Wednesday 28 January 2015 20:51, UK
Millwall boss Ian Holloway saluted new defender Jos Hooiveld after his impressive debut in the goalless draw with Reading.
Hooiveld only signed on loan from Southampton on Monday and was drafted straight into a Lions rearguard which had conceded seven goals in their previous two games.
And the imposing Dutchman helped struggling Millwall earn a clean sheet and a battling point despite fellow centre-half Sid Nelson's dismissal before half-time.
"Mr Hooiveld, good gracious me, has he put his cigar out yet?" said Holloway. "He only got here the day before and he was fantastic. It was like 'Hallelujah!' That calmness we have lacked for the last couple of weeks.
"He wants to be here, he wants to play, he wants to help me and he doesn't care where we are in the division. He's really good at building team spirit and I'm just delighted.
"We couldn't even train Monday as Hooiveld hadn't joined yet. So happy days! Our fans have seen some new people that I hope they are going to really like."
Holloway has revamped his squad this month in a bid to haul them out of relegation trouble and admits the impact of Hooiveld and fellow new signings Diego Fabbrini, Shaun Cummings, Dan Harding and Stefan Maierhofer means more established Millwall players could be heading for the exit.
"It's allowed me to make decisions about people's futures and we can move on," he added.
"It's my job to sift through this, give young players a chance and be better than three teams in this division. We've got 19 games left and hopefully that spirit will build. We're in a tough division, I'm proud to have kept up us last year and am delighted to still be here working my little socks off."
