Ian Holloway has been sacked from his position as manager at the London club Millwall, with the Championship side lying in a perilous position second from bottom, with just 10 matches of the season remaining for their fortunes to be turned around. The 51-year-old saw his contract terminated after he had presided over a disastrous run of five losses in their last six games. Neil Harris, a former striker at the club, will take over the reins for the remainder of the season as caretaker manager.
Holloway had only been in charge since January 2014, when he replaced Steve Lomas.
The slump in form has seen them slip to 23rd position in the league, with only Blackpool currently below them in the table, who already seem doomed to relegation some nine points adrift of Millwall. Their own chances of survival already look slim, as they sit a hefty eight points off Fulham in 21st position, with their massive goal difference of -29 effectively adding a further point on to their deficit, should the margins of safety or otherwise bring that into consideration.
Chairman John Berylson had clearly thought long and hard before deciding that a change was required, stating that it was a "hard decision to take because we very much hoped that Ollie would prove to be the man to take us forward and on to the next level." The string of defeats had made Holloway unpopular with the fans though, something that he readily admitted after the recent Middlebrough defeat.
Clearly the heavy home defeat last weekend against promotion chasers Norwich City, where they were convincingly beaten 4-1 and were slightly fortunate to not concede further goals during the match, was the final straw for the club.
37-year-old Harris had been previously working as a coach at the club, having retired from professional football in the summer of 2013, and has strong links with both the club and the fans, where he is a legend because of being the Lions' all-time record goalscorer. Harris has previously acted in the caretaker role in partnership with Scott Fitzgerald, in the short time between Lomas leaving and Holloway coming in to the club. The appointment may well re-energise the side and change their fortunes, but it will be a tough task with so little time left to attain the necessary points for survival. Harris is what they probably need though in the short-term, as he is nothing but a fighter, having recovered from testicular cancer back in 2001. He set up a cancer charity The Neil Harris Everyman Appeal as a reaction to the situation he had found himself in at that time.