NEIL Harris revealed he felt the “sparkle had gone” before he resigned as Millwall manager – and said the players and the board tried to talk him out of the decision.
Speaking publicly for the first time about his departure, Harris said “it was the right time for a change” and that he felt he needed “a fresh challenge”.
Harris stepped down a month ago, after the 1-1 draw at Luton, with Gary Rowett taking over following Adam Barrett’s three-game spell in caretaker charge.
“First and foremost, I had a fantastic time at Millwall. Four-and-a-half years after playing there for nearly 13 years, I think it was just the right time,” Harris told talkSPORT on Thursday.
“I’ve had four weeks today of not working. It’s been nice in a certain way that I’ve been able to recuperate and spend some time with my wife and my children, but when I said that I was coming here today and then I’m heading somewhere else afterwards, my wife was quite relieved to get me out of the house.
“You get to a stage where – it certainly wasn’t that I felt I had taken the team as far as I could – I just felt that for me and my family it was possibly the right time for a change.
“Four-and-a-half years in club management is a long time. It goes quickly at times but there are a lot of stresses along the way. Sometimes a change is needed.
“The board were happy with me, the board were content. They and the players tried to talk me out of going. But I knew the time was right for me and I think I was in a good position to know what was right for the club as well.
“After a long time as player, coach, manager, I care very, very deeply for the club and the fanbase. I just felt that maybe I needed a change, I needed a fresh challenge.
“We played Luton on a Wednesday night and I’d made my mind up we needed a change, maybe the sparkle had just gone from me managing the club.
“Let’s be honest, we are a club that’s moving forward and Millwall is in a fantastic position now infrastructure-wise, playing squad, staffing, the board – it’s a really, really good club and it’s a stable club.
“I think it’s a club where the manager, everybody, has to be at the top of their game consistently to compete at the Championship level. I just felt maybe I’d dropped to 95 per cent, which wasn’t enough for me.
“I made the decision the Wednesday night after the Luton game. I informed the board Thursday morning first thing over coffee. They weren’t prepared for it, didn’t welcome it but understood my reasons for it.
“Then it was just about letting everybody know that needed to know before the statement went out on the Thursday evening.”
Image: Millwall FC