Clueless

Two games gone, no goals scored, one point gained. That's the story of Millwall's Championship campaign so far and the signs for the remainder of the season are not promising.

Morris: Terrier-like

To put it simply, Millwall just aren't good enough at the mo. True, The Lions were missing the mecurial genius that is Paul Ifill and the raw bite of Kevin Muscat but they have been sorely weakened by the departures of key players during the Summer and Theo Paphitis' policy of buying cheap to replace them has left Dennis Wise with a disjointed, rag-tag side that never looked like scoring.

The first half was simply woeful, with neither side rarely threatening, but with Jason Roberts and Nathan Ellington upfront, The Latics always looked the most likely to score. They almost did too, but a reaction safe from home debutant Graham Stack in the Millwall goal kept the scores level.

Millwall had their chances - a snap shot by Stefan Moore and a long range drive from Jody Morris - but despite some good build-up play from new signing Josh Simpson on the left and Peter Sweeney on the right, the home side just couldn't turn this possession into chances.

They fell apart in the second half after Lee McCulloch headed Wigan in front after the break. Manager Dennis Wise seemed to panic and made three substitutions which seemed to temporarily installed some urgency into the home side. Daniele Dichio went close when he really should of scored after Sweeney had delivered a peach of a cross while sub Mark McCammon threatened to barge his way through The Latics' defence on more than one occasion.

But there was no real creative spark, and after Simpson was replace, they lacked width. Everything tried to go through the middle and The Lions paid the penalty when Roberts waltzed through Millwall's defence to score the visitors' second.

McCammon: Threatening

Dichio again went close with a header and Morris had a couple of long range efforts, including a free-kick that was well saved by Filan in theWigan goal but with time running out, the game lost its shape and Wigan were content to defend.

Cries of "Where's the money gone?" left casual observers in little doubt as to who the home crowd felt was responsible for this defeat. If things do improve dramatically, Millwall could well be relegation candidates come May.

Millwall Mad Ratings
Graham Stack - 7 - Little chance with either goal
Alan Dunne - 6 - Didn't do much wrong but very lightweight
David Livermore - 5 - Poor distribution from a player out of position
Darren Ward - 7 - One of the few positives from the game
Matt Lawrence - 6 - Strong in the tackle but wayward distribution let his game down
Peter Sweeney - 6 - Good coming forward
Marvin Elliot - 6 - Unlucky to be substituted. Was solid in midfield.
Jody Morris - 6 - Tackled like a terrier and had a few decent chances
Josh Simpson - 7 - Competent debut. Some nice touches. Should improve
Danielle Dichio - 5 - Poor game from the big man. Wasted two excellent chances
Stefan Moore - 5 - Couldn't get into the game at all

Subs
Neil Harris - 4 - Came on, kicked a few players, contributed very little
Dennis Wise - 5 - Ditto
Mark McCammon - 6 - Threatened the opposition. Best centre forward on the night