Millwall FC fired warning of becoming too reliant on one particular transfer approach | OneFootball

FLW's Millwall fan pundit has named his biggest concern for the club going into the summer transfer market

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Millwall still have an outside shot at making the play-offs in the Championship this year.

The Lions are in the mix, but sit six points adrift of the top six with only seven games remaining.

The London outfit will have one eye on the summer transfer window already, with Alex Neil hoping investment will come so he can make changes to the first team squad.

This will be the 43-year-old’s first real opportunity to shape the side to his liking, as he will oversee his first pre-season with Millwall since taking charge in December.

Millwall urged to buy experience

When asked about the club’s main concern going into the summer, FLW’s Millwall fan pundit Lucas Ball mentioned the investment that’s needed in experienced players.

He believes that some of the older players in the squad needs to be replaced, and wants to see a core leadership group built of experienced players, instead of focusing solely on younger stars with potential.

“I think as much as we praise the strategy and the changes the owners have had to make, mentioned it once or twice before, but we can’t be too reliant on just signing young, young, young,” Ball told Football League World.

“I think a lot of our experienced players are getting to that point where they’re not necessarily up to the standard at times anymore, so we have to replace some of them as well.

“But we can’t just replace them with youngsters.

“We need to maintain a strong leadership group, a core group of senior players in that particular club like ours, where managers change over the years, and you need people that know what it’s like to play at Millwall.”

Importance of experience at Millwall

Ball believes experience is important as he’s seen a lot of players perform better once they’ve left Millwall, and that these younger signings need older teammates to help guide them to success at the club.

“And that’s always evident by the number of players that struggle here and go on to do well elsewhere,” he continued.

“There’s two elements to that.

“There’s the element that every team club will face, and I do think there’s an additional Millwall element on top of that.

“Because playing at the Den in front of our fans, at times, isn’t for everyone and can be difficult.

“There’s people who are going to get on your back if you’re not performing, and more so if people feel you’re not putting the effort in, there’s a degree of tolerance if you’re giving it 110 per cent but the quality just isn’t coming off.

“I just think that’s something we need to be cautious of, and I’m sure Alex Neil’s aware of it, we need to make sure we’ve got a good enough group of leaders within the squad as well.”

Millwall are currently 13th in the Championship table, with 51 points from 39 games played.

This summer is an opportunity to carry strong forward momentum for Millwall

Millwall have had a solid campaign, and can go into the summer optimistic about the outlook of the first team squad.

Neil has done well since taking charge, and this summer will now give him the opportunity to build the team closer to his liking.

While the Lions lack the resources of some of their Championship rivals, they’ve been able to be competitive thanks to smart moves in the transfer market.

If they can maintain this level of recruitment, without losing sight of the importance of experience, then they can go in the right direction next season.