Tag: #millwall

Inspired Substitutions Rescue Jammy Hammers In Docker Shocker

A late revival earned West Ham an unlikely share of the spoils in Saturday’s much hyped Dockers Derby. Once again, poor preparation requiring changes to formation and personnel at half-time.

The Den London SE16. Saturday 19 September 2026 12:30 PM. Mostly Cloudy 19C

Pre-Match

I have a confession to make. I don’t have any stronger feelings about Millwall than I do about most of our other London rivals. I know in some supporter’s eyes that means I’m not ‘proper West Ham’, but I can’t concoct an animosity that is not truly felt. Fair enough there are those from a different ‘manor’ who have lived different experiences but for me the rivalry has been over- egged for the sake of media content.

The south Londoners barely registered on my personal radar of a West Ham fan growing up in the suburban badlands between east London and Essex. If I had ever encountered a Millwall fan, they never took the opportunity to reveal themselves. And having attended my first game at the Boleyn in 1961, it would be another 17 years before we finally got around to playing them. Even now, we have only played them 15 or 16 times in my supporting lifetime.

Scarily, things could easily have turned out quite differently. With a father born in Stratford and a mother born in Bermondsey, I am forever grateful that natural selection ensures football allegiances are passed down exclusively through paternal genes. Saving me from a lifetime of caravans, railway arches and gold signet rings.

None of that takes anything away from the importance of the game. A London derby that must be won and approached with pride and commitment. And against an opponent who will see this game as their cup final.

Teams

No surprise that Nuno has named the same eleven which started against Wrexham apart from the one injury forced change, Kyle Walker-Peters replacing Joel Veltman at right back. Sticking with a winning team is a common mantra in football and one that Nuno follows religiously. Just as he will persevere with his fixated 4-4-2 formation until something goes disastrously wrong.

As for Millwall, they come into the game with a lengthy injury list. On paper that is promising for West Ham perspective although history reminds us that this is not always the case.

Just to gauge the gap in the financial resources of the two clubs. In the last published accounts, West Ham’s revenues were £226 million, Millwall’s £23.9 million. Even allowing for the relegation income penalty facing the Hammers that is quite a difference. And illustrates what an achievement it was for the Lions to be challenging for promotion last season on such a limited budget. We have no excuses.

 Hermansen, Walker-Peters, Mavropanos, Kilman, Morato, Engels, Mukasa, Bowen ©, Solomon, Taty, Piroe. Subs: Herrick (GK), Scarles, Golambeckis, Magassa, Orford, Kanté, Ajala, Austbø, Pablo

First Half

Millwall 2 (Caleb Taylor 16, Camiel Neghli 45 +3) West Ham 0

Abysmal, dreadful, awful. Just a few selected words to describe West Ham’s first half performance. More donkey derby than docker derby. Totally unprepared for the intensity of the opposition game. Out thought in the dugout; out fought on the pitch.

The worst fears that Nuno’s formation would mean being overwhelmed in midfield were all too apparent, especially in the absence of a specialist defensive midfielder. Where Millwall brought motivation and organisation, West Ham were passive, weak and rudderless.

With Engels and Mukasa marooned the wrong side of the halfway line, the front four players barely had a meaningful touch for the first half hour. No runners, little movement and Nuno looking on helplessly from the sidelines.

Do they not have any specific pre-match preparation at Rush Green? Did they not expect an aggressive opening from Millwall – in front of their own supporters at the Den? Must we always be taken by surprise at how opponents approach games and wait until half time to fix things?

The two Millwall goals were almost carbon copies of each other as West Ham again revealed their vulnerability to long throws. The very thought causing panic, fear and alarm.

The first scored while Mavropanos was off the pitch having been clattered by Hermansen’s rash attempt to reach a cross that was never his to claim. Another goal where Kilman turned his back on the ball rather than risk getting struck. Craig Dawson and Ginger Pele would be turning on their sixpences at the thought of such cowardice. Surely time to put him back on the bench where he can do less damage.

The second came just as the prospect of somehow making it to the break just the one goal behind. But with more white shirts spectating than defending the hosts were free to deservedly double their lead.  

Second Half

Millwall 2 (Caleb Taylor 16, Camiel Neghli 45 +3) West Ham 2 (Mohamadou Kanté 74, Konstantinos Mavropanos 80)

A poor showing always begs the question: is it the players or the system that’s too blame? The answer is probably a bit of both, but I have little confidence in Nuno’s system myself. And if the players have similar feelings, then performances will always suffer. It may work against open attacking sides prepared to concede space between the lines – but they are the exception. Against the rest – and wise opponents will see Millwall’s approach as a perfect template – the undermanned midfield and pedestrian build-up will prove costly.

In the event, Nuno made changes to both players and system at half time. On came Pablo and Kante in place of Piroe and KWP, with a change to three at the back and an extra body in midfield. Whether it was formation, personnel or Millwall tiring, West Ham gradually took the initiative.

Pablo – can’t play with him, can’t play without him – came out like a man who had been watching Green Street on repeat over the past week. His effort was inspirational although he missed with a header that Piroe might well have put away.

The Hammers struggled to turn their dominance into chances until Kante let rip from 35 yards to reduce the deficit. It was all West Ham after that. Bowen, Solomon and Austbo came to life and Kante was making runs beyond the strikers. Purpose and energy returned to their game. When Solomon sent over a delightful cross, Mavropanos was on hand to head home the equaliser.

A West Ham winner would have been harsh on Millwall but the chances of that happening faded when Kante was red carded for a blatant DOGSO. The consensus that Kante did the right thing shows how far cynicism has infected the professional game. When Willie Young scythed down Paul Allen in the 1980 cup final, we were outraged at how shocking and unsporting it all was. So bad that it led to the rules being changed. Now, it is applauded as taking one for the team.

In the end, Nuno and West Ham got away with one on Saturday. Hopefully he has a further supply of Get-Out-Of-Jail cards up his sleeve. For the neutral, I imagine it was an enjoyable game to watch. Plenty of action, passion, tackles – and no VAR to spoil the occasion. COYI!

Dockers Derby: Still Fighting Over the Docks

Still Fighting Over the Docks

Down where the Thames rolls brown and slow,
Where the cranes once swung round and the whistles would blow,
Two clubs were born from the sweat and the grime,
Both forged in the furnaces of dockland time.

One in Canning Town, proud and tough,
The Ironworks men, made of sturdy stuff.
One further south, by the river’s flow,
Millwall’s dockers, with nowhere to go.

They shared the smoke, in sunshine and rain,
They shared aching backs and industrial pain.
Just neighbours, really, when all has been said,
Just working men earning their daily bread.

But history seldom plays things fair,
And grudges grow where there’s little to spare.
A whisper becomes a story retold,
That hardens slowly like iron grown cold.

The General Strike came roaring through,
Nineteen twenty-six, and the country knew
The mines stood still, the railways too,
And working folk faced what they had to do.

In East London streets the stories spread,
Of who stood firm and who moved ahead.
Of jobs accepted and lines that were crossed,
Of “them” and “us” and friends that were lost.

The facts now mingle with myth and folklore,
Polished and sharpened through decades more.
Yet somewhere there in the dockside din
Another layer of resentment crept in.

The docks are gone now, the cranes have died,
Glass towers stand where the stevedores plied.
The river remains, but the world has moved on,
But the memories linger long after they’re gone.

World Wars have ended across the seas,
Old enemies now friends have made their peace.
Nations once locked in mortal hate
Now share alliances and cooperate.

The French and English, after so many goes,
Have managed somehow to bury the blows.
Germany and Britain, after the war,
Built something stronger than existed before.

Yet mention Millwall in certain bars,
Or West Ham under south London stars,
And someone still may start a fight
Defending an argument with all their might.

Grandads will argue, and the fathers too,
The sons will inherit the chosen view.
They all believe that their views are right,
Grievances continue through day and through night.

And what is it now that keeps it alive?
A need to belong, perhaps to survive?
For football is never just goals, it’s old scores,
It’s memories that linger, unforgotten wars.

Some laugh about it, as rivals they booed,
Trading their insults in good humoured mood.
But still, regrettably, some cannot see
How pointless all the violence can be.

For bricks never settled a league table place,
Nor fists ever earned a cup winning race.
No punch has altered the game’s final score,
Though thousands have foolishly tried it before.

So here’s to the rivalry, it’s fierce and it’s old,
To stories exaggerated, and endlessly told.
Dockers, ironworkers, legends and folklore,
And songs that echo from the conflict and more.

But maybe one day the joke will land,
And both sides will finally understand
The docks that they fought for have long since departed,
Yet both were built by the same folks that started.

Workers in heaven now up above the sky,
Do they look down and still wonder why
Their descendants still rage with such deep devotion
Over ghosts still drifting like tides on the ocean?

Until then, the conflict will rise once again,
Across East London and down at the Den.
And somewhere a docker from years now long gone
With a shake of his head he’ll mutter, “Carry on.”

Dockers Derby: On Opposite Banks

On Opposite Banks

Beneath the smoke of a London sky,
Where river tides would ebb and sigh,
Two clubs were forged from iron and flames,
And East End streets would learn their names.

One rose where shipwrights toiled way up high,
Where hammers rang out and sparks would fly.
Thames Ironworks formed 1895,
That’s where West Ham’s colours came alive.

The other grew by Millwall Dock,
Among the labour, rope and lock,
Where workers toiled through rain and cold,
With hearts as fierce as forged on gold.

They lived not worlds but miles apart,
Yet carried rival East End hearts.
The same hard roads, the same rough trade,
The same long shadows labour made.

Then years would pass and fortunes bend,
But neither side would ever mend.
For pride remembers what time forgets,
And old wounds leave their silhouettes.

Some speak of strikes and dockyard lore,
Of jobs and loyalties before,
Of neighbours split by work and creed,
And grudges planted like a seed.

The river watched as decades rolled,
As tales grew larger, stories told.
Each meeting fed the legend’s fire,
Each chant became a funeral pyre.

For peace that might have one day grown
Had history left the past alone.
Instead the echoes still remain
Along the tracks and down the lane.

Yet beyond the anger, beyond the noise,
Beyond the boasts of men and boys,
There stands a truth both clubs still share:
The East End spirit lingers there.

For both were born beside the tide,
With working people as their guide.
Two branches from a common tree,
Divided by their history.

And when the crowds begin to roar,
Recalling every score and war,
The Thames still flows as it has done,
Beneath the moon, beneath the sun.

It knows the tale, both harsh and grand,
Of rival hearts in London’s land.
Two clubs, one river running through,
Forever old, forever new.

The Championship Waltz

We waved goodbye to Premier League lights,
To VAR rows and Monday nights,
And found ourselves on windswept grounds,
Where seagulls outnumber homeward-bound crowds.

The season began with a confident roar,
“We’ll romp this league!” cried fans by the score.
Yet three games in the mood had changed,
As dropped points left hopes somewhat deranged.

At Burnley, Preston, and Stoke away,
We’ll learn new ways to spoil their day.
Two up at Burnley this league can be fun
But two late goals, the game wasn’t won!

The manager talked of process and plans,
That tested the faith of travelling fans.
“Trust the project,” he’d calmly start on
And then we’d lose at home to Charlton!

One minute we’re brilliant, slick and fast,
Playing football built to last.
The next we’re launching hopeful punts,
The crowd would scream ‘you useless xxxxx’
(I couldn’t think of a suitable rhyme here)

Yet still we’d gather, clad in claret and blue,
Following dreams that we hoped would come true
For being a Hammer is strange but unique
West Ham are massive the words that we speak.

The summer was ending, a change in the weather.
For West Ham United results came together,
Four wins on the bounce, who thought we’d be able
To rise up so fast to the top of the table?

Next up it’s Millwall from south of the city,
They almost went up but missed out what a pity!
They’re not our best friends it goes back a long way
I do hope we’ll come out on top on the day.

And when promotion comes our way,
We’ll laugh at all this one fine day.
Though knowing West Ham, if truth be told,
We’ll leave it late, as is the mould.

So here ends my ode to the Championship trail,
The highs and the lows, the occasional derail.
Whatever the table reveals come next May
West Ham will do it in the West Ham way.