A BULLISH Gary Rowett has said it’s down to him and the players to “prove people wrong” and win back the fans.
Travelling supporters made their feelings known in the last game against Norwich as they loudly aired their frustration with the performance and style of football.
Millwall lost 3-1 at Carrow Road and have now been defeated in three games on the bounce in all competitions.
The season had begun with a confidence-boosting 1-0 win at Middlesbrough but the mood among fans appears to have soured rapidly since then.
Rowett said speeches and sentiments to supporters would not work and the only way to turn things around was by putting wins on the board – starting against his former club Stoke City on Saturday.
He told NewsAtDen: “I know the players can perform much better. I know we’ve got individuals in there that can perform much better and I’m confident that we will. I think that’s the key as a manager. Sometimes you look and you find it hard to see where you go next. But actually, I’m quite confident that we’ll perform much better in the next game. It’s clear to me what we need to do and we’ve got to go work hard to make sure we do that.
“When I look back to last season and we beat teams like Sheffield United and Watford, everyone spoke about the result and how well we played. And I think that comes from the result and it comes from the energy in the performance.
“And we’ve got to give the crowd that and we’ve got to give the fans that because we need to start winning games of football. And if I’m a fan and I’ve paid my money, I want to see something that I’m enthused about. I get that, I understand that. So it’s up to us to go out there on Saturday and perform to a level where everyone enjoys what they see.
“It’s really easy for me to come out now and say ‘we all need to stick together and work hard together’. But I also appreciate that we need to go out and perform. Over a period of time, if we go out there and show that little bit of spirit, determination and front foot football, I know for a fact the crowd will get behind it. It’s as simple as that.
“There’s no point me saying anything other than that. It’s up to us to put a performance in and then I know the crowd will get behind it. That’s what we’ve got to do.”
Rowett has made clear he is primarily more concerned with performance levels, rather than tactics, as he looks to steer Millwall back on course.
He said: “I don’t think [the Norwich game] was a reflection of the team over a long period of time. And what I think what we’re all keen to get back to is that hard work, that energy, that little bit of grit and spark that we’ve shown on so many occasions.
“We played a five, we’ve a played a four, we’ve high-pressed, we’ve deep-blocked. It’s about winning games. We’ve played poorly and everyone has eulogised about how well we’ve played. That’s just the nature of the beast and football in general. I’m not here to justify a style of play. What I’m here to do is win games of football and let everyone else judge what they see.”
Rowett is the Championship’s second current longest-serving head coach after Coventry City’s Mark Robins and will have been in The Den hot seat for four years by October.
Like most managers he has come under fire before from fans for bad results, including during his previous spells in charge of Stoke and Derby County.
The 49-year-old says those years of experience have left him able to cope with the pressure and assess the early-season stumble more clearly.
Rowett added: “I’ve managed over 500 games now. I’ve been in this position before. We were in the same position last season and I think the season before. I remember up at Peterborough we played poorly, and come under a little bit of stick. I remember last season after about eight or nine games it was exactly the same scenario. We showed a resilience to turn it around. That’s always my mindset to prove people wrong every game and every day we work. And that’s my job to try and do that.
“So yeah, I don’t dwell on it. I don’t go home sat crying for hours on end. I sit there [thinking] what can I do to show the determination that being the manager of Millwall football club [requires].
“That’s what you have to do. You have to show a bit of fight, a bit of determination. If it’s not enough, it’s not enough and that’s for other people to judge [but] that’s what I do day-to-day and that’s what I’ve done for twelve years now.”