Millwall are champions

11:57am Wednesday 9th May 2001

JOE BROADFOOT watches his beloved Millwall turn on a five-star show to clinch the Championship.

MillwalL were crowned Division Two champions in front of sell-out crowd at the New Den on Saturday, romping home 5-0 against Oldham to finish their league campaign in the best possible style.

With the weight of expectation burdening the young Lions slightly, an early goal was necessary, and it duly arrived in the 22nd minute from Paul Moody who helped calm the players and the fans' nerves when the burly 33-year-old bundled in Neil Harris' low cross.

Eight minutes later, Harris scored the goal of the game with an exquisite chip and the result was put beyond all doubt when Steven Reid's shot from an angle thundered in off the underside of the Oldham crossbar six minutes after the break.

Harris provided the cross for Moody to head in his 13th of the season, and the striker could lay claim to the Adidas Golden Boot award by despatching a late penalty after Marc Bircham had been felled in the area.

Harris is such a hot commodity now that many Lions fans fear he may be tempted to join a current Premiership side.

But Millwall manager Mark McGhee said: “We want to keep Neil happy. One of the things we had to do was get promoted, otherwise I don't know if we could have kept him.”

McGhee added: “In terms of financial pressures, we don't have to sell Neil Harris or anyone else to do that.”

On the subject of squad rebuilding, McGhee seems to believe his current squad is strong enough to hold its own at a higher level, but does not discount the possibility of “raiding” the transfer market in the summer.

He said: “We're going to try to buy good players that will hopefully improve the quality of the squad. I don't think age is a concern, the only criterion I set is ability.”

There is no doubt that Steve Claridge's arrival on-loan had a beneficial catalytic effect on the team and his experience will be missed if he leaves the club in the summer. However, McGhee had some encouraging news on that front.

He said: “Steve and I have had a preliminary discussion. It's clear to me that Steve would love to stay here and I will take that knowledge to the meeting I'll have with the chairman in the next week or so.”

But McGhee confirmed that Tony Cottee would be leaving the club. He said: “Tony knew he was always coming to us on a short-term basis.”

Thankfully, for Lions fans, he may be the only summer departure. McGhee said: “I've had talks with every one of the players individually and everyone has talked about being here longer term and having a go over the next couple of years of getting us into the Premiership.”

Millwall supporters will be looking forward to next season with anticipation after the success of last year's promoted teams from Division Two, but McGhee has not yet set a points target for the team.

He said: “I don't think we'll set ourselves a goal in terms of survival or the play-offs. We're going to try to play to the best of our ability and see where it takes us.” And on this season's showing, the sky's the limit.

Editor's Choice