Neil Harris to Step Down as Millwall Head Coach

Neil Harris, the former manager of Cardiff City, is set to resign from his position as Millwall head coach. This decision comes despite the Lions currently holding 11th place in the Championship standings, six points shy of the play-off positions. His departure from the role will occur following Saturday’s match against Middlesbrough. Prior to that, his last game overseeing the team at The Den will be tomorrow’s fixture against Sheffield United. According to Millwall chairman James Berylson, Harris “felt it was the right time to step down from the role.” This decision comes 10 months after he began his second tenure as head coach for the club. When Harris assumed the role in February last season, Millwall was positioned one point above the relegation zone. He subsequently guided the team to a 13th-place finish in the Championship. This season, the team has secured six victories out of 18 matches played. Their recent home defeat on Saturday against Frank Lampard’s Coventry marked their initial loss in 10 games, a match in which they notably failed to record any shots on target. On 1 October, Harris experienced a 1-0 defeat during his initial return to Cardiff as a manager. This outcome provided Omer Riza with his first victory as the interim boss for the Bluebirds. Cardiff dismissed Harris in January 2021 following a sequence of six consecutive losses. In the season prior, he had guided Cardiff to the Championship play-off semi-finals, having taken over from Neil Warnock as manager. Before his return to Millwall for what marked his fifth distinct period with the club, either as a player or manager, Harris also held managerial positions at Gillingham and Cambridge United. Harris stated, “Everyone knows this club is more than a job to me, it’s my club, and always will be.” He further added, “I always said when I returned that I would leave when the time felt right, and now is that time.”