The Local Lowdown: Millwall

Millwall are in a tough run of form at the moment and without a win since New Year’s Day. What’s gone wrong since the turn of the year?

The first couple of defeats – against Leicester in the FA Cup and Middlesbrough in the league – did not cause too much alarm since Millwall played some really decent football and just did not have enough against very good teams. But since then a few of the performances have fallen well short of where they need to be and the last two defeats to Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday were calamitous.

Ultimately Millwall's poor defending, their habit of giving away leads and their inability to produce a performance over the whole 90 minutes has been their undoing. Perhaps most concerningly has been the way the side react to conceding goals. I don't think it's unfair to say that fans would expect far more from their team in terms of mental resilience.

Head coach Joe Edwards lost his job this week. Why didn’t it work out for him?

Ultimately, the results just didn't come. Four wins from 19 saw the Lions slide slowly towards the relegation zone. The performances were generally better than the results suggested and there was a clear identity and direction that the team were heading in.

The reaction to his departure from fans, not unlike when Gary Rowett left in October, was almost unanimous: many thought it was inevitable and needed to happen but at the same time no one seemed to bear any particular animosity towards him, unlike for example when Michael Beale left Sunderland.

It was a brave experiment and Edwards tried his best but football is a brutal business, especially for a young manager in the world's most bonkers league.

Neil Harris is back at Millwall after spells in charge of Gillingham and Cambridge this season

With Neil Harris coming in, how have the Millwall fans responded to the news and what has it done for the mood around the club?

The reaction here has definitely been more split. Some believe it makes perfect sense – he knows the club, he's Millwall through and through, he's not one to stand for nonsense and achieved largely strong, consistent results with the Lions over four years before. Millwall have been tripping over themselves all season – he can restore common sense and discipline.

Others have been less generous, seeing it as a backwards step to re-appoint a manager who resigned four-and-a-half years ago because he was struggling to take the club forward. They view it as a panicked 180-degree response to the Edwards experiment going wrong and something that may work over the short-term but not the long-term.

Saints had to dig very deep to take three points at The Den back in November. What sort of game do you expect at St Mary’s on Saturday?

Ever heard of the new manager bounce? That phenomenon will be the biggest threat to Southampton on Saturday and now a Saints win doesn't look as predictable as it did before.

Edwards won 4-0 at Sheffield Wednesday in his first game in charge, securing the Lions' biggest league away win since 2015. I don't expect any records like that to be broken on Saturday, but Harris has spoken this week about instilling Millwall values back into the players so expect them to be fired-up, aggressive and keen to prove a point.

Which Millwall players should Saints be watching out for?

Former Saints striker Michael Obafemi signed on loan from Burnley last month but has missed the last couple of games with illness. He's still finding his match fitness but has looked sharper by the game.

Elsewhere in attack, 18-year-old Romain Esse scored against Coventry live on Sky Sports two weeks ago and has started the last three games in a row. He's one of the few that has come out of this poor run of form with credit in the bank.

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