Neil Harris: Millwall must find that stardust; working man's attitude mixed with a touch of elegance
Since Neil Harris was parachuted back into Millwall on a rescue mission in February, only promotion favourites Ipswich Town have taken more points in the Championship.
Harris has comfortably achieved his objective of keeping Millwall up and if they finish the season with a fifth straight win over Swansea tomorrow, they will average exactly two points a game from his 13 matches - easily automatic promotion form over the course of an entire campaign.
"I don't know what more I can say about the players," said Harris today. "I can't praise them highly enough."
When Harris, 46, returned to the Den for a fourth spell, the club was a point above the drop places, with confidence at rock bottom following seven defeats in eight games under Joe Edwards, a former Chelsea academy coach who was tasked with transforming the style of play.
We have to find that modernness but we can't lose our core values that the fans want to see
They beat high-flying Southampton at St. Mary's and Watford in his first two games and their scalps have also included champions Leicester.
"I came in in a precarious, tough, tough position," said Harris. "We had Southampton away in front of us and then Watford, with their individual ability.
"The season could almost have been done after those two games. If [the players] didn't buy into what I wanted, have the belief, confidence and ability to follow a game plan, we could have been stuffed really early on. It could have been a disaster."
For Harris, key to survival has been bringing the club back to its roots and rediscovering the "Millwallness", but the club's all-time top scorer is conscious of the need to balance Millwall's earthy essence with the modern sparkle likely needed for promotion.
"Ultimately, this football club is based around a working man's attitude: desire, aggression - with the ball and without the ball," he said.
"But we need to find a way of trying to be that Millwall unit, that Millwall family, that aggressive Millwall team that fans demand [but], with a touch of elegance and class. That's the difficult part for the football club.
"That's the stardust you need to sprinkle in the modern game. I'm fully aware of it and that's what the club has tried to do since the first year we got to the Championship. Trying to find the next level is the really tough part.
"We have to find that modernness but we can't lose our core values that the fans want to see."
Millwall's seamless progress has enabled Rowett to plan ahead and he would love to sign "three or four attacking players to give us that sparkle" in the summer.
As for next season, Harris is setting no hard targets but one objective could not be clearer.
"We're the boss team at home next year," he said. "That's the way it always has to be, that's the way it's always been for me as a player and head coach - and that's the way it's going to be next year."
Despite his planning for the future, Harris was only handed an 18-month contract in February and his current deal is up at the end of next season.
"No, it doesn't concern me, I'm more than happy," he said. "It's not about me, it's about the football club. I'm here as part of the football club to help them move forward. The club comes first.
"I'm here to help for a period of time, short- and medium-term, to leave the club in a much better place than when I walked in the building and I'm really going to love doing it . I love it so far and I'm going to carry on doing it."
Asked if there was any prospect of a long-term project at the Den, Harris added: "It's not a discussion for now, I've said what I need to say."
