|
Six months later and that situation has changed dramatically. Byfield and Hubertz are no longer at the club - despite their goalscoring feats last term - after falling foul of Donachie's work ethic. May is expected to leave in January after insulting the Millwall crowd that pays his wages while Harris has been performing way below his best, although a niggling injury may be the reason behind this drop in form. Alexander meanwhile has been an almost ever-present fixture in The Lions side, with 15 starts and a further two substitute appearances. However, for all his huffing and puffing, the former West Ham United youth player has still to find his first goal for The Lions.
Strikers often go through barren patches. Alan Shearer once went two years without notching a goal for England, for example, but as new boss Kenny Jackett prepares for his first game in charge at The Den, Alexander must be feeling the pressure. The Lions fans are not known for their patience but they've given the 28-year-old centre forward the benefit of the doubt up to now because despite his lack of prowess in front of goal his all-round contribution has been an asset to the squad, particularly loanee Will Hoskins, who is beginning to form some sort of partnership up-front with Alexander.
Of course, Alexander isn't the first big centre forward signing that has struggled to find the net but unlike his predecessors, the former O's striker has the added burden of simply not being as good as the players he replaced. For all his hard work, he'll never be prolific in front of goal as Darren Byfield nor is he seemingly able to create a chance out of nothing like Poul Hubertz. And now that Donachie has left, it is Millwall that is paying the price for the former manager's bloody mindedness when it came to the aforementioned pair who have both scored more than Alexander despite playing less games combined.
Maybe we're being a bit harsh on The Lions number eight here. After all, he's had to play with several different partners up front thanks to a combination of injury, suspension and loan players coming in to cover long-term absentees but a striker is judged on his return in front of goal and so far this season Alexander has come up short. Who knows, perhaps all needs is to score a flukey goal off his backside against Yeovil this afternoon - and hopefully he will - to starting finding the kind of form expected of him but if he doesn't find the net soon he could find himself being list as Millwall's worst-ever striker. And considering that we had the likes of Uwe Fuchs, Paul Goddard and Paul Wilkinson up front, that would be some going.