After a wild 2023–24 Championship season, Millwall comfortably finished in the middle of the table in 13th place.
In retrospect, the Lions were always going to struggle to get used to life after Gary Rowett left by mutual consent back in October, and things did not go as planned with the appointment of youthful manager Joe Edwards.
The Den team was only one point above the relegation zone in the Championship standings after Edwards, who could only lead the team to four victories in 19 games, was fired in February.
However, the London team’s subsequent reassignment of former Lions manager Neil Harris proved effective as the 46-year-old guided his team to safety.
In what ended up being Rowett’s final full season in charge of the team, Millwall’s 2022–2023 campaign was significantly more successful. They finished in eighth place, only one point off of the second division play-off spots.
Charlie Cresswell, a defender for Leeds United, made 28 games in the Championship during a year-long loan that was crucial to the Lions’ previous season’s relative success.
Millwall should commit to a second transfer swoop for Leeds United’s Charlie Cresswell
Whites manager Daniel Farke has not given the 21-year-old the kind of playing time he would have liked since Cresswell’s return to Elland Road; he has only made five league appearances for the West Yorkshire team, starting just once.
Cresswell played just 135 minutes in the 2023–24 campaign, and his only start for Farke’s team occurred in an August 1-0 loss to Birmingham City.
The Whites academy graduate has only played for the full ninety minutes once since then, and that was back in August during an EFL Cup loss to League Two Salford City on penalties.
| Charlie Cresswell lack of minutes during 2023/24 Championship season (Stats according to FotMob) | |
|---|---|
| Games played | 5 |
| Starts | 1 |
| Minutes played | 135 |
Even though Cresswell had a great season at the Den the previous year, Farke did not include the starlet in his plans for the current Championship campaign. After the Salford loss, Cresswell played for a total of seven minutes, including a one-minute cameo in a league match against QPR in October and a six-minute appearance against Yorkshire rivals Rotherham back in February.
The Leeds manager’s statement to The Athletic in January that Cresswell wasn’t “mentally ready to play” helps to explain why the young defender hasn’t been playing for the Whites in the first team recently.
While he was not immune to being benched after starting five straight games from the bench halfway through that campaign, Cresswelll had a far more successful time with the Lions in 2022–2023. In fact, he made six goal contributions in the second tier, scoring four and setting up two in addition to his strong defensive play.
The London team was a far better team with Cresswell on it, though, and even though he doesn’t seem to be a wanted man at Elland Road, the Lions should make a bid this summer for another loan, or possibly a permanent one if money allows.
A move back to the Den would be good for Cresswell’s development
The return of Cresswell would not only be advantageous for the Lions, but also for the defender himself, who is now 21 years old and in a crucial phase of his career.
The young player will have suffered from his lack of playing time at Elland Road, but the 2022–2023 campaign showed that he might secure a starting 11 spot at the Den.
Moreover, as seen by the defender’s final season with the team, the Lions might be able to mount another play-off campaign if they had a player of Cresswell’s calibre on their side.
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