SMILES BETTER
Harris serenaded by delighted fans after a triumphant return
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NEIL HARRIS walked out on Millwall to tears – now he’s back and within a week it is all cheers.
Harris quit the Lions in 2019 to join Cardiff but a little more than four years later he has answered an SOS.
He passed his tricky first mission with flying colours with a double smash and grab, and earned round after round of “Super Neil Harris” chants.
Nine of his starters at St Mary’s had played for him in his first spell as Lions manager, and Harris (above) said: “It was lovely walking back into Calmont Road (training ground) on Thursday morning seeing them all.
“The last time I was at Calmont Road there were a lot of tears on the day I resigned. This time there were a lot of smiles and that was a nice feeling.
“The players are certainly going to enjoy themselves. I’m so excited about next Saturday (at home to Watford), I can’t get it out my head already.”
One of those longserving Lions is Ryan Leonard.
He said: “He is an incredible man-manager. He gets the best out of his players whether that is on or off the pitch, whether you are in the starting XI or not playing.
“He brings the club together and it shows when 3,000-odd fans are singing his name at the end.
“Everyone understands that he is just ‘Millwall Football Club’.
“I think this result, for his first game back, is great for him and for the lads.
“There have been a few games where we have played really well this season but this is one of the highlights of the season so far.”
Japhet Tanganga’s header and Zian Flemming’s penalty – either side of Che Adams’ header – were enough to give the Lions their first win since New Year’s Day.
For Southampton, three defeats in 12 days has demolished their automatic promotion fight. So will an FA Cup clash with Liverpool on Wednesday be a distraction or a carrot to refocus dreams?
Defender Taylor Harwood-bellis said: “It’s just another football match that we have to try to win.
“One of the goals will be to put things right and try to get a good performance in before anything else.
“We know what we’ll be up against and that we want to be playing that every week next season.
“It isn’t going to be a distraction from the job at hand. We want to get promoted.”