Millwall manager Joe Edwards defiant despite Cardiff defeat

By Sports Desk December 09, 2023

Millwall manager Joe Edwards was defiant despite a 1-0 defeat at Cardiff leaving his side just two points above the Championship relegation zone.

A 78th-minute header from Bluebirds centre-back Dimitrios Goutas decided a dire encounter and left the Lions with just one win in their last 10 league matches.

Edwards, who took over from the sacked Gary Rowett in October, said: “It’s not a major concern, the Championship seems to go in streaks.

“In recent weeks it feels like teams at the bottom have done nothing but pick up points and we haven’t picked up enough.

“People will point out where we are in the league and that we are playing Leicester away in midweek, but at some point I think we will put a run together.

“But we can’t just talk about it, we just have to get some points on the board.

“It feels like we’re a group that lacks belief – it’s my job to snap us out of it.”

Edwards was annoyed about the manner of the goal that sunk his side – a header direct from a Joe Ralls corner by Greece international Goutas.

He added: “The goal that cost us was disappointing because normally we’re strong at set-pieces.

“It’s a new journey for me with this team, there are signs of progress.

“But I can’t sugar-coat things. It’s about results and we’re not getting enough at the moment.

“We just couldn’t get any momentum in attack even though we had a lot of the ball for an away side.

“We were well organised but didn’t have the quality to make the difference.”

Cardiff boss Erol Bulut admitted his side were partly responsible for a very poor spectacle.

Bulut said: “It was not the best game, but we knew they would be aggressive.

“We have to manage games like this better. We didn’t play how I wanted in the first half, but we were more compact in the second.

“We’re having periods in games where we are playing well but that is not enough.

“But today whoever scored the first goal was going to win the game.

“We’ve scored many goals from set-pieces, it is a weapon for us in games and we will use it.”

Cardiff climbed to seventh in the table with a victory that saw them bounce back from consecutive defeats against Southampton and West Brom.

They entertain struggling Birmingham on Wednesday night and Bulut added: “The table is very close. A couple of wins or defeats can mean a big change in position.

“I could see in the players’ faces afterwards how hard it was for them today, but they were happy.”

Related items

  • Italiano confirms Fiorentina exit after Atalanta victory Italiano confirms Fiorentina exit after Atalanta victory

    Vincenzo Italiano confirmed he is leaving Europa Conference League runners-up Fiorentina after they ended their Serie A campaign with a 3-2 win at Atalanta on Sunday. 

    Italiano took charge of Fiorentina in 2021 and has led them to three successive top-eight finishes in Serie A, also reaching the Europa Conference League final in back-to-back campaigns.

    However, they were beaten by a last-gasp Jarrod Bowen goal as West Ham lifted the trophy last year, then lost out to Olympiacos in extra time in the 2023-24 final.

    The Viola wrapped up their campaign with an impressive 3-2 win at Atalanta in a rescheduled fixture on Sunday, after which he announced his departure.

    "We all took this decision together not many weeks ago," Italiano told reporters after Sunday's game. "You reach a certain point where you have to stop.

    "I'm convinced whoever arrives will be able to continue a path that will leave something improved, I hope I have left something to this group, I think they have been three positive years.

    "The only regret was not having added the trophy, but as [Atalanta coach Gian Piero] Gasperini told me, these paths are worthwhile and will be remembered."

    Reflecting on Fiorentina's latest European near miss, Italiano said he was confident his team would come out on top if the game was replayed.

    He also said he regretted being unable to end a traumatic season with silverware, with the club being rocked by the death of general manager Joe Barone in March.

    "I would play Olympiacos again tonight, we were all convinced we could beat them. We all believed we could reach the end of the cycle but we didn't succeed," Italiano said.

    "The saddest moment was the loss of our director, the worst moment since I was in football. The love we had for him pushed us towards an emotional ending."

  • De Jong unsure on fitness ahead of Euro 2024 De Jong unsure on fitness ahead of Euro 2024

    Frenkie de Jong is unsure whether he will be fit for the Netherlands' Euro 2024 opener against Poland as he continues his recovery from an ankle injury.

    De Jong was included in Ronald Koeman's final 26-man squad for the Euros despite an ankle issue preventing him from featuring for Barcelona since April 21.

    The midfielder was limited to just 30 appearances in all competitions through 2023-24, as the Blaugrana finished a distant second to Real Madrid in LaLiga and exited the Champions League at the quarter-final stage.  

    He is yet to join in with team training despite linking up with his international team-mates ahead of warm-up matches against Canada and Iceland.

    Speaking to reporters after going through an individual session on Sunday, De Jong said: "I'm not fit yet, so I can't say I'm doing well.

    "The ankle is fine in itself but it just needs to recover properly because it shouldn't become something chronic. 

    "I'm not doing anything with the team yet. I am doing physio and recovery training, individual training. 

    "We just have to wait and see how the ankle goes. Then we will see when I can join in."

    Asked if he expected to face Poland in the Oranje's Group D opener on June 16, De Jong said: "That is always the question. 

    "If you are not completely fit now and are not training with the group, then the question is always when and if you will make it. No one knows exactly.

    "I really cannot say when. That's not because I don't want to and know it myself. It's just difficult to say."

    Euro 2024 will be the Netherlands' 11th participation at UEFA's flagship international tournament, and they won the competition when it was last hosted solely in Germany, beating the Soviet Union in the 1988 final.

  • Atalanta 2-3 Fiorentina: Scalvini injured as La Dea miss chance to finish third Atalanta 2-3 Fiorentina: Scalvini injured as La Dea miss chance to finish third

    Italy defender Giorgio Scalvini was forced off injured as Atalanta failed to secure a third-place finish in Serie A on Sunday, being substituted late on in a 3-2 loss to Fiorentina.

    The Europa League winners faced the Europa Conference League runners-up in Bergamo one week after the rest of the league played their final games of 2023-24, with the teams unable to meet before now due to their European commitments. 

    A victory would have taken Gian Piero Gasperini's team – who were guaranteed a top-four finish – above Juventus into third, but Andrea Belotti put them behind within six minutes.

    Ademola Lookman raced clear to equalise with a dinked finish within six further minutes, but Nicolas Gonzalez's fine volley soon re-established the Viola's lead.

    Scalvini drilled in a terrific shot to pull Atalanta level again shortly after the hour mark, but his game would later end in tears as he was helped from the field with an apparent knee issue – a major concern for Italy less than two weeks out from their Euro 2024 opener.

    Belotti had put Fiorentina back in the lead following a goalmouth scramble on the stroke of half-time, and Atalanta were unable to force a leveller in the second period as their fine season ended on a flat note.

    Data Debrief: Thrilling end to Serie A season

    Sunday's game – the final Serie A contest of 2023-24 – saw more first-half goals scored than any other match in the competition this term. Belotti got two of the five, and he now has seven goal involvements (six goals, one assist) in his last six league games against Atalanta.

    The result is just a minor inconvenience for La Dea, though. They have finished in Serie A's top four for just the fifth time in their history, previously doing so in 2016-17 (fourth), 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 (all third). 

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.