By Jr
July 17 2005

Pre-season games are notoriously poor indicators of what's about to unfold, but Ben May's form has been encouraging. With Don Hutchison on trial at Millwall's other game against Basingstoke, perhaps that accounts for the poor turn out of travelling fans. It's either that or just pessimism ahead of a season's travails with a decimated squad and no chairman. Hardly a recipe for success! But hey, this is Millwall.

Nothing like a soap opera prior to the start of the season. In fact, it's a pretty regular occurence.

Who can forget the wages dispute that led to a capitulation at home to Rotherham?

What about last season, when the fans chanted where's the money gone?

In fact, a lot of fans are still asking the same question, but don't hold your breath for an answer.

Meanwhile, considering how few players we've got, the friendlies have gone ok so far.

After the game, Claridge said four or five players could be pleased with their performance, but another four or five maybe not. That sounded about right. Here's my ratings:
(3-5-2)
GK: Marshall 7 - kicked poorly, but handling and shot stopping was excellent.

CB: Phillips 6 - made some glaring errors, but tackled hard.

CB: Lawrence 5 - gave away three one on ones.

CB: Craig 7 - kept it simple and made very few mistakes.

RWB: Cogan 6 - dribbled down a few blind alleys, showed good control.

CM: Elliott 7 - passed well & tackled hard.

CM: Igoe 7 - looked dangerous coming forward.

CM: Livermore (c) 8 - passed very well indeed.

LWB: Simpson 6 - struggled to make an impact.

ST: Hayles 7 - finished clinically.

ST: May 8 (MoM) - directed his headers well for his strike partner.

subs:

Braniff 5 - couldn't really get going.

Pooley 6 - not that involved, but quite solid.