Tyrone Henry: A Changing Attitude

It's going to be some escape if Henry somehow manages to keep Millwall up now. It feels at times there are glimpses of a good side, for example that point against Arsenal, but unfortunately consistency and the ability to beat those in and around the relegation zone hasn't been there this year so far. Fingers crossed Henry does somehow turn it around.

Also great news to see the board continue to back Henry despite the struggles as well as the arrival of Harris back at the club.

Saturday, 3rd April 2022

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Millwall secured their first win since Boxing Day in a hard-earned 2-1 win over league leaders Liverpool at The Den.

Tyrone Henry lifted the Millwall fans ahead of the Merseyside visitor’s trip to The Den. The fans rallied and roared on their players as Liverpool looked to shy away from the deafening, vociferous home crowd.

Right-back Mahlon Romeo was the star of the show, assisting both times for Millwall.

The Antiguan & Barbudan defender floated in a dream cross for Troy Parrott who nodded the ball the opposite direction, down and hard past Alisson for Millwall’s opener after five minutes.

A Jay Dasilva tackle on Sadio Mané in the area handed Mohamed Salah the opportunity to score from the spot, which he converted in front of the away end emphatically as he blasted it into the top corner.

It took Millwall just 34 seconds from the second half restart to take the lead again, once again with Mahlon Romeo bursting into the area before threading a through ball to Joe Lolley who finished past the near post.

The final whistle came as a huge relief as Millwall lifted themselves off the foot of the table past Brentford.

They now sit 6 points away from the safety of 17th place with 6 games remaining. Their next fixture comes against underachieving Tottenham Hotspur who sit in 12th with midseason appointment Roberto Mancini in charge.

The result also dented Liverpool’s title hopes but were fortunate with West Ham’s draw against title challengers Manchester United. Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s team now sit two points behind the Merseyside leaders.

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James: Seemed to be curtains for us... or does it?
Seb: Consistency is literally the only thing that can keep us up at this moment in time, no time for quality at this stage, just a build up of good results needed.

A massive victory there for your side. A win against Spurs and who knows what that momentum could bring!

Saturday, 9th April 2022

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As Troy Parrott pelted the last ball past the back-up goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin, Tyrone Henry called the team around him at the center circle.

The squad had pulled off an almighty scalp last week against Liverpool that gave them a slim, but fighting chance of staving off promotion.

Tomorrow, they faced Tottenham who had underachieved in 12th place this season. Mancini’s side were smashed 3-0 by Arsenal in the North London Derby, so possibly looking to avenge that with a win against Millwall.

As the players gathered around, Tyrone prepared for his speech. It would be the final time he would speak to the squad directly before the game at The Den.

He had his assistant manager, Nigel Gibbs and his new Under 23s manager Neil Harris stand either side of him.

“Good session today guys,” Henry began. “Tomorrow is likely one of the biggest games in Millwall’s history and therefore it becomes the biggest game of your career, that’s simple as.

“We have been shit for the most part of the season, I’m sure plenty of you will accept that. But regardless, you have not embarrassed yourself. This is a tough league as you have all found out.

“I know all of you want another season here, and I’m willing to give you the chance. But you have to make it happen.

“We stand six points away from survival, three points - and I know how easy it is to just say that - but three points tomorrow, it gives us the best chance of surviving given the momentum involved with a result like that.

“I want you to imagine the scene on the pitch in Bournemouth if we stay up on the last day. If that happens, every last drop of a drink is on the club.

“I also want you to imagine sending down West Ham on the last day. Seeing them in tears in that eyesore of a stadium. That stadium alone in the Championship should be enough to motivate you!” Henry said.

He turned to Neil Harris and gave him a hug, before embracing every player one by one. He just hoped it was enough to motivate the team.

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Seb: It *could* be crucial, hence Tyrone's teamtalk.

Can't imagine any player needing more motivation than sending their biggest rival down instead of them. A big game ahead for Millwall and Henry but he has set the tone with the team talk there, lets hope the team responds.

Sunday, 10th April 2022

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Millwall have now won two in a row for the first time since September with a 3-1 victory against Tottenham Hotspur at The Den.

As if a 2-1 win over the league leaders the week before wasn’t enough, Millwall gave their fans even more hope of Premier League survival as they fought back from one goal down.

After 9 minutes, Andre Green had a goal chalked off due to an offside decision made by VAR.

Juan Foyth took the initiative for Spurs, scoring from a corner after a mistake from Millwall youngster Hayden Muller.

Seeing their opponents celebrate seemed to encourage Millwall as they came straight back with an equaliser with a Mahlon Romeo cross to Joe Lolley who slotted it past Areola.

Only four minutes later, Millwall continued their assumed dominance as Ben Thompson scored a screamer from the edge of the area, flying past the near post to make it 2-1.

Possibly the unluckiest own goal of the season was scored by Pierre-Emile Højbjerg as Matt Doherty’s attempted clearance hit the backside of the midfielder, catching Areola out and flying low into the net.

Millwall held out for the remaining hour of the match to finish without any more threats.

They now find themselves three points away from safety with five games remaining. If the team keeps up their recent form, relegation may become a faint nightmare for them.

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Seb: It seemed to work wonders! On with the survival push!

Another massive win that really sets the club up for survival. Positivity must be running through the club at the moment.

They can do it!

Sunday, 15th May 2022

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“Well, there we go,” Tyrone said as the final whistle went at the Vitality Stadium. He turned to Neil Harris in the dugout and shrugged his shoulders.

His team had done all they could this afternoon. They had beaten 9th placed Bournemouth 2-0 with goals from Jed Wallace and Troy Parrott.

Normally, it would have been enough to secure survival, but it wasn’t to be today. The players swarmed around the away fans who provided updates from their phones, acting as radios for the live update at Sheffield United vs Aston Villa.

Patrick Bamford gave Sheffield United the lead and held out their 1-0 winning position to keep them in the Premier League.

The players and the fans were embracing on the front row of the stands. It had been a rocky road this season and they were incredibly unfortunate to not have another season in this division, particularly with the hard-earned result and run they had been on in the final three games.

Tyrone Henry headed down the tunnel behind the Bournemouth staff and players and headed towards the visitors dressing room to prepare for the players after the game. His assistant manager Nigel Gibbs followed him.

Neil Harris joined the players with 1,650 away fans who were thanking each other for their performance and for their support throughout the season.

Sam Johnstone remained in between his goal, laying on the floor with his arms covering his eyes, either to hide them from the beaming sun or to hide the tears from the television cameras.

Bournemouth’s manager Jason Tindall came into the visitors dressing room to greet Tyrone Henry after the game and share his commiserations with him. He complimented his side and what they had achieved throughout the season and on the pitch today.

Henry looked at the clock on his iPhone: 4:47, it said. He took a sip out of his water bottle.

He got up and started kicking one of the training balls against the wall and as he blasted it as hard as he could, he heard a ripple of noise outside, as if it was funneling through the players area.

Tindall rushed back into the visitors dressing room and Henry looked at him.

“Are you OK, Jason?” Tyrone asked.

Jason smiled. “I think you better get back on the pitch.”

Tyrone ran outside onto the pitch and saw fans launching onto the pitch with their shirts off, he saw a flare lit in the stands as the carnage ensued.

Tyrone had no idea what had gone on and presumed that this was the most mental thing that he had ever seen Millwall fans participate in: celebrating their own relegation like this.

He thought that until a tattooed man, around 40 years old and 250 pounds big took Tyrone down to the ground.

“FUCKING BERTRAND TRAORÉ, BOSS!!! GET IN!!!” he screamed in his face before planting his lips firmly on Tyrone’s forehead.

Over the screams of the Millwall fans piling on the field and surrounding the squad and staff, or anyone in a Millwall tracksuit, he heard the Public Address System:


By the skin of their teeth, Tyrone Henry - or moreso Bertrand Traoré - had guided Millwall to survival in the Premier League.

From the second that the Millwall fan took him down to the ground, this became Tyrone’s best moment of his life.

The Public Address System began again:


The announcement over the speakers gave rise to the Millwall fans to begin chanting:


Quickly enough, Tyrone had been thrown a megaphone by one of the fans. He was lifted on top of the Bournemouth player tunnel, visible to everyone in the stadium. He started the chant up once more, before bursting into other terrace chants.

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Seb: It all builds up to moments like these
MidKnightDreary: GET IN!!!

OH. MY. DAYS!

The euphoria you must've felt when you saw that result must've been awesome, and the club can be extremely proud that although they looked down and out: they've risen to the challenge. I was skeptical about survival, but I'm proud of what I've seen. Hopefully the board can give you a decent bit of money this off-season, so that you can shore up any problem areas.

What an incredible way to end the season. Tyrone Henry is already creating memories that'll never be forgotten just like he did as a player. Excellent work to somehow manage to survive after what seemed like certain relegation. The summer is certainly going to be one of intrigue, with the fans eager to see just how Henry builds this squad to avoid a relegation battle next season despite the excitement it has caused on the final moments of the final game.

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April began magnificently well with a 2-1 win over the league leaders Liverpool as Troy Parrott and Joe Lolley scored both of our goals despite Liverpool’s dominance throughout the match.

The wins continued as Spurs became our next victim, knocking them temporarily down to 13th as we won 3-1 with goals coming from Lolley, Thompson and a Højbjerg own goal.

However, we lost our momentum with a 3-2 loss away to Chelsea despite Ben Thompson and Kenneth Zohore’s best efforts to keep us in the game.

Kelechi Iheanacho’s first-minute strike was the decisive finish in a 1-0 defeat at the King Power Stadium against Leicester City.

We returned to winning ways at the end of the month with a phenomenal 3-0 win against bottom of the table Brentford as Jed Wallace, Troy Parrott and Liam Walsh all got on the scoresheet.

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The final two games of the season were the biggest in the club’s history as if we slipped up on one game, we were down.

Against Sheffield United, The Den went into insanity as Andre Green broke the deadlock in the 93rd minute with a counter-attack goal from a defended corner which gave us the opportunity to stay up and send Sheffield United down on the last day.

On the final day, we did all we could against Bournemouth and it was only thanks to Bertrand Traoré at Aston Villa that we are still a Premier League club as their man equalised against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane in injury time.

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As the season concluded, we lifted ourselves out of the relegation zone on the final day of the season for the first time since December.

We finished two points above 18th placed Sheffield United, who would’ve stayed up on a vastly greater goal difference had they hung onto their lead on the final day against Aston Villa.

At the bottom of the table, it will be Brentford, West Ham United and Sheffield United all heading to the Championship. Replacing them will be the instant returns of Leeds United and Crystal Palace, as well as the play-off winners Middlesbrough who are back for the first time since 2017.

At the other end, Liverpool ended up running away with the title despite their loss to us in early April. They won it by 8 points over 2nd placed Arsenal, picking up the FA Cup trophy in the process.

Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea all take the Champions League slots meanwhile Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers will play in the Europa League next season.

Due to Everton’s victory in the Carabao Cup, they have qualified for next season’s Europa Conference League over 7th placed Aston Villa.

In terms of underachievers, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur both take that title as City fell 16 points short of Europe and in Spurs’ case it was 19 points away. Manchester City had a chance to qualify for the Champions League next season, but lost 2-1 to Atlético Madrid in the Champions League Final.

Manchester United picked up the Europa League title this season, beating FC Porto in the Final.

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James: As soon as I saw their score update, I was in heaven The way that it was completely out of our hands at that point made everything even better.
Seb: It was incredible, but you're right. At some point the partying has to stop and the preparation must begin because there's no point celebrating now if we're merely delaying the inevitable.

Wow, two very very late goals sending Sheffield United down and keeping Millwall up. What an incredible first season in the Premier League and now the build to push up the table begins. That table graphic is beautiful by the way!

19th June 2022

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Millwall have made their first move of the new season by confirming the signing of Peterborough United’s Siriki Dembélé for £1.9million.

Tyrone Henry had been tracking the winger for a long time last season, missing out on the 25-year-old both times due to a lack of funds.

However, the Millwall manager regularly attended fixtures at London Road to assess Dembélé’s development in the Championship last season.

He was spotted frequently and was questioned by the press before Millwall matches at the time, confirming his interest in the player all throughout last season.

The London-born winger was Peterborough’s top scorer last season, scoring 15 goals in 45 Championship matches.

“I’m finally delighted to get this over the line for the new season. I think Siriki is a phenomenal talent and he will win games all on his own in the coming season.” said his new manager, Tyrone Henry upon the confirmation of the deal.

Dembélé was quick to show his joy for arriving at The Den: “I know it took a while, and I was waiting a while thinking ‘are they going to sign me’ and I’m absolutely buzzing to finally join the club and I can’t wait to play for them in the Premier League.”

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Although Dembélé is the first definitive first-team signing for the new season at Millwall, he is by no means the first through the door at the club this summer.

Henry spent no time raiding fellow Premier League clubs for their younger players to strengthen the academy structure at Millwall.

Kido Taylor-Hart, James Hillson and Amal Soares were all signed from Arsenal for a combined £1.3million, Leighton Clarkson and Thomas Hill were signed from Liverpool’s youth teams for £425K altogether. Leicester City’s Konstantinos Avraam was also brought in for a £500K figure.

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Seb: Fair to say we got very, very lucky Thank you mate!

A solid first signing for the off-season in the form of Dembélé, with it not being an expensive purchase either. I guess you've kept an eye on him since he banged those 4 goals in against you in a pre-season friendly, and although it's taken a while to get him: persistence has paid off! The young lads look quite handy too, although Hillson is quite undersized for a GK!