Following his return to Sheffield Wednesday, Millwall manager Alex Neil confesses to Barry Bannan.
Following his return to Sheffield Wednesday, Millwall manager Alex Neil confesses to Barry Bannan.
Barry Bannan began for Millwall when he returned to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
Millwall head coach Alex Neil confessed he pondered leaving Barry Bannan out of his starting lineup for Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough Stadium.
Bannan made an emotional return to S6 just 17 days after leaving Hillsborough for The Den, signing for the Londoners for an unknown price after more than a decade with the Owls.
The Scot was named to the starting lineup, playing as No.10 for the second game in a row, which was bound to be weird for both him and Wednesday’s fans, who had chanted his name for ten-and-a-half seasons.
Returning to Hillsborough for the first time since leaving the club, Bannan was bound to feel mixed emotions, given his standing as a player during his time with the Owls.
And, while Millwall have a promotion drive to focus on and should not have been sidetracked by any of the stories surrounding Bannan’s homecoming, Neil admitted that he considered leaving his fellow countryman out of the squad.
Neil makes Bannan confession
Neil told The Star: “I had a good conversation with him about playing in the game and how he felt about it, since I had considered dropping him – but he’s a professional.
“It’s like everything else; everyone is an expert after the game, right? If he has a great game and scores two goals, everyone will say, ‘That’s why we signed him. He is the captain of the team, and he is outstanding.
“If he has a bad game, it’s like, ‘Maybe it affected him coming back to Sheffield Wednesday’. So, the tales are already written before the game, right?
“But I am a professional, and Barry is a professional. He came here and donated everything he had. He’ll be very essential to us between now and the end of the season.”
Read more on Straightwinfortoday.com
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.