Millwall boss Neil Harris issues Vincent Tan and Cardiff City verdict ahead of return

Millwall boss Neil Harris has issued a surprisingly glowing verdict on his time at Cardiff City as he prepares to face them in South Wales on Tuesday night. The Lions have enjoyed a solid start to the season so far, picking up their second win of the league campaign against Preston over the weekend.

But it has been anything but a good start for Cardiff who, despite coming into the season with optimism after a top-half finish last term, find themselves rock bottom with no wins, just one point and having scored to goals. Erol Bulut has already paid the price despite getting a new contract in the summer, and his assistant Omer Riza is in temporary charge, overseeing a 4-1 defeat to Hull City over the weekend.

Harris, who had a loan spell at Cardiff as a player, spent around 14 months in charge of the Bluebirds, guiding them to a fifth-place finish and a play-off defeat. He ultimately lost his job in January oof 2021 after six straight defeats.

Speaking to the South London Press about his time in South Wales, Harris said: “Very enjoyable. Strange during Covid times, as well. Vincent Tan was class – an absolute class man. I got on great with him. Great support from above in Ken Choo and Mehmet Dalman.

“I loved it. Obviously we got very, very close to the Premier League – just fell short which was a huge disappointment at the time. It is a tough job at Cardiff City and the next manager will find that out as well! It’s very difficult to appease everybody. I really look forward to my first return on Tuesday to see some really, really good people.”

Riza expecting to remain in charge

Riza oversaw a heavy defeat over the weekend but still expects to be in charge for the Millwall clash as Cardiff continue their search for a new boss. He said: “We have to look forward now to Millwall on Tuesday, a really tough game. We have to kick on and improve. We’ve got to stop letting in goals and we’ve got to score more. I am taking it game by game. I would like to think I’m taking the game on Tuesday, but things can change quickly.”

He added on Cardiff’s form: “We need to start picking up results, we need to pick up points. The longer it goes on, the harder it becomes. We have to clean up the mistakes we are making.”