BILLY Mitchell has lauded the “presence” Neil Harris has brought to Millwall – and revealed how even his girlfriend has grown to love the club legend.
The 46-year-old head coach left Cambridge United last month to replace Joe Edwards in the Lions hot seat and has engineered a stunning turnaround in form.
The 10 points picked up in 12 games after Saturday’s win over Birmingham City has eased the relegation fears that had been growing around Millwall and has lifted the feeling around the club.
And Mitchell, who has returned to the line-up under Harris, believes everyone is buying into it.
Asked about the former striker returning to club for his fourth stint as either a player or manager, Mitchell said: “When he came back in, I was telling my girlfriend all about him and she didn’t know much. And now she loves him as much as the rest of us do.
“He’s an absolute legend and it feels like not really a new manager coming in because I’ve worked with him before and he’s got that presence where he walks into the building and it’s just a homely fit. It feels right.
“I think he’s just simplified the messages before the game. We’ve gone back to basics, everyone knows what their jobs are and first and foremost, we knew where the ball is going, who’s getting after it and what to do when we haven’t got the ball also. Everyone being ultra-clear on their jobs has just taken away any grey areas and meant we could get back to doing what we know can get us results.
“We had a lot of success with that type of style when he was here before and it’s working so far.”
The return of Harris has also seen the atmosphere, both home and away, noticeably lift.
The chanting in the away at Southampton last month was seen thousands of times on social media while home games against Watford and Birmingham has witnessed a louder than usual noise at The Den.
Mitchell believes the fans have been crucial to the the revival in form.
He said: “I think recently, home and away, they’ve shown what great fans they really can be. They are vital for us especially in the situation that we’ve been in the past couple of months.
“This is not necessarily the easiest place to play when things are not going well and that’s nothing against them. Sometimes they can get frustrated just like we can but they really have dug in and shown us their support recently and it’s made a massive, massive difference.”
Mitchell, 22, has started all four games under Harris and is enjoying his run in the team even if he admits the whole season so far has not quite been what he had been hoping for.
He said: “Personally it’s been a bit of a frustrating season. I don’t think I’ve quite got to the levels I’ve wanted to do really and obviously being in and out [the team], a lot of chopping and changing with the managers so it’s been hard to find some rhythm and flow.
“With Neil coming in I’ve started the last four games and overall I’ve been pretty pleased. I still feel like there’s a little bit more to come with the ball but in terms of the basics and the fundamentals and fitness-wise and doing the dog work out of possession, I feel really comfortable. And right now that’s kind of what we’ve needed to get results on the board and put a little bit of space between us and the bottom three.”
Mitchell has also been impressed with the impact of Saturday’s match-winner Japhet Tanganga, who joined on loan from Tottenham Hotspur in January.
The midfielder said: “I really noticed it at Southampton away when obviously we didn’t have much of the ball and I just thought he was completely and utterly dominant with his tackles. He’s got great leadership qualities from behind, you can always hear him. Very trustworthy defending space in behind him, great stepping in, a calm influence on the ball as well. He’s been a pleasure to play with.
“I was only just thinking in the changing room after the game that we’ve been blessed with some quite good loanee centre-halves over the last few years. Danny Ballard, Charlie Cresswell and now Japh so he’s definitely living up to the expectation.
“He is just a great lad anyway and easy to talk to. And he’s got some good stories coming from Spurs as well.”