Exclusive: Millwall Stalwart Ryan Leonard Backing Lions to Roar

Relaxed Ryan Leonard is confident his new ‘chilled-out’ approach will reap dividends as the Lions look to roar this season.

Long-serving defender Leonard penned a new deal with the Championship club in June of this year.

The 32-year-old, who won the club’s prestigious Player of the Season award last term, is not resting on his success as he looks to play a key role in the club pushing for a play-off place this season.

“I had a really good season last season and really enjoyed my football, so this year I’ve just been trying to build off that,” Leonard told SportsBoom.com. 

“I’ve said to a few people they there are still things that I’d like to work on and I need to improve, I’ll keep pushing on and trying to grow my game.

“I don’t really put pressure on myself, if anything over the last few years, I’ve kind of gone the other way a little bit.

“For me the biggest factor this season has been taking all the pressure off myself.

“I’ve completely taken all the pressure off and just go out and enjoy my football, and enjoy everything that I do.

“That’s seemed to have worked for me, by trying to enjoy the game it’s really helped me with my performances.

He added: “People say as you get older that you don’t feel as good or feel as fresh, but for me – and for the last couple of years – this is probably the best I’ve felt since I was 24/25.

“I’ve really enjoyed getting away from football, which has helped, my family have helped.

“My wife and my kids have been a big help in me relaxing, getting away from the training ground, getting away from football and completely shutting off when I need to.

“I’ve taken up a few extra things, like yoga and working on the mental side of my game, just to talk to other people and get away from football sometimes.

“Doing that has really helped switch off outside of the training ground and outside of the game.

“At the end of the day, if you lose a game you’re still getting frustrated and you’re still getting annoyed about losing and results.

“But now I’ll go through my front door at home and I know I’ve got my kids there, I just think ‘now it’s family time’.

“It’s also about trying to think about other things on your days off, trying not to think about football.

“But, then, as soon as you get back to the training ground, it’s tie to switch on and go to work!”

SHOCK DEPARTURE

The Lions started the season a little shakily but the strung together an impressive nine-game unbeaten run in all competitions to get back on track.

But 1-0 losses in succession have seen the East London club fall of the pace somewhat in the past fortnight and, to make matters worse, popular boss Neil Harris revealed he was stepping down from his role prior to losses to Sheffield United and Middlesbrough respectively.

Former Stoke City boss Steve Schumacher, Wycombe manager Matt Bloomfield and ex-Coventry manager Mark Robins are understood to be top of the Lions’ hit list for a new permanent boss.

But for Leonard, now in his seventh season at The Den, it’s business as usual as the Lions look to rediscover their bite.

“I’ve been at the club for a long time, I was really happy to sign for another year,” added Leonard.

“It’s a club where I feel at home and really enjoy my football. It’s a great place to work as a player and for staff, we’ve got a really good set of lads and staff – and it’s a really enjoyable place to work."

“We had a tough start to the season but since then we’ve really found our identity and pushed on."

“We’ve got to keep going that and picking up results, make it hard for teams to beat us.”