{"id":90388,"date":"2022-05-07T07:56:42","date_gmt":"2022-05-07T06:56:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/news\/benik-afobe-on-humble-millwall-good-and-bad-dressing-rooms-and-never-holding-grudges\/"},"modified":"2022-05-07T07:56:42","modified_gmt":"2022-05-07T06:56:42","slug":"benik-afobe-on-humble-millwall-good-and-bad-dressing-rooms-and-never-holding-grudges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/sport\/football\/millwall\/in-depth\/benik-afobe-on-humble-millwall-good-and-bad-dressing-rooms-and-never-holding-grudges\/","title":{"rendered":"Benik Afobe on &#8216;humble&#8217; Millwall, good and bad dressing rooms &#8211; and never holding grudges"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>BENIK Afobe has got his mojo back and he doesn\u2019t want the season to end.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s not only because if the campaign extends beyond this weekend it will mean Millwall are in the play-offs, but also because he\u2019s in some of the best scoring form of his career.<\/p><script type=\"text\/plain\" data-tcf=\"waiting-for-consent\" data-id=\"69959\" data-bid=\"1\" data-placement=\"448384\" data-no-track=\"impressions\">PGRpdiBpZD0ic291dGgtMzM1NzY5MjA0NSIgY2xhc3M9InNvdXRoLW91dGJyYWluLWluLWFydGljbGUgc291dGgtZW50aXR5LXBsYWNlbWVudCI+PGRpdiBjbGFzcz0iT1VUQlJBSU4iDQpkYXRhLW9iLWNvbnRlbnRVcmw9Imh0dHBzOi8vc291dGh3YXJrbmV3cy5jby51ay9zcG9ydC9mb290YmFsbC9taWxsd2FsbC9pbi1kZXB0aC9iZW5pay1hZm9iZS1vbi1odW1ibGUtbWlsbHdhbGwtZ29vZC1hbmQtYmFkLWRyZXNzaW5nLXJvb21zLWFuZC1uZXZlci1ob2xkaW5nLWdydWRnZXMvIg0KZGF0YS13aWRnZXQtaWQ9IkFSXzIiDQpkYXRhLW9iLWluc3RhbGxhdGlvbi1rZXk9IlNPVVRIQU81S0NFSzhHTkJCTjFHUDc2UDkiDQo+PC9kaXY+DQo8c2NyaXB0IHR5cGU9InRleHQvamF2YXNjcmlwdCIgYXN5bmM9ImFzeW5jIg0Kc3JjPSJodHRwczovL3dpZGdldHMub3V0YnJhaW4uY29tL291dGJyYWluLmpzIj48L3NjcmlwdD48L2Rpdj4=<\/script>\n<p>Afobe, 29, has scored 13 goals this season, his best return since 2015-16 when he got 14 for Wolves and Bournemouth, four of them for the latter in the Premier League. He has scored six in his last eight games and nine in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>After a season away in Turkey with Trabzonspor that followed a campaign when he didn\u2019t feature much for Bristol City, Afobe, at 28, needed to find a home.<\/p><script type=\"text\/plain\" data-tcf=\"waiting-for-consent\" data-id=\"68153\" data-bid=\"1\" data-placement=\"448385\" data-no-track=\"impressions\">PGRpdiBpZD0ic291dGgtMjI5MDY5MDQyNCIgY2xhc3M9InNvdXRoLWNvbnRlbnQgc291dGgtZW50aXR5LXBsYWNlbWVudCIgc3R5bGU9Im1hcmdpbi1sZWZ0OiBhdXRvO21hcmdpbi1yaWdodDogYXV0bzt0ZXh0LWFsaWduOiBjZW50ZXI7Ij48IS0tICAvMTU0NzI1MDcwLDIyNjk0MTk2OTY5L3NvdXRod2Fya25ld3Mvc291dGh3YXJrbmV3cyAtLT4NCjxkaXYgaWQ9ImRpdi1ncHQtYWQtMngxIj4NCjxzY3JpcHQ+DQpnb29nbGV0YWcuY21kLnB1c2goZnVuY3Rpb24oKSB7IGdvb2dsZXRhZy5kaXNwbGF5KCdkaXYtZ3B0LWFkLTJ4MScpOyB9KTsNCjwvc2NyaXB0Pg0KPC9kaXY+ICAgICAgICAgIDwvZGl2Pg==<\/script>\n<p>And he couldn\u2019t have found a better one than Millwall and the \u201chumble\u201d environment at the club.<\/p>\n<p>Afobe has played for 10 other clubs and admitted the atmospheres were not always good, with \u201cgossip\u201d or players not speaking to each other.<\/p><script type=\"text\/plain\" data-tcf=\"waiting-for-consent\" data-id=\"71156\" data-bid=\"1\" data-placement=\"448386\" data-no-track=\"impressions\">PGRpdiBpZD0ic291dGgtMjIxMDI2MjI5OSIgY2xhc3M9InNvdXRoLWluLWFydGljbGUtbXB1OSBzb3V0aC1lbnRpdHktcGxhY2VtZW50Ij48IS0tICAvMTU0NzI1MDcwLDIyNjk0MTk2OTY5L3NvdXRod2Fya25ld3Mvc291dGh3YXJrbmV3cyAtLT4NCjxkaXYgaWQ9ImRpdi1ncHQtYWQtbXB1OSI+DQo8c2NyaXB0Pg0KZ29vZ2xldGFnLmNtZC5wdXNoKGZ1bmN0aW9uKCkgeyBnb29nbGV0YWcuZGlzcGxheSgnZGl2LWdwdC1hZC1tcHU5Jyk7IH0pOw0KPC9zY3JpcHQ+DQo8L2Rpdj4gICAgIDwvZGl2Pg==<\/script>\n<p>There is a completely different culture at Millwall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been really good for me, a great fit, I\u2019ve said it all along,\u201d Afobe told <em>NewsAtDen<\/em>. \u201cI took some time to get up and running which is quite normal. Last year I lacked confidence, I didn\u2019t play. I racked up 28 appearances but they were all five or 10 minutes at the end of the game. I think I played the equivalent to 11 90 minutes and scored five goals. It wasn\u2019t enough for me, and being away from home.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_84622\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-84622\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-84622\" src=\"http:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Afobe-Peterborough1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"445\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-84622\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Benik Afobe is a hugely popular character<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cTo come back to Millwall, to come back to London, to come back to a manager that trusts and believes in me and, just by the off-chance, to come to a great changing room &#8211; because it could have been a poor changing room &#8211; it\u2019s all been a great fit for me. And also to be injury-free.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been fantastic for me, I\u2019ve really, really enjoyed it and I feel I\u2019m in my best form now and the season is about to finish, which is a bit disappointing for me.<\/p><script type=\"text\/plain\" data-tcf=\"waiting-for-consent\" data-id=\"71157\" data-bid=\"1\" data-placement=\"448387\" data-no-track=\"impressions\">PGRpdiBpZD0ic291dGgtNDA5Nzk0NTU5NyIgY2xhc3M9InNvdXRoLWluLWFydGljbGUtbXB1LTEwIHNvdXRoLWVudGl0eS1wbGFjZW1lbnQiPjwhLS0gIC8xNTQ3MjUwNzAsMjI2OTQxOTY5Njkvc291dGh3YXJrbmV3cy9zb3V0aHdhcmtuZXdzIC0tPg0KPGRpdiBpZD0iZGl2LWdwdC1hZC1tcHUxMCI+DQo8c2NyaXB0Pg0KZ29vZ2xldGFnLmNtZC5wdXNoKGZ1bmN0aW9uKCkgeyBnb29nbGV0YWcuZGlzcGxheSgnZGl2LWdwdC1hZC1tcHUxMCcpOyB9KTsNCjwvc2NyaXB0Pg0KPC9kaXY+ICAgICA8L2Rpdj4=<\/script>\n<p>\u201cBut let\u2019s wait and see, maybe we\u2019ll have an extra three games after Saturday, we don\u2019t know.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Former Arsenal trainee Afobe&#8217;s other former clubs include Huddersfield, Reading, Bolton, Sheffield Wednesday and MK Dons.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When you\u2019ve played for 10 clubs in your career, not all 10 are going to be great,&#8221; Afobe said. &#8220;I\u2019ve been in some changing rooms where the lads don\u2019t talk, there are gossip games, like little kids. Maybe the manager doesn\u2019t have a great relationship with the team so he\u2019s quite distant.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll these different problems happen but they don\u2019t just happen in football, they happen in all jobs. It\u2019s the norm. It\u2019s life.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut here, you can have lunch with anybody, you can room with anybody, you can speak to all the staff. Everybody is very humble and are working people. That\u2019s why the season has been a success for us.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the start of the season if I had told anybody Millwall were going to finish in the top eight after last season, they probably would have said \u2018no\u2019. The Championship has been very strong this season, the quality has been good. The top six or seven haven\u2019t really changed the whole season so for us to be in and around it is just a credit to Gary [Rowett] and his staff for the work that they\u2019ve done at the club.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_83781\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-83781\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-83781\" src=\"http:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Afobe-Reading1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"445\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-83781\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The forward&#8217;s goals have helped the Lions challenge for the play-offs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Afobe faces one of his former clubs, Bournemouth, in a must-win final game of the season on Saturday. The former Arsenal forward joined the Cherries for \u00a310million in January 2016 and scored three goals in his first four Premier League games.<\/p>\n<p>Afobe scored six goals the following season but lost his place in the side the campaign after that and re-joined Wolves on loan in January 2018 before another \u00a310million move back to Molineux in the summer.<\/p>\n<p>Stoke, with Rowett in charge, paid \u00a312million for him the following January -after he had spent the first half of the campaign on loan with the Potters &#8211; but he struggled there and after spells at Bristol City and Trabzonspor moved on loan to Millwall.<\/p>\n<p>Afobe was asked if he thinks about the irony of helping the Lions finish above the Potters after Michael O\u2019Neill offloaded him.<\/p>\n<p>He replied: \u201cNo, no, no, I\u2019ve not had one thought about Stoke or Bristol City or Bournemouth. I\u2019m not that kind of person. I\u2019ve never held a grudge in my life. I said before in an interview the ideal situation for me, having another year at Stoke, would be for Millwall and Stoke to both go up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor me, it was just about me, Benik Afobe, enjoying football again, bringing out the tricks, the flair, the goals, the assists. Just having a smile on my face again, that was the sole purpose of me coming to Millwall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t set myself any specific targets goals-wise, but I did say if I got around 15 goals playing for Millwall, who are on the average a mid-table team, I would take that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo be on 13 now with a game to go is not bad.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_82479\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-82479\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-82479\" src=\"http:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Afobe1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"445\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-82479\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The on-loan Stoke man is the top scorer this season<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>If Afobe manages to get to 15 goals this weekend, it will surely mean Millwall have a chance of finishing in the top six.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re all happy, it\u2019s been a positive season,\u201d Afobe said. \u201cBut listen, it\u2019s out of our hands. You know me, I\u2019m a man of faith, it\u2019s in God\u2019s hands now.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll we\u2019ve got to worry about is trying to beat Bournemouth because that\u2019s not going to be easy. All the other teams could lose but we could lose as well so it doesn\u2019t really matter about what other people are doing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd, to be honest, even the talk in the changing room is, listen, it\u2019s the last game of the season, you\u2019re going to go away and have your six weeks with your family and friends, you want to win anyway. Even if you\u2019ve been relegated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLook at Peterborough, Barnsley, when they play on Saturday they\u2019re going to want to win as well. They\u2019ll want a good send-off for the season, even though they\u2019ve been relegated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s nothing to do with the play-offs, we just want to win the game in general anyway. It\u2019s nothing like, \u2018oh, we\u2019re going to be extra up for it on Saturday\u2019. No, this team is the most professional, honest bunch of lads I\u2019ve ever played with.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis being a game that could potentially put us fifth or sixth doesn\u2019t mean anything for these boys. It means a lot to the club, of course, but they\u2019re not going to change their mentality because their mentality has always been bang-on.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve had a very, very positive season considering we\u2019ve had so many injuries in each position. No one\u2019s really fancied us for the play-offs so to take it to the last day of the season, we\u2019ve done outstanding. Gary and his staff have done outstanding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Image: Millwall FC\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>STRIKER: &#8216;This team is the most professional, honest bunch of lads I\u2019ve ever played with.&#8217;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16625,"featured_media":90389,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[15418],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-depth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16625"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southwarknews.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}