Ex-Millwall man makes 'no disrespect' transfer admission as Neil Harris issues verdict

Millwall are already making big steps towards being ready for the new Championship season with players ramping up their fitness during pre-season training. Meanwhile, Neil Harris and his staff are working hard to improve the squad with new signings, and there has already been plenty of progress.

The likes of Japhet Tanganga and Macaulay Langstaff have been snapped up, and Millwall will already be confident of improving on last season’s 13th place finish. Here we round up the latest news surrounding The Den.

Harris on Langstaff

Millwall boss Harris has explained why he moved to snap up Longstaff from Notts County. “He’s an out-and-out goalscorer,” Harris told the South London Press. “That’s the most important attribute – his goalscoring record is phenomenal.

“I have seen him personally first-hand on more than one occasion, and it’s not just his goalscoring ability, but his personality, his confidence and movement on the pitch. He has the ability to link play, run forward and pop up in pockets. He’s a natural goalscorer, which is his biggest attribute.

“If you look at the fact that over the last 30 years, the strikers who have had the biggest impact at Millwall Football Club, barring Tom Bradshaw at the moment, who came from League One, has been myself, Steve Morison and Lee Gregory, who have come out of non-league football or the lower reaches. Players who have dropped down from above or who have come from the same level have had the attributes to do it.

“It’s just that, for whatever reason, the three of us have been the highest goalscorers at the football club for a long time since Teddy Sheringham. I’m certainly not putting too much pressure on Maucauly to follow in those footsteps. We hope that his natural attributes – playing to succeed, being hungry to score goals, his drive and energy – will be infectious on the group. Then his natural instinct to score goals will able to see him be as prolific as we were.”

Mitchell on Charlton move

Alex Mitchell joined Charlton Athletic recently after spending time on loan with Lincoln City last term. Speaking upon his arrival at The Valley, Mitchell said: “After the January [transfer window] around February time, I hadn’t been recalled. No disrespect to Millwall, but it wasn’t their best season.

“I thought that if I wasn’t being recalled then, I wasn’t really in the plans. I hold no personal resentment towards that at all – that’s how football works. If somebody doesn’t fancy you, I completely understand. It’s then my time to find another move and sort a new home.”

Speaking about the potential controversy of joining a London rival, Mitchell added: “I thought I would get a bit of a stick,” admitted Mitchell of joining Charlton. I spoke with my family a lot about this and my agent. I had come through at Millwall, but I have only played 10 minutes for the club.

“I’m not ungrateful at all for Millwall – it has made me the person and player I am. Without Millwall, I wouldn’t have a career – I wouldn’t be at Charlton. But I also looked it and said: ‘I get there is a rivalry, but it’s an opportunity I can’t turn down.’ I hold Charlton in such high regard. If I had played 200 games for Millwall, I would have had a different opinion, but just because I haven’t played for Millwall, I saw this as a massive move for my career.”