Source: Daily_Mail
Millwall fans gave me hell when I played against them - let's hope they do the same to Leeds, says L
He was abused by home fans when he made his Liverpool debut against Millwall at The Den five years - but for Zak Whitbread, life with the Lions is just perfect. [LNB]The 25-year-old American played just seven games for Liverpool in a three-year spell and joined Millwall for good after a loan spell in 2006.[LNB]And ahead of tomorrow's League One play-off with Leeds, Whitbread insists things could never be crazier than when he was in the Liverpool party that travelled to Istanbul for the Champions League final in 2005 - and beat AC Milan after trailing 3-0 at half time. [LNB] That was then: Zak Whitbread (left) against his current Millwall team-mate Neil Harris on his Liverpool debut in 2004 [LNB] Whitbread can remember a podium, the tickertape and being jostled by Steven Gerrard. There was definitely a party. But, for the most part, that triumph is just a hazy, crazy blur.[LNB] EXCLUSIVE: Delph to leave Leeds even if they beat Millwall and go uoSpotlight on the play-off semi-finalsComplete history of third tier play-offs[LNB]'I have to look at the pictures and the video footage just to remind myself of that night it just seems surreal I was there,' said the defender.[LNB]'It's funny, I went to Istanbul as a player but I felt more like a fan. I was even snapping away with my camera phone, although I never saw the photos I lost that phone in the party.'[LNB]Fast forward four years and it is no wonder Whitbread feels Istanbul was a daydream. Millwall's Ravensbourne training ground is a world away from Champions League Finals and, even if the League One club's play-off tussle with Leeds, which begins at the Den tomorrow, delivers drama by the bucketload, it is unlikely to be rechristenedthe 'Miracle of South Bermondsey'. [LNB]Haopy with his lot: Zak Whitbread loves life with the Lions[LNB]Whitbread still has fond memories of his time on Merseyside: he bumped into Gerrard and Jamie Carragher during a recent trip back to the city and is already planning the annual end-of-season raceday with his former Anfield colleagues Stephen Warnock, Darren Potter and Neil Mellor.[LNB]But he could hardly be blamed if his recollections were not tinged by regret. A lifelong Liverpool fan, his patience snapped after playing so few games for them: Millwall's offer of regular football in June 2006, albeit in the third tier, was a no-brainer.[LNB]'I needed to move on,' he said. 'Being around those players was very special but it doesn't feel real now. [LNB]'You take it for granted but I don't regret my decision to leave. I could have stayed andplayed 15 games in my career at this point or I could have left and played regularly for Millwall. It was an easy choice.[LNB]'Sometimes you have to make a step down to go back up and we can do that here we feel we could be a Championship club.'[LNB]For that dream to be realised, there is the small matter of banishing Millwall's play-off hoodoo, which has seen the club fail to win a single game in eight attempts dating back to 1991. [LNB]Their chances of reversing that dismal trend were dented by a final-day defeat at Carlisle, which ensured the semi-final will be decided in the Elland Road bearpit next Thursday, although Leeds are unlikely to intimidate a team that plies their trade at theDen. [LNB]Whitbread knows only too well how the atmosphere in SE16 can unsettle the steeliest of footballers, having made his Liverpool debut at the Den in a Carling Cup tie in 2004.[LNB]'I remember going to get the ball for a throw-in and just getting absolute dog's abuse,' he said. 'Hopefully, the fans will make it difficult for Leeds.'[LNB] What a night: Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard holds aloft the 2005 Champions League - Whitbread was there but only as a squad member [LNB] Millwall, perhaps unsurprisingly, have been largely written off in the build-up to tomorrow's first leg but this is a team boasting conviction. Just under a quarter of their 63 League goals came in the last five minutes of games and their grip on a top-sixplace held firm from 6 September. [LNB]Confidence has been given a further pep by manager Kenny Jackett reporting a clean bill of health, with on-loan Reading striker James Henry expected to recover from a dead leg in time to play. [LNB]As for Whitbread, he will always have Istanbul but the time has come for him to pen his own drama one where he boasts a leading role, not a mere walk-on part in theafter-show party. [LNB]'It's important I achieve my own stuff,' he said. 'If we get to Wembley, there's no chance of me getting the camera phone out.'[LNB] EXCLUSIVE: Delph to leave Leeds even if they beat Millwall and go uoSpotlight on the play-off semi-finalsComplete history of third tier play-offs[LNB]
