Former Championship star Sam Parkin has insisted that Joe Edwards was not a disaster at Millwall and needed more time to do the things that that club wanted him to do.
Edwards was shown the door at Millwall on Wednesday after he only managed to win four of his 19 games after taking charge of the team.
With Millwall dangerously close to the relegation zone, the club decided to act and get rid of the 37-year-old coach.
It was Edwards’ first job in management and Parkin feels it would be too harsh to say that he was a disastrous appointment as it is too early in his career at the moment.
He admitted that his predecessor was doing a better job with that squad of players, but feels Edwards was brought in to change the style and the culture at the club and that required more time.
The former striker feels Edwards would have needed a few transfer windows to reshape the squad, but Millwall made the decision as they were too scared to get relegated.
Parkin said on the What The EFL Podcast: “It feels harsh.
“I think it has been a tough run of games recently and if you look at them in isolation, I don’t think it’s a disaster.
“The games they have been losing, you’d probably anticipate that.
“Nothing has surprised me like this in the Championship this season.
“There is a big part of me that’s questioning whether Joe is a bad manager and I think it’s far too early to judge that or was Gary Rowett actually doing a pretty good job with that squad at Millwall?
“And I would absolutely suggest, it’s the latter.
“What they did is tried to change the style and probably change a lot about the club by making that appointment with Joe Edwards.
“It needed time and 100 per cent an opportunity for him to mould the squad, which you do over the course of a few transfer windows.
“There is so much deadwood in the squad – players who are out of contract, too old, needed to freshen it up, needed to bring in players who would have been able to play the type of football and for that reason, he absolutely needed more time.
“The financial aspect of dropping down out of a division sometimes makes clubs make decisions.
“They need to stay in the Championship, they desperately want to do that and that’s why they have acted.
“I don’t think we should think back on this period and think that Joe Edwards was a disaster because in time he could have turned things around.”
Neil Harris, who previously managed Millwall, has been brought in to try and save the club from getting relegated this season.
