“The Joe Edwards Debate,” “Millwall’s Relegation Battle”

 

Joe Edwards: Can He Salvage Millwall’s Season, or Is a Change Desperately Needed?

Millwall Football Club are on the brink of relegation. No one at the club wants to admit it, no one thought it could happen and those who hold the power at the club certainly did not plan on it when they appointed Joe Edwards as head coach back in November.

However, the Lions have picked up just 1 point from their last 7 games and have slipped to within just a single point of the relegation zone and the spotlight is firmly on Edwards.

On paper, the move to appoint Edwards whilst a brave one, looked to be a breath of fresh air, out with the old, moving in a new direction, all the typical cliches when this type of appointments are made in football. A young up and coming coach, known for his work behind the scenes at Chelsea, working along-side the likes of Mourinho and Conte, working with the brightest young talent the country has to offer at under 20 level.

Fast forward just 4 months and his job as head coach is severely under threat, with pressure mounting and growing numbers within the fan base calling for him to be sacked, it’s looking it could all end in disaster for Edwards in his first job as ‘the main man’.

Our lads at That Millwall Podcast remain divided over the sacking of Joe Edwards; is it a good decision and have put together the ‘For’ and ‘Against’ arguments…

YouTube Show: Is Joe Edwards the Right Man for Millwall?

Reasons to Replace Joe Edwards

Alarming Form
The club started the new year with a win at Bristol City, which was the 3rd win a row. Sitting 15th in the table and in fact closer to the play-offs (8 points) than the bottom 3 (10 points) things seemed to have settled down for Edwards and the squad. However since then, it’s been a sorry state of affairs. No win in 8 games (inc the FA Cup tie v Leicester), 1 point from a possible 21, 4 league goals scored, 15 conceded…

The list of unwanted stats are racking up for Joe Edwards and when you add into the mix his current win percentage as Millwall manager is 21.05% and ranks as one of the worst in the clubs recent history:

Steve Lomas: 25%
Ian Holloway: 22.58%
Joe Edwards: 21.05%
David Tuttle: 18.18%
Nigel Spackman: 16.67%
(Stats from Millwall history)

The faith in Edwards’ ability to turn this situation around is fading quickly and something has got to give.

 

 

 

 

YouTube Show: Where does the blame lie – Millwall Board, Millwall Players or Joe Edwards and his Backroom team?

Lack of Managerial Experience (Especially in a relegation dogfight)
Edwards is facing something he has never had to previously in his career – a relegation battle, with a group of players clearly struggling to carry out his instructions and tactics. Whilst it may be harsh to suggest the players are just not listening to him the fact, he has been unable to galvanise the players over the last 6 weeks is incredibly worrying. The lack of confidence and self-belief appears to be dwindling by the week throughout the club and as the man responsible for trying to set the team up to go out and fight, Edwards is looking to be a little out of his depth and does not have he experience to fall back on that other managers in the Championship have and possibly more importantly the support staff around him who could help him when he needs it the most.

YouTube Show:Millwall 0 – Sheffield Wednesday 2 – Post Match Reaction With Chapz

Tactical Stubbornness and a lack of ‘Plan B’
Joe Edwards has his way of playing, his set up, his style and that is why perhaps he was brought in, in the first place however, it’s just not working. The players at his disposal were predominately brought in by previous manager Gary Rowett to play a certain style and brand of football, which for most parts they were good at. Whilst it might seem admirable that Edwards is trying to get them to play better football and a passing/possession based game, the reality is they just aren’t capable of sustaining it for 90 minutes and are repeatedly being caught out. Yes, the argument that the players are letting him down is a valid one but most people who go to games or watch us on TV can see the players are not good enough to play the way he is asking them to but nothing ever changes and it comes across to some that it’s just a stubbornness that he will play his way regardless. Even in game, when its clearly not working, the game plan never really changes until its too late (which is often when we’re behind and we shift to a back 4) and most teams in this division seem to have just worked us out and ready to exploit us.

YouTube Show:Today’s Match Was So Bad, Even Millwall Stopped Giving Twitter Updates 

Reasons to Keep Joe Edwards

Inherited Troubles – both on and off the field
When Joe Edwards stepped into the spotlight at Millwall, he entered the club off the back of a tough series of events;
Missing out on the play-offs vs Blackburn
The sad passing of John Berylson
The parting of ways with long term manager Gary Rowett

Whilst we could never understand the full extent of the damage those 3 events caused behind the scenes at Millwall, it was clear that something wasn’t right and Joe Edwards took the decision to be the man to try and lift the club and get everything back on track, which was a brave decision considering it was his first venture in club management (albeit under the head coach title).

Add to this, he inherited one of the oldest squads (based on average age) in the division who had been on a terrible run of form over the previous 7 months (spread across 2 seasons) it must have daunting even if that wasn’t the message he was giving out at the time and it perhaps was always going to take a long time for the ‘Joe Edwards era’ to really start to get going and 4 months perhaps isn’t the right time frame to judge him on.

There are also issues away from the football, for example the delay there appears to be in getting the training ground plans moving, the issues with the sponsors that has been rumoured to have gone through to court – whilst they may not be directly issues Joe can deal with, they do hinder the running of the club and have financial implications.

Limited Resources
We can’t imagine that Joe Edwards was promised a huge war chest when he took the job and its likely that the club (and fans alike) expected him to use his knowledge within the youth set up and links back to Chelsea to bring in additions to the squad. Whilst we never went ‘shopping’ at Chelsea in January the players that come in, whilst they haven’t set the world alight, have shown the vision and ideas that Joe Edwards had (younger, pacy, athletic etc) but his hands were still tied massively in terms of funds and limited to players who perhaps we’ve only managed to attract due to previous injuries preventing them from making it at their parent clubs. Its hard to tell but would other managers have been able to do much better in the transfer market? Also, should Edwards stay on as head coach, there is a chance that come the summer when the overhaul will really take place, Edwards could attract several young players to come in and really freshen up the squad.

The Pressure is Mounting! Millwall Face a String of Make-or-Break Fixtures:

Feb 24th: Away to Southampton

Mar 2nd: Home against Watford

Mar 5th: Away to Blackburn Rovers

Mar 9th: Home against Birmingham City

Mar 17th: Away to Leeds United

Mar 29th: Home against West Bromwich Albion

Joe Edwards is in a make-or-break situation. Should Millwall accept these tough circumstances, wait for the tide to turn and hope Edwards can keep the club in The Championship? Or has the time come for the club to pull the trigger in a last ditch attempt to avoid the disastrous drop to League One?