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+----- Thread: Joe Edwards (/showthread.php?tid=12714)
Joe Edwards - themaclad - 07-11-2023
Millwall have appointed former Chelsea and Everton assistant coach Joe Edwards as their head coach.
He was in Frank Lampard's backroom staff at both Premier League clubs and has been in interim charge of England Under-20s since August.
Edwards, 37, takes over at the Championship club from Gary Rowett, who left by mutual consent on 18 October.
Millwall are 18th in the table, having picked up just two points from four games since his departure.
Rowett held the position at The Den for four years, guiding them to top-half finishes in each season, but was unable to secure a play-off berth.
The south-east London side had been considering former Southampton and Luton boss Nathan Jones for the role, but Edwards will now take charge of the team for the first time at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
Edwards has brought in Andy Myers as his assistant while Adam Barrett - who had been caretaker manager after Rowett's departure - and fellow coach Andy Marshall will stay on as part of the backroom team.
"Although I have been coaching for a long time, a lot of people will be aware that this is my first job managing as head coach," Edwards told the Millwall website.
"Throughout the years, at various levels, you think you would like to have the opportunity to make the step up.
"To do it at a club like this, to be head coach of Millwall Football Club - I don't take that lightly at all. I'm really excited."
'Innovative' coach with 'positive ideas'
Joe Edwards in his time with England Under-20s
Edwards has not managed a senior men's side before
Edwards spent 27 years at Chelsea at all, turning to coaching aged 16 after not being kept on by the club as a youth player.
He worked his way up to become Chelsea Under-18 boss for a two-year spell form 2014, where the Blues twice won the FA Youth Cup.
He moved into the senior setup and became an assistant to Lampard and Thomas Tuchel, helping the Blues win the Champions League in 2021, before moving to Everton in January 2022 to link back up with Lampard.
Edwards went on to became England Under-20 boss on an interim basis this year.
"With Joe, I'm excited. He is somebody who I think is very innovative and has some positive ideas about the progression we can make as a club," Millwall chairman James Berylson told the club website.
"It was a thorough process, with no stone left unturned, and Joe was engaging, attentive, and impressive throughout, and I felt that we could have a productive working relationship together.
"We welcome both Joe and Andy to The Den with open arms and look forward to seeing the impact they can make on and off the pitch throughout what we hope to be a long relationship with Millwall."
RE: Joe Edwards - themaclad - 21-02-2024
Millwall have sacked head coach Joe Edwards after a run of seven defeats in eight games left the club one point above the Championship relegation zone.
Ex-Lions boss and current Cambridge United manager Neil Harris is set to replace the 37-year-old, BBC Radio London understands.
Edwards joined the club in November as successor to Gary Rowett for his first job in senior management.
Harris, 46, spent four years as Millwall manager from 2015 until 2019.
Former Chelsea and Everton assistant coach Edwards only won four of his 19 matches in charge, and they suffered a 2-0 home defeat by fellow strugglers Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
It is understood Millwall are in negotiations with Cambridge to bring club legend Harris back to The Den, despite him only taking charge of the U's in December.
Harris is Millwall's all-time leading goalscorer having scored 138 times in 431 appearances for the Lions.
Millwall are 21st in the Championship, one point above London rivals QPR, and in danger of dropping into League One for the first time since 2015.
Harris' first match in charge could be Saturday's trip to automatic promotion-chasers Southampton.
If he takes the role he will have managed in all three tiers of the EFL this season, having started the campaign at League Two Gillingham.
Neil Harris
Neil Harris was named manager of Cambridge United in December
'Edwards' tenure disastrous'
Analysis - Aaron Paul, EFL presenter for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio London
The return of Neil Harris comes at a pivotal time in Millwall's season. Joe Edwards' tenure has been disastrous.
A change in style and output was what was hoped for, what became of it was a mess.
Millwall look out of sorts, and have sleepwalked themselves into the epicentre of a relegation battle.
A hat-trick of wins over Christmas offered optimism but seven defeats in eight games is detrimental, and the manner of those defeats has left the faithful at The Den clamouring for a saviour.
It comes in the form of Neil Harris. Millwall's favourite son returns after just over four years away.
His primary job will naturally be to generate results but his appointment is expected to galvanise a fanbase that has been unsettled since the Lions surrendered a play-off place on the final day of last season.
Harris returns as a firefighter, but which way will Millwall turn come the end of a turbulent season?