of our newer players who will never have played in a hostile atmosphere like it and it will be a huge challenge for the to produce quality football while being kicked around by a team spurred on by the crowd and likely being reffed by a referee that is too weak to referee properly in a hostile atmosphere.

For those reasons I would be more than happy to take a point but would absolutely love it if TC produced another masterclass and this team showed the bottle and character that some of that O'Leary side lacked and absolutely battered Millwall!

Hate this club and its supporters had many a run in with them especially in the early 80s when I lived just outside London, as said earlier the ground and the surrounding area is a cesspit so I hope we absolutely smash them.

Agree we should rest Hernandez but play Saiz and Alioski as they'll wind up their players and fans but think we also need to be very strong mentally and physically so hoping Grot gets sometime on the pitch to see what he's made of as I'm sure he'd relish the physical battle MOT

weasel wrote:We encountered an extremely hostile crowd and it affected a lot of our players not only for that match but the rest of the season. This will be a huge match for a lot of our newer players who will never have played in a hostile atmosphere like it and it will be a huge challenge for the to produce quality football while being kicked around by a team spurred on by the crowd and likely being reffed by a referee that is too weak to referee properly in a hostile atmosphere.

Hostile!!! the Den swarms with evil orcs baying for blood
What you get is the Chamber of Mazarbul and the crowd
manifests itself as a Balrog breathing fire. I expect only
the Ultra Whites have enough brass in the pelvic area to venture
into that pit of Moria. I hope Pontus stands up and declares
You shall not pass

rab_rant wrote:Hostile!!! the Den swarms with evil orcs baying for blood
What you get is the Chamber of Mazarbul and the crowd
manifests itself as a Balrog breathing fire. I expect only
the Ultra Whites have enough brass in the pelvic area to venture
into that pit of Moria. I hope Pontus stands up and declares
You shall not pass

Shouldn't Gandalf have posted this?

Gandalf wrote:... and Berardi doesn't ? You've changed your tune. Anita hasn't filled me with total confidence defensively, and he doesn't add much going forward (Neither does Berardi tbf). I think Berardi would relish playing at Millwall.

Not at all Gandi, I haven't changed my tune. Berardi is one of my favourite Leeds players of the modern-era however unlike you I think Anita has done a great job at LB, all about opinions.
I had a great view of his defensive play in the first-half v Brum & I can't recall their wingers getting passed him, he switched to RB during the 2nd half when Cooper went off & he looked equally as good.
I haven't missed a game yet & I have to say Anita has been a major plus imo especially as we lost the services of Gaetano & Pennington in our defence early doors.

Never been a big fan of Roofe but I thought he was very unlucky to lose his place to Alioski v Brum

John in Louisiana wrote:Shouldn't Gandalf have posted this?

A little bit of imagery never hurt anybody. I see that twice now Pontus has used the image of
a brick wall to symbolise a shutout and a clean sheet. There is nothing that can prepare TC
or the players for the maelstrom and violent turmoil that awaits them. This will not be easy
Without a vision the people perish. This game calls for super motivation from both manager
and the players.

faaip wrote:Beradi is still the best full back at the club especially defensively. I don't see him getting much game time in the near future though, he's a just necessary back up in TC's plans along with Vierra and soon Roofe.

Very difficult to dispute TC's team selection when we are sitting on top of the championship.

As in my reply to Gandi, Roofe was unlucky to lose his place v Brum, ironically Alioski was totally ineffective. I do feel Ezgjan will be better on our away travels

weasel wrote:This match for me reminds me of when we went to Cardiff in the FA Cup when we were sitting pretty at the top of the league and everything was looking rosy. We encountered an extremely hostile crowd and it affected a lot of our players not only for that match but the rest of the season. This will be a huge match for a lot of our newer players who will never have played in a hostile atmosphere like it and it will be a huge challenge for the to produce quality football while being kicked around by a team spurred on by the crowd and likely being reffed by a referee that is too weak to referee properly in a hostile atmosphere.

For those reasons I would be more than happy to take a point but would absolutely love it if TC produced another masterclass and this team showed the bottle and character that some of that O'Leary side lacked and absolutely battered Millwall!

I personally don't think Millwall is that hostile inside the ground, never been full when I've been there in the last few seasons. About 500 Wall fans spend most of the game having a go at the Leeds fans.
On the whole the atmosphere is very quiet as their fans don't make that much noise.

Believe me it's more hostile outside the ground after the game !

1964white wrote:I personally don't think Millwall is that hostile inside the ground, never been full when I've been there in the last few seasons. About 500 Wall fans spend most of the game having a go at the Leeds fans.
On the whole the atmosphere is very quiet as their fans don't make that much noise.

Believe me it's more hostile outside the ground after the game !

I admire your courage Leon. How do you prepare for inside and outside the stadium
Do you have any advice on how to comport yourself with grace and decorum?

rab_rant wrote:I admire your courage Leon. How do you prepare for inside and outside the stadium
Do you have any advice on how to comport yourself with grace and decorum?

I travel on a coach with the Griffin Branch. All the supporters club coaches are parked outside the Leeds end with plenty of police presence & not a Wall fan in sight. We are allocated in the upper-tier of the stand behind the goal, the lower-tier remains empty apart from the stewards & a few bobbies.

Leeds fans of course make all the noise within the ground as Millwall are a typical League One type masquerading as a Championship club.

The main problems occur on the journey home as 100's of 'Wall fans hang around the pubs on the main road out of South-East London. I remember having one of our windows bricked when travelling with the official LUFC coaches a few years ago, was a bit scary but hey-ho the sort of idiotic behaviour you expect from a minority of football yobs.

My cousin won tickets years ago to a football match but he was away when it was on so me and my Aunty went. I couldn't have been more than 10.

Coventry City vs Millwall.

Never forgotten it i was terrified, we were right next to the Millwall fans and they spent the whole game shouting and throwing stuff at us. Riot police came out in huge numbers and formed a line between us and them. They say two sides to every story but on this occasion there wasnt, our area was mostly made up of kids and families not the knuckledragging neanderthals who think football violence makes them tough, this was completely one sided and scared the life out of me, never felt unsafe at a football match before or since.

Sat in with many away fans to watch Leeds, Aston Villa, Coventry, Birmingham, Newcastle, to name a few and not a hint of animosity.

Hated Millwall ever since, im sure its a minority and most of there true fans are ashamed of the idiots but all the same.

Cjay wrote:My cousin won tickets years ago to a football match but he was away when it was on so me and my Aunty went. I couldn't have been more than 10.

Coventry City vs Millwall.

Never forgotten it i was terrified, we were right next to the Millwall fans and they spent the whole game shouting and throwing stuff at us. Riot police came out in huge numbers and formed a line between us and them. They say two sides to every story but on this occasion there wasnt, our area was mostly made up of kids and families not the knuckledragging neanderthals who think football violence makes them tough, this was completely one sided and scared the life out of me, never felt unsafe at a football match before or since.

Sat in with many away fans to watch Leeds, Aston Villa, Coventry, Birmingham, Newcastle, to name a few and not a hint of animosity.

Hated Millwall ever since, im sure its a minority and most of there true fans are ashamed of the idiots but all the same.

Were you in the lower-tier behind the goal Cjay ?

It would really kick-off if they put Leeds fans in there !

John in Louisiana wrote:Shouldn't Gandalf have posted this?

1964white wrote:Very difficult to dispute TC's team selection when we are sitting on top of the championship.

As in my reply to Gandi, Roofe was unlucky to lose his place v Brum, ironically Alioski was totally ineffective. I do feel Ezgjan will be better on our away travels

Could equally though have said that Alioski was unlucky to have lost his place in the previous match having been mom in the game before that. The benefit of having a good squad.