Why Millwall didn't renew Scott Malone's contract

ANDY Ambler has defended Millwall's decision not to splash out on a new contract for Scott Malone prior to his £100,000-switch to Cardiff City last week.

Malone was allowed to join the Bluebirds for a nominal fee because his deal with the Lions was due to expire in the summer, when he would have become a free agent.

But manager Ian Holloway wants to rebuild his defence so was happy to let the left back go.

Asked why the club didn't offer Malone improved terms, Ambler explained: "It wasn't down to affordability.

"Let's look at where we've been for the past two seasons and consider that Scott has been part of a defence that has leaked many, many goals.

"Am I pinning that on Scott? Of course I'm not, but the manager wants to change things. Our fans are fed up of seeing us not win enough games so we have to change our players.

"We've got to change some but we can't change them all."

Asked whether he'd have handled Malone's situation any differently a second time around, Ambler said: "I don’t think so.

"We've scraped survival in the last two seasons. Would we want to reward players for us being in the league position that we're in? Some of them, but not all of them.

"Some of the criticism we've had is that we've been too loyal – that too many people have been around for too long – and maybe we should've freshened things up more.

"The last two or three seasons just haven't been good enough. Six wins per season at home isn't on and it's no wonder the fans aren't happy."

http://www.newsatden.co.uk/45167-ambler ... -deal.html

Tracking their value must be a good way of tracking a players progress. He obviously did well in the lower leagues to then be bought by Millwall. His value then levelled off at 660k then dropped to 440k and levelled off, which is where we bought him for 100k.

We need to give him a chance as he is certainly young enough to go on the rise again and with his Championship experience he could well do that. I think things at Millwall had become a bit stagnant so this could be the push he needs. He's definitely worth a punt at 100k.

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Not bothered why Millwall sold him. He played well Saturday and was part of a back 4 which kept a clean sheet.

Not bothered why Millwall sold him. He played well Saturday and was part of a back 4 which kept a clean sheet.

Exactly a fresh start and already he's showing his worth.

looked good to me at this level - will only get better next to Ben. quite pacey and looked to attack - good buy

He looked tidy on Saturday. Better defensively than either Fabio or John, and looked OK going forward too. I hope he is able to keep it up.

Will manga walk back into the team only I'm liking Ben and Sean so far?

Hes probably fed up with Ambler, Holloway the tool, and he's ex team mates

looked good to me at this level - will only get better next to Ben. quite pacey and looked to attack - good buy

Agree. I think he will benefit with having better defenders around him. He did well on Saturday, hope he can keep it up

A defence is only as strong as its weakest defender. If Malone isn't that weak defender then their manager has made a mistake.

Tracking their value must be a good way of tracking a players progress. He obviously did well in the lower leagues to then be bought by Millwall. His value then levelled off at 660k then dropped to 440k and levelled off, which is where we bought him for 100k.

We need to give him a chance as he is certainly young enough to go on the rise again and with his Championship experience he could well do that. I think things at Millwall had become a bit stagnant so this could be the push he needs. He's definitely worth a punt at 100k.

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I think I made a good shout back then, 100k!! An absolute steal based on today's performance!!!