01/09/09

It's been a long month in many ways - so I thought I would start off talking about the highlights.

West Ham away in the Carling Cup, for starters. We outplayed them for 90 per cent of the game and the divide between Premiership and League One was non-existent at times. All I can say is every player put in a performance we should be proud of, I know I was. If we can carry that through to the league we will definitely be up there challenging.

There have been several rumours about Jimmy Abdou leaving for Leeds in a multi-million pound deal. Someone needs to let the chairman and the board know when they will be sending the money across! He was apparently sighted having his medical in Leeds at the same time as he was being treated for his injury. It reminds me of the Jimmy Flloyd Haisselbank rumour a few years back.

Jimmy (Abdou that is) is a great player and we all want to keep him at Millwall. The manager and the board will do all they can to keep him and all the players Kenny wants at the club. So on the football side all is looking bright!

The West Ham game obviously had a dark side to it. It was a great atmosphere and at times the noise of our fans was amazing. I was watching from the halfway and all the pitch encroachment came from the West Ham areas. Luckily the West Ham fans stayed well back when trying to intimidate our fans as if they had got much closer things could have taken a turn for the worst. As we all know, at The Den pitch incursion is treated very seriously by the club and authorities. I hope West Ham and the authorities treat these incursions with the same vigor to ensure consistency.

On a much more serious note a 44 year old Millwall season ticket holding family man was stabbed before the game. All our thoughts are with him and his family. He has asked for privacy around the events of the evening. Although the club have not made a statement, behind the scenes the club have been supporting the family where possible, Neil Harris has spoken to the fan.

Another issue the night raised was problems travelling to the game especially being re-routed to several different underground stations due to problems at Upton Park. The main problem is that when disembarking there were no police to escort them to the ground. This left small groups of our fans having to walk around the ground not knowing how to get in.

Aas the police supposedly knew the game had potential for unrest, there should have been plans in place to protect people. Subsequently small groups of Millwall fans were attacked by West Ham fans in large numbers.

This along with the inadequate ticket allocation added to the potential for trouble. The club are asking questions of the police but what we do not want is a public slanging match, so there will be nothing public put out until all sides have finished their enquiries into the incidents. The board are treating this very seriously as our fans and players were at risk.

On a personal note I have started my treatment and as of today (Friday) I seem to be coping pretty well, thanks to having a loving family and friends around me.

As always if anyone has any questions for me drop me a line petergarston@hotmail.com

Pete