Keith Millen will remain at Crystal Palace and work with new manager Tony Pulis in some capacity, and it is the least he deserves.
In his four games in charge Palace seemed to show a lot more intent than they had in Ian Holloway’s last few weeks, and he has led the team into two successive positive results.
As Pulis looks to assert his position in the coming weeks, Millen will be a good sounding board for how things used to be. He also has a good relationship with the squad, many of whom have come out recently to voice their support of him.
It would be difficult for the new manager to start things off in a bad way by removing Millen from his position considering the respect he also has from the supporters, so the news from Pulis’ Monday press conference that he will be staying is welcome to all connected to the club.
Millen has expressed a desire to be a manager but made it clear that this would not be at Palace. Whether this has something to do with his love for the club as a supporter only he knows, but his short spell in caretaker charge at Selhurst Park has shown a number of positive points he can add to his CV for any club, lower down the leagues looking for a new man one day down the line.
During the last four games, things really could have gotten away from Palace and in another situation they may have, but this is why Millen must receive so much credit because he has been able to stop that happening and actually steer the club back towards looking up with performances and more importantly points.
Come May, Millen’s time in charge may or may be looked back on as a vital aspect of the campaign, but one thing is for sure – if he had not been able to do what he has done it is highly likely Palace would have had too big of a gap to bridge, and for that we must thank him.
Daniel Smith - @dmsmith1987