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**Guest** · 28-11-2023, 12:13 PM

Newly appointed Sporting Lisbon boss Harris "wishes Windebank all the best in his future endeavors, and I will try do him proud. It is a tough ask, but the squad is full of talent. We are ready to improve on his work at Lisbon, and we hope to see Millwall return to the glory days of when Kevin Muscat and Tim Cahill strutted their quite rough stuff at the Den".

**Gary@Millwall** · 06-12-2023, 05:07 PM

Windebank's First Millwall Press Conference

Hairy Mary: You are a local from Deptford what does it mean to you getting the Millwall Job?

Windebank: It means everything to me to take on this Millwall project. I grew up down the Old Kent Road and on Cold Blow Lane. I am 3rd Generation Millwall with my wife daughter and grandchildren all being season ticket holders so this is a dream job.

Hairy Mary: You have been managing in FFO for over 20 seasons and have won a lot of trophy's drawing lots of criticisms from many FFO managers by playing the OAP quick fix market, will you be implementing this ethos at Millwall.

Windebank: I took this job for two reasons. 1) this is my club and 2) I wanted a project that I could build from the bottom up. It was made clear to me in my interview that Millwall do not have the resources to splash the cash. We have a tiny ground and due to FFO restrictions we cannot go ahead with our planned capacity increase this season.

This means we are limited to just 9.975 Million in gate receipts from League games and we cannot rely on cup runs to bridge the gap from our wage bill that although the lowest in the division at £5.9m a month the season cost without wage creep is £23.6m. That is 2.4 times our League gate receipt income meaning that we are running at a loss of £13.6m.

Thankfully we have a great Media department here which will generate £21m in revenue meaning that our forecast operating profit for the season is just over £7m without accounting for cup competitions.

We also have a great academy with 3 players ready to break into the first team for season 3. However we have to budget for that and that is a cost of £24m which rises to £36m if we shock the FFO world and get to the promise land over the next two seasons.

The Chairman and me have a plan and OAPs are not in that plan I can assure you the fans and the FFO community of that.

Hairy Mary: You upset a fair share of the fanbase by selling your two best players what was the thought process about that and do you fear the fan backlash if you dont get results on the pitch? we are all aware how toxic the Den can get if results are poor!!

We had to reduce the wage bill and as I said above we are building for the future. Leif Davies is just 23 years old and Dane Scarlett is a 19 year old wonderkid who will develop and grow with Club Captain Aidomo Emakhu who is also 19 years of age. Add to that the purchase of 24 year old Josip Stanisic, financed by the sale of 32 year old Shaun Hutchinson and we have dramatically reduced age and wages which fits to our plan for zero financial cost to the club.

I am a Millwall fan and know that as long as my team gives it a go and leaves everything on the pitch the fans will stay with us. The Millwall fans love to see homegrown players coming through the club as they know what this club is all about.

We have so much quality in our academy and will be investing heavily into it.

Season 3 will see the following players plus 2 seasons of growth make their way into the squad.

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[COLOR=#0000cc][I]S_Romero 18 arg 19 1 1 1 25 423 1 1 1
A_Cissokho 18 fra 1 16 14 7 26 1 263 589 121
J_Cardy 18 fra 1 13 15 4 26 1 271 445 735[/I][/COLOR]

Cissokho would get into our team now and we have high hopes for him and Cardy has the potential if we develop him correctly to replace our oldest outfield player Ryan Leonard.

We also have high hopes for Romero but the track to the first team might be limited if a scenario we are currently working on transpires.

Hairy Mary: News has just come in that you have been successful in the FFO Auction is that why you think Romero might struggle to get first team football in a couple of seasons time?

Yes I am ecstatic to announce that we have secured 20 year old goalkeeping sensation James Trafford from the FFO Auction for £60m. This is an exciting signing for the club as he is an improvement on our former number 1 Sarkic

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[I][COLOR=#0000cc]M_Sarkic 25 mon 22 1 1 1 27 398[/COLOR][/I]

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[COLOR=#0000cc][I]J_Trafford 20 eng 23 1 1 1 28 107[/I][/COLOR]

This signing is huge for a club our size, we have improved by one keeper stat and have two seasons of rerates to come plus game time development I could not be happier to bring James to the club.

Hairy Mary: Do you really think you will be able to keep these young players at your club? surely with seasonal ageing and the financial might of the big clubs once you have developed these wonderkids you are going to receive bids that the Board will have to accept?

I have the full backing of the board and it has been proven with us as a club turning down enquiries for our 19 year olds already.

The reason I historically played the OAP market was because under 21 year olds cost a fortune and the unfashionable clubs I managed never had the Financial resources to mix it with the established clubs.

At Millwall my job is to build from the bottom up and that is what I am going to do.

**Gary@Millwall** · 11-12-2023, 02:08 PM

SarkicThrows Wobbly And Other Transfer News

Following the the purchase of James Trafford from the FFO Auction Matija Sarkic threw tantrum and handed in a transfer request after the realisation that he would not be first choice keeper.

Matija a Montenegro International keeper was outraged that he was being replaced by a 20 year old better keeper and Windebank acted swiftly to move the unhappy Keeper on.

A three way bidding war for the Montenegro was undertaken with Spanish Giants Real and Atletico Madrid fighting for his signature with German outfit Red Bull Leipzig.

At one point it look like Atletico Madrid's Financial clout was going to secure Sarkic signature to yet again play backup but Matt Buxton who was very vocal in wanting to sign the 25 year old keeper come up with an offer Windebank felt was too good to turn down.

It was obvious Matt Buxton had down his research on Millwall and their quest to reduce the age of the team and he offered the following to Millwall.

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A_Guevara 25 esp 1 13 17 7 23 1 383 400 560 - Plus £30m

for

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M_Sarkic 25 mon 22 1 1 1 27 398
R_Leonard 31 eng 1 13 17 8 27 1 873 867 129

This offer was quickly accepted by Windebank and The Millwall fans will be able to watch Ander Guevara Lajo in their team for the start of the season.

With £30m now in the bank Windebank jumped on the chance to sign 31 year old German Attacking Midfielder Jonas Hoffman from Burnley. Windebank met the Buy Him Now price of £14.5m within an hour of Jonas coming onto the market.

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J_Hofmann 31 ger 1 4 16 16 25 1 761 511 502

With the sell him now value of £13.95m this looks like a sharp bit of business for Millwall despite him being 31 years of age which bucks the trend of Millwall's transfer philosophy so far.

With one player too many in the squad and tight financial margins to consider Millwall have sold George Honeyman to EFL 2 team Schalke in a deal which will see £15m land in the South London's Clubs Bank Account.

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G_Honeyman 28 eng 1 3 17 12 22 1 688 757 284

Reporter Hairy Mary caught up with Windebank at the Lions training ground.

Hairy Mary: After taking your Bank Balance to zero you seem to have maximised recouping half the outlay for James Trafford and also yet again reduce the age of the Squad.

Yes Sarkic was too good to sit on our bench and cover his wages for little or no game time, plus he made it very clear he wanted to move on for first team football. At one point it looked like he was going to be a bench warmer in Madrid but the ingenuity of Schalke Manager Matt Buxton means Matija will be getting the first team football he desires and we get a quality Defensive midfielder in 25 year old Ander.

Hairy Mary: Your purchase of Jonas Hoffman saw the usual suspects on social media start screaming Windebank is purchasing OAP's and it did not take long for you to revert back to type is there any truth in those allegations?

We have purchased Jonas because we are seriously lacking a number 10 and Jonas fits the bill perfectly, add to that our limited budget we pushed ahead with the deal to meet Burnley's Buy Him Now value. With 28 year old Honeyman moving on for £500k more to Schalke, we have increased our bank balance also moving on a player that would hardly play with a huge amount of minutes to be met and replaced him with a utility player that we will rely on heavily.

With regard social media I am just happy the big boys are taking an interest in my little South London Club.

Hairy Mary: Will there be any more transfer dealings in this transfer window?

We are scouring the market to see if there are players that fit what we are trying to do here but we have a very specific remit so it is unlikely there will be anymore transfers before the season starts.

**Gary@Millwall** · 12-12-2023, 04:25 PM

Millwall Secure Wonderkid Yusuf Kabadayi From Schalke

Fans gathered outside the tiny Stadium in South London to welcome exciting 19 year old Midfielder Yusuf Kabadayi to the Lions Den.

The deal sees the Bermondsey Bergkamp, Welsh International Striker Tom Bradshaw and Scottish Defender Murray Wallace depart to Germany.

With 23 year old German defender Henning Matriciani and half dead 35 year old German Striker Simon Terodde joining with the young German midfield sensation in a 3 for 3 player deal.

Like bringing 19 year old striking sensation Dane Scarlett to the Den Windebank has sacrificed established Millwall players and skills to dramatically reduce the age and potential of his Tiny club's squad.

Despite Millwall fans on Social media being ecstatic that Millwall now own 25% of the twelve 19 year olds in the game some are really concerned that the team will be competing for the bottom places in the Championship this season and do not know if the majority of fans will remain happy if like predicted Millwall get slapped every week.

#knuckledragger was scathing on X when he posted "I know the club is on a rebuild but watching us get smashed every week is not my idea of fun!!! I preferred the old Windebank who brought OAP quality to his clubs!!! does he know how to even communicate with these kids??? He aint a Ed or AB and will never be a Nick Lovell!!!

#WindySucks posted "100% agree in one close season he has ripped the guts out of our club I will be calling for his head within 5 games mark my words".

Our reporter caught up with Windebank to see what he had to say.

Hairy Mary: Another teenager joins the ranks but the Millwall faithful are incandescent at the decimation of squad quality over the course of the close season with some predicting you will be sacked early into the season. Does this concern you?

No I am not concerned every deal has been thought through with the recruitment team and Board and careful consideration has been made. I am never going to keep everyone happy but having 25% of the teenagers in the game is exactly what we intended for the club.

I can only request the fans remain patient but this is a season of development and they are forgetting I know how to win games. A ball has not even been kicked yet so no one knows how we will be setup and how the players will gel.

Hairy Mary: You have entered the pre-season tournament surely you must be mad as Millwall will be slapped silly against the teams that have entered, increasing the growing discontent with this transfer window.

The tournament will be used to try out tactics and formations. It is preseason for crying out loud and the results are not important we need to get used to playing with each other and putting the training sessions into practice.

Hairy Mary: Dare I ask is there anymore deals likely this week?

We have our eye on a couple of players but only at the right price.

Hairy Mary: Despites the fans concerns how are you feeling about the season?

I am ecstatic about the business we have done we are not only set for the future but also ready for the season ahead. I think we will surprise a lot of people including certain sections of our doubting fanbase.

I am off to training now to fine tune a few things and get our three newly recruited German players embedded in the squad.

**Gary@Millwall** · 12-12-2023, 04:28 PM

None media credits word count for December

Article 1 = 573 Words
Article 2 = 949 Words
Article 3 = 705 Words
Article 4 = 595 Words

December total so far = 2,822 Words

**Gary@Millwall** · 18-12-2023, 09:52 PM

Pre- Season Tournament

Dirty Goliath Stutter To Win Against David Thanks To Cheating Referee

In a game that will probably never happen in competitive football the little Club from South East London travelled to Paris to face the behemoth that is PSG.

The FFO world including Millwall fans were expecting a cricket score especially due to the fact that every PSG 2nd skill was better than the main skill of tiny little Millwall player.

Ed Clark had already said he was playing 5-1-2-2 Attacking and who can blame him with the riches of skilful players he has at his disposal and a team that walked EFL last season.

Windebank decided to play a traditional Millwall formation of 4-4-2 and opted for the Normal tactic to get tactical advantage and hoped that kept the score to under a four goal defeat.

The opening few minutes were quite even but it was very clear that PSG were a disgusting dirty team hacking down their inferior opponents at any opportunity.

In the 9th minute Bastoni found Ramos with a great ball that sent Ramos clear and he got the help of the post as he slide the ball past the outrushing Trafford to give the French Title winners the lead.

Millwall did not lose belief and the Parc des Princes was stunned into silence when 19 year old Club Captain Aidomo Emakhu lost his marker from a cross and flicked his header to the far post to bring the Lions level and send the away end crazy.

PSG were having more of the ball and creating chances but Millwall were looking potent with each attack. In the 29th minute Aidomo Emakhu spotted the run of his strike partner Dane Scarlett who lobbed the desperate Costa to give Millwall an unexpected lead.

The Millwall players staff and fans were going mental the home fans stunned to see their Champions behind, but in a show of complete bollocky shithousery the referee ruled the goal out to the disgust of the commentator, away fans, Millwall players and a volcanic Windebank.

The Millwall heads did not drop though and were getting as many actions as the shocked PSG team until Millwall switched to the Counter Attacking tactic.

Could Millwall hold onto half time? No they could not as after a sustained period of outrageous pressure Kvaratskhelia capitalised on a Saliba corner to give PSG a 47th minute injury time lead.

Millwall academy right back Danny McNamara thread the ball through 19 year old Dane Scarlett who made no mistake putting the ball past Costa to draw the game level 3 minutes into the 2nd half.

PSG were ruffled and committing outrageous fouls all over the pitch nearly every other action which culminated in the sending off Kvaratskhelia for a 2nd booking in the 59th minute.

Millwall's fell behind yet again in the 69th minute when Hakimi found Ramos who lobbed Trafford to make the score 3-2.

Not content with the victory Smith Row punched the rampaging Kabadayi in the face to stop him getting in the box to score a certain goal in the 93rd minute for which he received a straight red card.

That cheating behaviour meant Millwall had to score from the free kick a yard outside the area but they could not do it and the final whistle ended a great game with the defending EFL Champions winning 3-2.

PSG dominated the stats with 61% possession creating 33 chances of which 16 were on target, with Millwall creating 8 with 6 on target.

Windebank Post Match Comments

There were a lot of positives out their today and considering the gulf in class we gave a great account of ourselves and should have really taken the lead and wold have done if it was not for some disgusting decision to rule out Dane's goal.

When a team with the quality and trophy cabinet of PSG have to resort to dirty tactics committing cynical professional fouls you know my team have given a good account of themselves out there today.

I am proud of the effort and application of my players today and we move onto a tough game against Ryan's Blackburn Rovers where we will be hoping to upset the match favourites again.

Thanks for the game Ed and best of luck for season 3 mate

**Gary@Millwall** · 20-12-2023, 10:08 AM

Pre-Season Tournament Group E Game 2

Millwall Teenagers Smash The Fanny Out Of Premier League Blackburn Rovers

In a must win game against another superior squad The Den faithful were unexpectedly treated to a absolute stonking performance and result.

Premier League Blackburn Rovers were the visitors to The Den and despite no home advantage in this pre-season Tournament Millwall's opponents left South London with their pride and confidence smashed to smithereens.

Blackburn Rovers slightly edged the opening quarter of an hour but in the 18th minute a great move started by Marvelous Nakamba who lived up to his producing a great pass to find the perfect run of Yusuf Kabadayi who in turn unleashed a wonderous 20 yard thunderbolt to give the Lions the lead.

Six minutes later Club Captain Aidomo Emakhu found his strike partner with a great cross and Dane Scarlett made no mistake with sweet volley to double Millwall's lead.

Blackburn went on the attack and Millwall decided to pass the ball about and four minutes later in the 28th minute the roof of the Den blew off with Aidomo Emakhu rifled an overhead kick into the Rovers net from a Ander Guevara cross 3-0 to the rampant Lions.

Millwall then took their foot of the gas changing to Long Ball and Blackburn started to get a huge amount of the ball without really doing much and when they did Trafford was equal to it and the first half ended 3-0.

In the opening action of the 2nd half Rovers pulled a goal back when Abraham scored with a great drive.

Millwall decided to go back to a more cultured passing style and the action become even again. Yusuf Kabadayi showed why he is so highly rated in the 58th minute when he sprinted pass Kounde and flicked an unstoppable shot past the hapless Rovers keeper to get his 2nd and Millwall's 4th of the game.

Millwall went back to Long Ball and Rovers switched to passing but never troubled Millwall and the game ended with the Premier League team leaving the Championship Den slapped senseless.

Rovers had the better of the stats with 62% possession and created 25 chances to Millwall's 16 but Millwall had 13 shots on target to Rovers 12.

If Millwall can beat West Ham in the final group game they will progress to the winners side of the competition when it splits into two. That would be a miracle with them being in a group with three top tier teams with one of them being EFL Champions who could potentially be competing in the Losers knockout rounds.

Windebank's Post Match Comments

What can I say about that other than Bing Bang Bosh, we slapped them silly and were clinical today with three of our four teenagers scoring the goals.

The team are playing with freedom and performing above all expectations and we know if we beat those filthy slags from the other side of the river we will be in the winners side of the draw.

The only downside to the last two performances is that the fans are going to start expecting these performances and results week in week out and I hope they realise this is a pre-season event where managers try out tactics and formations they cant when the season starts and the real pressure is on.

Good Game Ryan and best of luck for the season.

**Gary@Millwall** · 04-01-2024, 09:58 PM

January 2024 Media (word count will be added to Millwall Match Day Reports thread as this will be where most of Millwall Media will be - These words will not be counted)

Windebank Dips Toes Into Transfer Market Despite 100% Record After Two Games

Millwall fans who were concerned after Windebank sold Millwall stalwarts sacrificing quality and experience on his quest to dramatically reduce the age of his Lions are being won over just two competitive games of season 3.

There is a real buzz around the Den with Millwall securing two straight wins and scoring four goals in both games, winning 4-1 away at Stockport County in the first League game of the season which was followed by a 4-2 home win against League One's Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup First Round.

The new signings have bedded in well with Yusuf "Whose your Daddy" Kabadayi being the best performer accumulating 189 abs in just two games. He has made 8 passes and had 8 shots, scoring one goal and setting up another earning one man of the match award. Only Academy produced defender Danny McNamara has earned more abs at an impressive 207 making 5 key tackles producing 7 key passes and having 1 shot. Danny has provided one assist and also earned one man of the match award.

Dane Scarlett despite only playing 95 minutes in the opening two games is the best performing striker accumulating 107 abs having 8 shots and scoring 1 goal.

Captain Aidomo Emakhu has earned 106 abs having 7 shots and scoring 2 goals in 162 minutes with him rating up to 18 rated which is closely followed by the experienced Simon "Big Fucking German" Toreddo who as earned 105 abs in 135 minutes of play having 10 shots and scoring 2 goals.

With the great start not only in results but in the way the wins have been secured with free flowing creative football you would think that Windebank would not enter the transfer market.

This is not the case though with Windebank using £5m the media department earned the club in December to add to newly signed 23 year old defender Leif Davis to secure Stockport County's 24 year old Midfielder Flynn Downes.

Flynn was arguably Stockport's best player on the opening day of the season making 1 key tackle, producing 5 key passes and 2 shots earning an impressive 93 abs. That performance means the signing has gone down very well with the Millwall faithful and with passing main stats of 18 is an improvement over the other defence minded midfielders currently at the club.

There was concern that the side looked unbalanced but this as been resolved with Windebank securing a season long loan from Crystal Palace bringing in 31 year old Paraguayan defender Fabián Balbuena which is also a short term improvement on Leif Davis and will plug the gap until Joe Bryan returns from his season long loan at EFL 2 club Schalke where he as already earned an impressive 134 abs.

Windebank had the following to say:

Its been a busy couple of days securing these two players and I would like to send a special thank you to Lee Clark who has been kind enough to loan us Fabian with the ask being that we make his minutes.

We may be looking at doing a couple of more deals before Saturday's deadline with a couple of clubs interested in academy produced Billy Mitchell, we would be reluctant to let him go as he is Millwall through and through but with Flynn coming in on Saturday and Ander also ahead of Billy on merit it would be unfair to stand in Billy's way if he has the opportunity to play more football elsewhere.

The new players will also be available for our tricky away tie at League One Lincoln City in the FA Cup 2nd Round next week.

I need to run now as we are preparing for a very tough fixture on Friday for the highly anticipated visit of Neil Stockley's Luton Town

**Gary@Millwall** · 26-01-2024, 06:46 PM

Ten Competitive Games Into The Season Review And Transfer Update

Millwall sit 10th in the League after seven League Games with Ten points. They have won three games lost three games with a solitary draw scoring fourteen goals but conceding thirteen goals as well.

Millwall have progressed to the third round of the FA Cup winning both games against League One opposition beating Plymouth Argyle at the Den 4-2 in Round 1 and beating Lincoln City 1-0 at the Sincil Bank Stadium in Round 2.

A 2-0 defeat at Stockport County in Round 2 of the FLT Cup sees European football end at the first attempt for the plucky Lions.

So after 10 games the Lions fans have witnessed Five wins One Draw and Four defeats scoring Nineteen Goals and Conceding Seventeen.

In Windebank's post match comments following and injury time winner in a thrilling 5-4 victory at Portman Road Windebank indicated that he was not happy with the amount of Goals conceded so far this season.

It looks like the 2-0 defeat in a very close game on Wednesday night against a much improved albeit older Stockport County has forced Windebank to act in the transfer market.

After listing Flynn Downes for a cash sale Millwall received an intriguing player swap deal for Real Sociedad's very experienced defender Kyle Walker. Windebank asked for time to think as bringing a 34 year old into the Club is going against the template of the Millwall mandate.

We caught up with the Millwall Manager and he had the following to say:

Windebank Comments

We have had a very steady start to the season but the amount of goals we have conceded has been quite worrying a point I made clear after the Ipswich Town game.

We were looking to raise some funds and although Flynn Downes has been great since he came into the club we listed him on the market to try and raise some cash especially following Stockport selling Minamino to Lyon for £37m, we thought that if the Japanese Attacking Midfielder could attract that amount of money at 28 years of age we might be able to get £40m at least for our 24 year old Defensive Midfielder. We also have a lot of midfielders at the Club and young Billy Mitchell is struggling to get game time which is inhibiting his development.

Then out of the blue Freddie got in touch proposing a player swap for Kyle Walker and I can only imagine he has been reading my post match comments knowing about my concern with our weakness at the back.

I asked for time to think about the offer and then rang our great Chairman James Berylson explaining the benefits of completing this deal. He said he would want a little more than a straight swap to signed off on the deal given that Kyle is 34 years old. James did appreciate the quality of Kyle though and embraced the experience he would bring especially to our keeper James Trafford.

I contacted Freddie and explained that we would need a little more and asked if he could add some cash to help finance our Academy to prepare for Kyle's retirement.

I have done many deals with Freddie over the years and he is one of the top five managers for me personally to deal with and totally understood where I was coming from. Within minutes the following deal was completed with the paperwork off too the FFO Administration Department.

The deal sees Flynn Downes and Allan Campbell leave the club on Saturday

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A_Campbell 24 sco 1 8 13 3 26 1 304 712 353[/SIZE]

With Kyle Walker and Spanish midfielder Zarraga plus £5m coming to Millwall

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[SIZE=18px]K_Walker 34 eng 1 19 16 10 25 1 957 195 923
Zarraga 24 esp 1 5 15 12 22 1 362 15 666[/SIZE]

Kyle Walker has signed a nigh on 3 season contract and will see out his career in South London. Despite his age Kyle is a massive signing for the club and when he retires we should have young French Academy defender Cissokho ready to step up to first team football.

Kyle will bring a much needed calm head to the backline and joins our other defenders in being very close to rating up on main stat.

There is a real bounce in training following the news of Kyle signing a deal and the players are hoping to deliver three points tonight at The Den against 7th place Bristol City.

**Gary@Millwall** · 13-05-2024, 12:10 AM

Millwall's Review Of First Season Back In FFO - Season 3

Season 3 was a mixed bag for the Lions but they competed very well despite having the third lowest wage bill in the Championship they managed a respectable 12th place finish.

The season started well with a 4-1 away win but the Lions only picked up one point out of a possible twelve to have only four points after five games recording one win and one draw with three defeats and no home wins.

The Lions first home win came at their third attempt with a 2-0 victory over Brentford. The Lions would win two more games in the next four games recording nine points from a possible fifteen.

After ten games Millwall had won four drawn one and lost five games scoring seventeen goals conceding nineteen goals amassing thirteen points. This led to the Lions bringing in Kyle Walker on a four year contract to help bring experience and hopefully shore up a very weak defence.

It took a few games for Kyle to start influencing his younger teammates lost two and drew one of the next three games but three clean sheets in the row for the first time this season saw the Lions also record three straight wins for the first and only time in the whole season. The Lions drew the next three games achieving clean sheets in two of those draws before losing game twenty when Stockport County achieved revenge for their opening day loss.

After twenty games Millwall had won Seven drawn Five and lost Eight scoring Thirty One goals and conceding Twenty Nine amassing Twenty Six Points.

The Lions were still flirting with the Play Offs after twenty eight games following Four Wins, Two Draws and Two Defeats. The Lions had won Eleven drawn Seven and lost Ten Games scoring Forty Six goals and conceding Forty goals amassing Forty Points.

The Play Off dream was over when the Lions lost the next five games in a row managing to only score once in a 2-1 defeat losing three of the 2-0 and the other one 1-0. With the season effectively over the Lions seemed to relax and won Three drew One and lost One of their last five games scoring Twelve and conceding Six goals.

Millwall's record at the end of the season was Played 38 Won 14 Drew 8 Lost 16 Scored 59 Conceded 55 amassing 50 points.

Millwall's Home Record Played 19 Won 6 Drew 4 Lost 9 Scored 29 Conceded 29 Points 22
Millwall's Away Record Played 19 Won 8 Drew 4 Lost 7 Scored 30 Conceded 25 Points 28

Club Records

The biggest home win was 5-1 against Nottingham Forest on the last day of the season
The biggest away win was 4-1 at Stockport County on the first day of the season.
The Biggest home defeat was 4-0 against Bristol City in game 8
The Biggest away defeat was 3-0 against Fulham in game 3
Highest scoring game was a 5-4 away win at Ipswich Town in game 7

Most Games Won in a row = Three
Most Games without Defeat = Six
Most Games Lost in a row = Five
Most Games Without a Win = Six

Most Goals in a Season = Aidomo Emakhu 14 Goals
Most Assist in a Season = Yusuf Kabadayi 5 Assist
Most Shots in a Season = Aidomo Emakhu 121 Shots
Most Passes in a Season = Romain Esse 63 Passes
Most Tackles in a Season = Danny McNamara 43 Tackles
Most Conceded in a Season = James Trafford 63 Goals

FA Cup

The Lions got knocked out of the FA Cup in Round Three.

Millwall beat League One Plymouth Argyle 4-2 in the first Round and won away at League One Lincoln City 1-0 in the second Round. The Cup run came to an end with a 4-2 home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday in round three.

FLT

Millwall got knocked out at the first attempt away to Stockport County losing 2-0 to put pay to any dreams of a European Trophy to bed.

May Media

684 Words

**Gary@Millwall** · 13-05-2024, 11:45 PM

Windebank Updates The Press Following Board Meeting To Lay Out Plans For Season 4

Windebank spoke to Lions News to talk about last season and plans for this season.

Windebank Press Conference

It's great to see you all here today and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the fans who stood by us through some very difficult periods throughout season 3. I think we can look back with some pride at our 12th place finish when you consider we had the 3rd lowest wage bill in the League this season.

Our Home form was not good enough as we only won 32% of the League games we played at the Den and lost 47% of them. I can only apologies to the Supporters and we look towards improving that for the upcoming season and beyond.

I have just concluded a meeting with the Board whereby we have set out the vision for next season and I am pleased to announce that it was a very fruitful meeting and we have all come to agreement that a large slice of of our £53.9 Balance will be invested in the Clubs infrastructure, which I will explain now.

Investment Strategy For Next Two Seasons

The Club is investing £27m in the following way

£11m will be invested in increasing the Stadium's capacity to 45,000 seats from it's current very limited 35,000 capacity. This will increase income in the following way from League Games.

As a club we were restricted by the FFO FA to only charge £15 a seat which meant we only received £525,000 per Home League Game giving us a total of £9,975,000 in League Ticket Revenue

This season the FFO FA have increased the ticket price cap to £20. If we did not expand the Capacity League ticket Revenue would increase by £3,325,000 to a total of £13,300,000.

By investing £11m in 10,000 seat capacity increase we will be generating an additional £3,800,000 in ticket revenue giving us total League Ticket Revenue for season 4 £17,100,000.

This means the investment will pay for itself in three season.

The Board has decided to setup a fund whereby the Club will be looking to build up a pot of £15m so that another 10,000 seats can be built at the end of season 4 to take the Stadiums Capacity to 55,000 for season 5.

We are a club with limited resources and have to rely on a generation of youth to come through the Clubs Academy. With this in mind we will be investing £16m so that we can recruit two more youth players during the close season. Under FFO FA Rules we have to maintain at least seven youth players and we have three players that we can promote at the end of season 4. It has already been budgeted to purchase an additional two players at another cost of £16m if we are still a Championship Club at the end of the upcoming season.

The two of the possible three academy players that will be promoted to the first team at the end of season 4 are as follows:

S_Romero 19 arg 20 1 1 1 25 749 1 1 1

Goalkeeper - will become backup to James Trafford. Already well on his way to becoming a 21 rated keeper the Head of Youth Development believes Sergio Romero will be in his early couple of hundreds following another season in the development League. With another 900 EOS abs to come once in the first team he will become a useful backup to James Trafford who himself could become one of the best Keepers in the game with himself still to receive another 500 abs EOS which should see him become close to a 25 rated keeper (even if it means he becomes Club Captain) as he is currently only 98 abs from 24 rated.

Sergio will replace Bartosz Białkowski who will retire at the end of the season and is currently rated as follows and Sergio will be a massive improvement on Bart who has had a great career.

B_Bialkowski 36 pol 19 1 1 1 30 726

A_Cissokho 19 fra 1 17 15 7 26 1 226 128 436

Defender - I have high hopes for Aly Cissokho and he is being nurtured to fill the big shoes of Kyle Walker when he retires in three seasons time at the end of season six. We signed Kyle knowing we had Aly in our academy production line and with one season of development still to come when we promote Aly to the first team at the end of the season we know he has 900 mains 700 seconds and thirds. This would make Aly look like this at the age of 22 without the season of development abs and game time abs he will naturally earn playing first team football

A_Cissokho 22 fra 1 18 15 8 26 1 126 828 136

J_Cardy 19 fra 1 13 16 5 26 1 827 395 129

Defensive Midfielder - Julien Cardy needs to perform much better in the academy over this upcoming season if he is to be called up to the first team. Currently that looks very unlikely but you never know.

This means for this close season we start £26.9m to invest in the playing side of things.

Close Season Player Recruitment Strategy

With the limited transfer funds we have available and the fact we do not want to sell any of our wonderkids we are going to have to be very creative in the transfer market. Obviously no player is never for sale but the Board have agreed with me that any offers we receive for the following players would have to be enormous for us to even contemplate selling.

James Trafford
Yusuf Kabadayı
Romain Esse
Aidomo Emakhu
Dane Scarlett

These players are the spine of our club along with our academy production line.

Following the very disappointing FFO FA objective pay out bonus of a paltry £6m added to our 12th place finish pay out of £6m and the fact the FFO FA have improved the objective prize pot from £125m to £200m to be split between 40 clubs as well as also increasing League Prize money from £125m to £175m, it has been decided by the Board to widen the remit in the players I am allowed to sign.

It is no secret we were a mid table side this season and our home form was just not good enough and with three very strong sides being relegated from the Premier League in the shape of my former side that won the Premier League title in Brighton and Hove Albion plus Sheffield United and Wolverhampton Wanderers we need a slight change in direction.

We might not be able to compete with those three clubs but the Board have told me they want me to push the club to a top six finish so that we can get the funds to invest in next season budgeted items listed above. I have a great track record and contacts with players that have performed at the highest level for many many season and the Board want me to leverage those relationships.

To set expectations for the fans it is very unlikely we will be participating in the FFO Auction this season.

We have entered the youth player 19 year old giveaway with our first pick being a defender and when I discuss the transfers completed so far it will become clear why that is our preference position.

Transfers Completed So Far with Updated Bank Balance

Deal With PSG

With a FFO FA Ruling that players with no SHN values automatically retire at the End of The Season PSG manager Edenezer who currently has seven players who fit that profile. Edenezer has great squad building skills and in his spare time picks fivers up with his bum cheeks. This lead him to agree the following deal:

T_Kaminski 32 bel 13 1 1 1 25 888 plus £4m cash

for

C_Trueman 28 eng 17 1 1 1 26 490

Club Bank Balance £57.9M

Deal With Chelsea

With Real Madrid Legend Steve Talbot moving to Chelsea following winning the EFL title for a record 6th time (just in case you missed it), Steve has moved to the Premier League to make Chelsea a force again. It is one of footballs quirks that I broke the run of Chelsea's titles with my unfancied Brighton an Hove Albion. Chelsea have been very active in the transfer market and when I saw that my former player Jérôme Boateng was available I gave Steve a ring.

The initial asking price was way out of reach for my small resources but in a matter of ten minutes me and Steve agreed a deal we were both happy with. The deal was as follows:

A_Guevara 26 esp 1 13 17 7 23 1 565 739 764 Plus £13m Cash

For

J_Boateng 35 ger 1 20 17 8 33 1 77 501 957

Anders made 21 appearances for me last season of which 2 were as substitute making 1,698 minutes. He was not going to get much game time this season and we did not want to eat into Yusuf and Romains development so this deal made sense. I know what Jérôme brings to the table and he has signed a 3 year contract with us and will see out the remainder of his career in South East London. He has virtually the same passing as Anders which shows the impact Jérôme will have on our numbers and experience he brings to the squad as a whole. I am ecstatic that we have been able to bring a player of this quality to our little club. I am hoping we get a 19 year old defender in the opt in giveaway so he can really learn from Jérôme.

Club Bank Balance £44.9m

Deal with PSG

With Jérôme and hopefully a 19 year old defender coming in it was decided that 26 year old French defender Axel Disasi was surplus to requirements and I listed him for sale listing a £18m. Within 10 minutes the Mega Rich French club met the £18m price tag and Axel is on his way back to France. Axel made 32 appearances for the Club with 6 being as a substitute playing 2,612 minutes.

A_Disasi 26 fra 1 18 11 4 29 1 280 593 153 - £18m Cash

Club Bank Balance £62.9m

Deal with Sporting Lisbon

With Jason Fortune taking over my former Club Sporting Lisbon a player that helped me win the Premier League and nearly helped me shock the FFO World by winning the EFL before Real Madrid won the fifth of their six Titles under Steve Talbot (in case you have not heard) with Sporting Lisbon finally finishing 2nd was listed as Jason looks to reduce age and put his own stamp on the Portuguese Giants. As soon as Juan Mata was listed I sat down with the Board to get approval to register a bid to bring him to South East London to see out the remainder of his career. Over a 24 hour period thankfully me and Jason were able to agree the following deal:

J_M_Mata 34 esp 1 3 20 18 31 1 553 456 905 with £30m Cash going to Sporting Lisbon.

This is a massive deal for a club our size and with only Simon Terodde having better shooting unless I make Aidomo Emakhu Captain I am hopeful that his goals and creativity will propel us up the table and hopefully get us into the top six.

Club Bank Balance £32.9m Less Club Infrastructure £27m = £5.9m Remaining Balance

Thankfully we have a great media department so we should earn enough cash over the close season to cover our wage bill over season 4 but at present we do not have enough cash to lodge a Auction bid and that is one of the main driving forces in us bringing Juan in to the club for the last three seasons of his career. £35.9m would not get is a player of his quality at the Auction anyway.

I usually play the Loan Market but with the FFO FA capping Tier 2 sides to a paltry 18 rated it does not look like we will be signing anyone on Loan this season as the big boys do not have players this low rated in their squads.

All in all I hope the supporters are happy with the disclosures of decisions above and we are all united for what will hopefully be a great 2nd season as a FFO Club.

May Media

Season 3 Review - 684 Words
Windebank Update - 2,114 Words

Total Words for May = 2,798

**Gary@Millwall** · 19-05-2024, 02:55 AM

Millwall Fans Jubilant With Transfer Activity As Windebank Tries To Close Gap To Wallace's Championship Favourites Wolverhampton Wanderers

Millwall fans thought that the bonanza was over for them after the clubs finances were down to £5.9m with the purchase of Jérôme Boateng and Juan Mata and with the club investing a sizable chunk of their funds in infrastructure.

Windebank had gone on record saying that the clubs youths were the backbone of their future and would not be going anywhere. So the meltdown on social media was to be expected when the supporters found out that Dane Scarlett was being sold to Championship rivals Birmingham City in a deal that sees £44m plus 29 year old midfielder Anderson making his way to the Den.

The supporters making strong views of discontent known following a breakthrough season where Dane Scarlett made 40 appearances and became the clubs 2nd top goal scorer with 12 from 106 shots. Dane also created 4 assist from 36 passes and made 6 tackles earning 7 yellow cards.

The question being asked by everyone was what the hell is Windebank doing?

Discontent turn to euphoria when a fan showed West Ham United's 30 year old striker Ivan Toney walking into the Den's reception to see if he could pass his medical. Within an hour the Den's carpark was packed as thousand's of fans turned hoping that a deal with their fierce rivals would be completed. Windebank stepped out with Ivan next to him wearing the number 9 shirt and silence fell as they approached the mic.

It is with great pride that I can officially announce that we have today signed Ivan Toney on a 3 year contract after agreeing a deal with Todd Fortune for £44m and our fringe striker Cole going to the London Stadium.

I can appreciate that some of you were and may still be frustrated at the sale of Dane Scarlett but we had to sell him to finance bringing Ivan to our Club. I think even the most dismissive person would agree Ivan is a player of pure quality that should help us push for promotion this season and run Wolverhampton Wanderers, Brighton Hove Albion and Sheffield United close. Ivan has great pace and a real eye for goals with his 21 shooting and should hopefully score plenty of goals. We failed to score in 13 League games last season and with Ivan's ability and the other players we have signed so far I expect that number to drop dramatically.

I am also please to announce that we have signed young Turkish defender 19 year old Dagasan who with have high hopes will develop into a top quality defender playing alongside Kyle Walker, Jérôme Boateng and Danny McNamara. Dagasan has 17 defending and 14 passing and is just under half way to becoming 18 rated with 424 tackling abs. Dagasan needs to be a first team player so we can maximise the experience of Walker and Boateng and with that in mind I would like to say goodbye and a big thank you to Joe Bryan who will be joining Juventus for £18m.

Joe spent the season on loan at Schalke last season and despite never making an appearance for the club we are sad to see him go.

Another player departing the Club will be Ukraine attacking midfielder 23 year old Bondarenko who will be moving to join Livi's Liverpool revolution for a fee of £17m. Artem played 20 games for the club scoring one goal and creating a goal as well. With Juan Mata coming in Artem asked for a meeting wanting assurances he would be playing the majority of games and I could not offer him that so we accepted his transfer request.

The funds we have raised from these sales means that rather than signing two academy players we are going to sign one and invest an additional £17m into purchasing a scout who via his network will find us a new academy player for the next five seasons. This saves us £15m if we stay in the Championship but if we could shock the FFO world and get promoted this season and establish ourselves as a Premier League Club the savings could be enormous to the Club.

I am still looking at ways to improve the squad for the start of the season and have a little bit more money to play around with if the right player becomes available.

For the time being lets focus on welcoming Ivan and the other new players to our Club.

May Media

Season 3 Review - 684 Words
Windebank Update - 2,114 Words
Toney - 761 Words

Total Words for May = 3,559

**Gary@Millwall** · 20-05-2024, 03:46 PM

Millwall Invest A Mammoth £64 Million In Club Infrastructure

After some massive wheeling and dealing in the transfer market whereby Windebank has increased quality by bringing some experience into the Clubs playing side of things the Board have commandeered 90.3% of the Clubs Bank Balance to invest £64 Million into the Clubs infrastructure.

Work has commenced today on expanding the Den to a 45,000 Capacity at a cost of £11 Million.

Due to the great work Windebank achieved in the transfer market and the agreement Windebank made with the Board that if he brought players in that were nearing the end of their careers the Club would use that money to invest in the Academy the following investments have been made:

An £8 Million investment is being made into a Academy Defender who will join the other Academy players to make it Eight of them playing in the under 21's.

A further £25 Million has been invested in a Scout who will bring five Academy players in over the next 5 seasons including this one. The scout has been charged to focus on bringing in a defensive midfielder making it Nine Academy players playing in the under 21's for season 4.

With the increase in Academy players the Club are also investing in a Coach for £20 Million meaning that we can train the nine players for an additional five weeks for the next five season which should accelerate their development and try and get them ready for first team football.

Last seasons top scorer has been made Captain which makes Aidomo Emakhu a 19 rated striker, we are very hopeful that Aidomo will get the 445 shooting abs he requires for the half way season point especially playing next to Ivan Toney and utilising the creative flair of Juan Mata. Aidomo has been made aware of the target Abs and knows this is hopefully only a half season Captaincy.

This looks like Millwall's business is completed before season 4 starts and the Club are just waiting for the registrations of the new players to be endorsed by the FFO FA before the players fly out to Portugal for their preseason training camp.

May Media

Season 3 Review - 684 Words
Windebank Update - 2,114 Words
Toney - 761 Words
Investment - 363 Words

Total Words for May = 3,922

**Gary@Millwall** · 11-07-2024, 12:09 AM

Can Mason Drive Millwall To Mount Promotion Challenge?

With social media in meltdown Millwall fans were celebrating when the Club confirmed that the rumours were correct and Mason Mount will be wearing the Rampant Lion from Saturday when he joins from Steve Talbot's Chelsea and become the biggest star to wear the famous shirt in their one season and five game history.

It is quite amazing how a side with limited resources who have invested so heavily in infrastructure have managed to pull off such a monumental signing and at just 26 years of age and signing a three year contract it will be interesting to see if he will become a Millwall legend or be used in the close season to propel the Windebank project further.

With 21 passing and 358 passing abs and massive shooting of 18 with 362 shooting abs a stella season with Millwall could see him become a 22 19 AM just as he will becoming to his prime years.

To finance the deal Juan Mata has been sold tonight for £30m to Tony Ayre's Blackburn Rovers after only playing 273 minutes for the club and due to the three game injury he will never grace the Den pitch in a Millwall shirt again. It is really good news that Windebank was able to recoup the £30m he paid for Mata in the close season for the 34 year old.

Simon Terodde looks to be off to PSG who are currently leading with the only bid received so far of £7m and young Billy Mitchell could be released to the sell him now market if no bids are received for the 23 year old midfielder.

With Crystal Palace's defender Fabián Balbuena coming to the Den for another season long loan Windebank seems to be looking to push Millwall's form on where they have won one drawn one and lost one from the opening three League games with two FA Cup wins also achieved.

We caught up with Windebank following England's 89th minute winning Euro 24 Semi Final 2-1 victory against Holland.

I am delighted that we have been able to secure a player of the calibre of Mason Mount its an amazing capture for the Club and we are really hopeful that his creativity and eye for goal pushes us towards our promotion aspirations this season.

It was very strange how this deal came about as we were initially trying to sign Kevin De Bruyne from Barcelona. Sam had received low ball offers before we went in heavy trumping the teams that were in for Kevin quite substantially. We then got into a bidding war with Steve Talbot's West London Slags Chelsea who had originally lodged a opening offer of a paltry £40m. We tried everything we could to secure Kevin's signature and after 8 hours of negotiations Sam Bradwell decided to take Steve Talbot's £57.5m firm offer.

I was really disappointed and licking my wounds that my small Club could not compete with our more illustrious Rivals. Then my phone went asking me if Millwall were interested in taking Mason Mount off Chelsea's hands. After half hour of back and forth I was delighted when Steve Talbot was happy to take the final offer I made Sam Bradwell for Kevin De Bruyne.

In the cold light of day Mason is a far better signing for our Club both short medium and long term with the best years ahead of him and we we get to save £600K a month in wages with the three players leaving at the end of the week. With the season long arrival of Fabian we have saved £200K a week on wages due to these deals.

In all competitions we have Won 3 games Drawn 1 and Loss 1 scoring 7 goals and conceding 4 but have drawn two blanks in the League. The League Form really needs to improve and i am very hopeful that Mason will supply the chances to Ivan Toney and Aidomo Emakhu as well as chipping in with a few goals himself.

All in all its been a great 24 hours topped off by Watkins 89th minute winner against the Dutch tonight.

July Media

Mason Mount - 698 Words

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