MILLWALL haven’t taken many wrong turns recently in their play-off challenge – but the same can’t be said for manager Gary Rowett.
One of the ways Rowett winds down from the almost 24/7 nature of the job is by running. Rowett and technical coach Joe Carnall (above, right) – who live in an apartment in Canary Wharf with Rowett’s son – often run home from the training ground after work.
Rowett has completed the London and Leicester marathons for charity and dipped under four hours over 26.2 miles.
The Lions go to Rowett’s former club Birmingham City this Saturday sitting just a point off sixth.
Rowett’s family home is in Derbyshire and Carnall’s in Birmingham.
The pair get away from the intensity of their jobs by pounding the roads and parks in London.
“We went the wrong way the other day and ended up doing 21 miles,” Rowett told NewsAtDen when asked about what he does to try to switch off at such an intense time with three games left. “Probably the more miles I do the less stress I have.
“Sometimes you need to switch off, you need to try and get a little bit of sanity somewhere because it is so full-on.
“And when you’re living down in London and away from your family, of course you tend to work a lot more than you perhaps would if you were at home.
“But at this stage of the season the preparation is relatively easy because the team knows what it’s doing. We’re not going to do anything massively different to what we’ve done in the previous 40-odd games. Really it’s just little tweaks to it and making sure that they’re mentally ready just as much as physically.”
Does Rowett ever get recognised around the capital?
“No, not really. We tend to do different routes,” Rowett said. “We did Regent’s Canal the other day which basically took us all around north London. I was making sure we weren’t taking any wrong turns around there because that might not have ended well if I did get recognised!
“That’s the beauty of London, isn’t it, you can head out and it’s such an eclectic place that no one is really bothered about who anyone is.
“For me, it’s a wonderful, wonderful city and it’s just a pleasure to be able to get out on a nice day and not think about [anything else] most of the time.
“Joe’s worked with me for a long time and lives with me. My lad works in Shoreditch so it’s the three of us down here. Basically me and Joe have to keep my son on the straight and narrow, that’s usually how it works!
“We tend to run home from training or head out on an evening. It’s part of the perks of living in such a beautiful city.”
Image: Millwall FC