A Serioux possibility?

By Stephen 18
August 13 2004

After the Wigan Athletic defeat, a new approach is required at Millwall and perhaps Adrian Serioux will start against Dennis Wise's old team Leicester City. The Canadian international's certainly in the squad after receiving international clearance.

Millwall 0 Wigan 2 Tues Aug 10 2004

Before we get started, let's add some much-needed perspective to the proceedings.

Every now and then you have to, because it keeps us all sane to realise that what feels like overwhelming troubles on the football field are in fact trivial.

For some reason, early August and the first home game of the season against Wigan seems to give this sense a much-needed retention.

One short year ago in these circumstances, there was a minute's silence in memory of the death of coach Ray Harford, and on Tuesday evening we all listened to a pre-match loudspeaker message outlining the club's generous intention to mark 20-year-old serving soldier and Millwall fan Lee O’Callaghan’s death in Iraq with the same tribute this Saturday.

But yet there was more. Before even entering the stadium I was given the tragic news that the co-editor of the Lion Roars fanzine, Carl Prosser, had died of an asthma attack just days earlier in the middle of the night, having not even reached the age of 40.

We all know death is coming sooner or later, but having happened so recently and so close to home, it gave an altogether different perspective to the scene of supporters voicing their discontent at chairman Theo Paphitis's close-season spending, as they did on Tuesday night.

Yes, things may not be as rosy as people would have liked after the FA Cup final two months ago, and everyone at the club is disappointed with the lack of summer transfer activity, but where there's life, there will always be tomorrow to put things right.

Unfortunately Ray, Carl, Lee, and NOLU editor Keith Pegg (see page 30) no longer share our luck to have that tomorrow.

It was when Wigan took a decisive two-goal lead that the crowd unrest began.

Six minutes into the second half, David Wright's right wing cross missed everyone and Lee McCulloch capitalised on space at the back post to nod Wigan in front.

Although Dennis Wise's triple substitution that saw the introduction of himself, Mark McCammon and Neil Harris, made an initial difference, the visitors doubled their advantage with fifteen minutes remaining.

Lee McCulloch crossed for Jason Roberts, who skilfully crafted an opening before banging home with his left foot.

Regrettably, it was what Wigan deserved. Their two attackers, Roberts and Nathan Ellington, were a constant source of mayhem to Millwall's defence from the off.

However, the home side started well. David Livermore was tackling hard, Peter Sweeney was enjoying a lot of the ball, and Jody Morris had a good long range effort palmed away on fifteen minutes.

But Wigan then took control. Ellington had a couple of efforts that could have broke the deadlock,

and Stack saved impressively from Roberts in a one-on-one situation.

Stefan Moore did almost get one for himself, but his shot went across the face of goal.

But after the break was when the real damage was done. Once the goals were scored, Millwall's heads seemed to drop, and Ray Wilkins noted afterwards that he could not understand why his team seemed to lack confidence.

And though Danny Dichio and McCammon could have given the Lions a glimmer of hope with a goal apiece, it took a quickly taken free kick in the last minute by Wise to force John Filan into making a decent save.

The unhappy evening was best summed up by an incident in injury time. With Millwall on the attack, the referee had blown for a foul just a split second before Morris powered a drive that came out off the underside of the bar.

It would not have counted, but suggested that this would not be Millwall's day regardless of how hard they tried.

Time will tell if supporters will be happier after Saturday's Leicester game at the Den, but with Wise keen to put one over his former club, anything less than 100 per cent will be out of the question.

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Leicester Preview



It seems unusual to have a season without some sort of supporter unrest, and this campaign’s disillusionment has begun early.

While fans may feel that they are fighting for the good of the club, it is never a good morale boost for players to hear boos ringing out – regardless of whom they are directed at.

This Saturday Millwall face a strong Leicester side that has the advantage of Premiership money from last season and parachute payments from their relegation

For a man who has scored on the biggest stages in world football, it was a surprise to hear Dennis Wise say that his last minute equaliser in the corresponding fixture last season was one of the most satisfying goals of his career.

That his how it means for the Millwall manager to put one over the club who were found guilty of unfairly dismissing him two years ago.

And football is a team game where everybody needs to work in unison for the good of the side.

If there are issues that need to be addressed, they can be saved to a time when there is not a game to win. But on the pitch against Leicester this Saturday, Millwall will need every advantage they can get, and supporters can help in that by getting behind the team for the 90 minutes.

The players need to show the same belief and desire that got them to the cup final last season, and to get Tuesday’s defeat out of their memory as soon as possible, and Saturday offers a great opportunity for that process to begin.

In terms of team selection, it is anybody’s guess how Wise will play it after the relative improvement following the three substitutions against Wigan.

One would expect Wise to play himself in what is sure to be a match for experienced heads, and Jody Morris could well be preferred to play alongside him for the same reason.

Paul Ifill’s injury means that Josh Simpson and Peter Sweeney could well continue on the wings.

Up front is a tough one though. Without a goal in the first two games, Wise could look to recall Mark McCammon or Neil Harris to freshen it up.

New signing Adrian Serioux is a possibility to start at right back instead of Alan Dunne, and goalkeeper Graham Stack is doing enough at present to cement himself as the first choice goalkeeper.

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When news first broke of the tragic death of fanzine editor Keith Pegg, the Millwall community was well and truly in a state of shock.

Losing a loyal servant of the club, and one who had touched thousands is never easy to take; yet it was made even harder when your abiding memory was of a man who was always a picture of health.

For many, the last time they saw the ‘Albatross’ was when he was selling the 83rd issue of ‘No-One Likes Us’ outside the Den towards the end of last season, looking as fit and bubbly as ever.

Together with George Craig, Keith set up the unofficial supporters magazine in February 1990.

While the other Millwall fanzine ‘The Lion Roars’, was a far more serious publication looking at the issues within the club, NOLU was renowned for its’ wit, humour and comical features.

Change is a fundamental part of football, yet nobody could have foreseen that May’s FA Cup final against Manchester United at Cardiff would be the last game Keith ever saw of his beloved Lions.

Just twelve days after that historic occasion, Keith was on his way to London for business when he unexpectedly collapsed at Petts Wood train station, and despite the desperate attempts from a colleague and paramedics to resuscitate him, he died at the age of 55.

The tributes came flooding in. Threads were set up on supporters’ websites, and hundreds registered their appreciation for Keith’s input into the club, and expressed regret for his widow and two sons.

The stream of condolence messages and the 80 people who attended Keith’s funeral, left his widow Beryl gobsmacked.

She said: “All of the tributes to him were just amazing. I knew that people liked chatting to him because I used to see it when I sold magazines to him on matchdays outside the Den.

“But I was gobsmacked by the amount of messages we got.

A nice touch was for director Jeff Burnige to go to the funeral. That was really touching.

“We received a really lovely letter from Deano Standing and I would like to put something in the programme about Keith.”

Keith met George through their work in advertising and set about making a fanzine dedicated to Millwall.

Beryl added: “Keith always had a great sense of humour that showed in his writing. I was his spell check in the early days and he always used to pass it through me to see what the reaction would be to jokes, and I told him not to put swearing in.

“I was really proud of him because he loved it and put so much time into the magazine. It was the first thing he’d do and it gave him so much pleasure.

Keith enjoyed a good relationship with former Millwall chairman Reg Burr, and had access to some of the players in his reign.

George added: “He never slagged players off, and he adored the players he met. He was introduced to Kenny Cunningham and his wife and got on well with him.

“He always backed all of the supporters clubs, and helped the youngsters whenever he could.”

One of Keith’s main ethics was maintaining the low pricing of the magazine. In his fourteen years running NOLU, it always cost £1.

And George intends to keep the magazine going.

“We have got a memorial issue this Saturday, and will probably do issues throughout the season. We have got contributors and we’d like to keep it going.”

Beryl is thankful that Keith saw his beloved Lions in the cup final.

She added: “It was the greatest moment for him apart from beating Arsenal in the FA Cup, and I’m just glad he made it.”