Gary Rowett reassures Millwall with £11m transfer anecdote while Portsmouth provide Colby Bishop update

The former Millwall boss gave his take on the summer’s transfer dealings at The Den.

The Championship returned with a bang last weekend following the international break with plenty of drama across the second tier.

QPR picked up a point in a dramatic late scramble against Sheffield Wednesday while faced a home defeat against Luton Town.

The Lions feature alongside Watford and Portsmouth in your Monday evening Championship round-up.

Gary Rowett reassures Millwall fans

Former Millwall boss Gary Rowett has reassured supporters at his old club of the new transfer stance being taken by owner James Berylson as he spoke to Sky Sports at the weekend.

Berylson had penned an open letter to fans about the importance of being ‘financially sustainable’ after what he deemed to be a ‘successful’ summer window. The Lions spent a club record fee on teenager Mihailo Ivanović while selling talisman Zian Flemming to Burnley, among other deals.

Rowett, who has been linked with the newly vacant Stoke City job, said: “For the four years that I was there John, James’ dad, would never really want to sell. There were so many times we had an offer for Zian [Flemming] around £11 million last summer and John just never wanted to sell.

“He’s always say, ‘I’d rather have that player in my team than have that value’. That’s fine and that’s great but the way James wants to do it, there has to be that little bit of opportunity to develop players, sell them at peak value.

Zian Flemming joined Burnley this summer.
Zian Flemming joined Burnley this summer.

“It’s not just because of a sustainability perspective, it’s also so you can then try and compete, you’ve seen Brentford do it, to have the funds to compete in a window against the top six in the division. Other than that, it’s staying at a similar level, and I don’t think anyone wants to do that at Millwall.”

Watford legend lands new coaching role

Watford legend and former coach Nigel Gibbs has taken a new post to work alongside Claude Makelele at Greek side Asteras Tripolis.

As reported by the Watford Observer, the 58-year-old was offered the role by the former Chelsea hero after his appointment at the Tripoli-based outfit last week. The two former players have a history having worked at Swansea City together

Gibbs, who most recently worked at the Tottenham Hotspur academy, described the appointment as a ‘whirlwind week’ as he embarks on a new adventure. The coach spent his entire playing career at Vicarage Road, making 491 appearances in total for Watford.

Portsmouth boss provides Colby Bishop update

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho has explained the thinking behind the club’s decision to leave the prolific striker off the Championship squad until January 1.

Bishop underwent heart surgery in August and is on the road to recovery but is ineligible to play in the Championship until the new year having not been included on the Pompey squad list, as reported by The News.

Mousinho has now elaborated on that decision. He said: “It’s just one of those things at the moment. We need players at the moment who we can pick, who are ready and available. We can revisit Colby on January 1.

“We are still not keen to put a timescale on his return, we don’t know, although Colby has been back a couple of weeks now and is making some really good progress.

“He’s back on his feet, he is doing some light jogging, he’s training around the training pitches, but nothing in terms of anything which resembles anything close to training yet. So we still have a road to recovery.”

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