It was a performance that resembled some parts of that pre-Christmas Gills side yesterday as they lost 2-0 away at Walsall.
I mean, if you don’t know by now then well I’m sorry to ruin some of your opinions of me but I am indeed a Gillingham fan and I’ve had the pleasure of discussing yesterday’s game with fellow Gills fans Bethany, Matt Olsen and Blue Brazil.
I think the overall opinion on yesterday was a disappointment, I think for me we just lacked plan B it was evident pretty early on that the referee wasn’t going to give Hawkins anything in the way of fouls yet we still attempted over and over to play the same way.
It was lack lustre and was overall a game played with a lack of life in my opinion. Walsall came out the blocks swinging and looked the most likely to score out of the two sides but alas the attacks calmed down and the game settled into a steady mundane pace, the highlight of the first half barring a few half chances being Walsall man Riley putting two corners straight out of play.
A quick counter and Walsall took the lead but apart from a late flurry after Harris finally decided to make some changes Gills looked deflated and out of ideas. A late goal saw Walsall go two up after about 30 minutes of professional time wasting and that was all she wrote and the Gills were off back to Kent disappointed.
Personally, overall I think the changes needed to come quicker from Harris and it was just a bad day at the office for the Gills. An extremely disappointing performance with a lack of creativity and adaptability in my opinion, it was a real reality check which showed that the club hasn’t come as far as some fans first thought and we still have a lot of work to go to get to where we want to be.
It’s a process we have to trust in and we have to bounce back on Tuesday but that’s enough of my thoughts let’s see what the others had to say!
Let’s start with Bethany:
Q: Overall thoughts on the game yesterday?
B: “I think as fans it was natural for us to go in expecting 3 points. Walsall were going in on a bad run of form having not won in 12 and I think we had good momentum behind us. Saying that, this was arguably our poorest game since January’s transfer window and was definitely lacking in the final third”
Q: What when wrong for the Gills yesterday?
B: “Going in to the game the lineup looked strong! Not too dissimilar from last week’s triumph against Tranmere so it did look positive before KO. I think part of the issue lies with a lot of players playing below the standard we know they are capable of, but more so our inability to have shots on target, notably when playing away from home”
Q: Panic stations at Gillingham or just a bump in the road?
B: “I don’t think we are in a position to panic. We’ve picked up big points against the teams around us and are now 7 points clear from the drop zone. Something none of us saw as a possibility before the takeover!”
Q: Some fans, are in uproar after yesterday what do you think of the fans reaction to the results?
B: “Fans will always be entitled to their opinions of course, some may completely disagree with what I’ve said today! The frustration is understandable, as I said, we know these players are most definitely capable of more. I’m not sure if I agree with the cries for Harris out at this point, but I understand their viewpoint of wanting him to play more attacking football, especially with the squad we have!”
Q: Some fans feel, me included it was a very poor refereeing performance from Mr Sunny Gill yesterday what are your thoughts?
B: “I don’t think it’s a secret that refs at this level aren’t that great. I feel he definitely could have given a lot more yesterday, but ultimately don’t feel it would have effected the outcome of the game.”
Q: What needs to change ahead of Crewe to ensure we bounce back?
B: “Crewe aren’t in a too dissimilar to us when you look at their results so I think it will be a battle. It’s a short turnaround between Walsall and Crewe so I don’t know if too much can change in that time. We just need to keep positive and try finding that missing key to the end product.”
Q: Overall thoughts on yesterday?
MO: “It was a poor game from 2 poor teams. Neither team showed much quality in the final third, and had it not been for their first deflected goal, the game looked to be heading to a stalemate”
Q: What went wrong for Gillingham yesterday?
MO: “I think on paper, our lineup looked really strong, but with players like Lapslie not playing in their best position, you can’t get the best out of them.”
“Our strike team got nothing from the officials all afternoon, and i think we needed to change things up sooner”
Q: Panic stations at Gillingham or just a bump in the road?
MO: “No, not yet. Our form of late has been good, and i still believe we have enough in our squad to be comfortable for the rest of the season.”
Q: What do you think of the reaction of the fans to the result?
MO: It was understandable after such a lack lustre display. You could feel the frustration from the fans after the first goal.
Q: Some fans feel, me included it was a very poor refereeing performance from Mr Sunny Gill yesterday what are your thoughts?
MO: “Poor. But what else could we have expected from a league 2 ref”
Q: What needs to change ahead of Crewe to ensure we bounce back?
MO: “I would love us to change our shape, go to a diamond in the middle, drop o’brien , and bring Jefferies in back in and play Lapslie in the 10 role.
We also need to keep priestfield our fortress and go at them from the off”
Q: Overall thoughts on yesterday?
BB: “After a slow start when we nearly conceded in the first minute I thought Gills gradually grew in to the game without really threatening Walsall and at half time I felt confident that we would take at least a point from the game. Unfortunately Walsall caught us on the break early in the second half with a fortunate deflection and after that we struggled to provide any quality in the final third through a combination of poor decision making and having no plan B. Walsall had some monsters at the back and limping it up to Hawkins clearly wasn’t working. Really hard to build any momentum in the second half due to a combination of time wasting from Walsall – in particular their keeper and one of the worst refereeing performances I have seen all season. Practically every 50/50 went the way of Walsall. All in all a frustrating day. Felt we lost to a poor team who didn’t outplay us but got the breaks when it mattered.”
Q: What went wrong for Gillingham yesterday?
BB: “Poor decision making in the last 3rd. No plan B and a lack of pace which could have troubled their big units at the back. Hitting Hawkins long was failing but we didn’t try to change our style. TBF nothing dropped for us in final 3rd. Few times O’Brien just couldn’t find a yard space to get the shot off. Don’t think we were terrible and match stats suggest we were marginally better yea but just not our day in the final 3rd. Would have liked to see Abrahams come in earlier.”
Q: Panic stations at Gillingham or just a bump in the road?
BB: “No panic frame here. Still a healthy breathing space even though most results went against us. The loss makes the Crewe game bigger and if we don’t win that then a few May start to get twitchy as we have some difficult games ahead of us”
Q: What do you think of the reaction of the fans to the result?
BB: “Usual story with a lot of Gills fans. One week we are world beaters and the next we are the worst team in the league. Strengthening in the January window is always difficult and it takes time for players to gel without the luxury of pre season. After the Stevenage game if you had offered us a 6/7 point cushion by the end of March most fans would have bitten your hand off. Fact is even with recent signings we are still only a mid table team as performances against Mansfield and Bradford have shown.”
Q: Some fans feel, me included it was a very poor refereeing performance from Mr Sunny Gill yesterday what are your thoughts?
BB: “Ref was just shocking. Not saying he cost us the game but truly the worst I have seen all season. Barely gave us a 50/50 all game. Hawkins was barely given a free kick despite having his shirt pulled on numerous occasions. Nicholls penalised in first half when looked to be going through on goal and the foul given against Dave T in the second half was ridiculous as he had been clearly fouled. Also allowed them to time waste . Keeper – Ward the main culprit. Stopped us building any momentum.”
Q: What needs to change ahead of Crewe to ensure we bounce back?
BB: “Nothing too much to change. We need to be bold against Crewe and attacking. Maybe start with Jefferies to give us more drive and direct running and maybe Mackenzie for Dave”
Writers Views
Well, I’ve said most of what I needed to say above, but to summarise I see yesterday as a reality check for most. It highlighted the issues that we still have with the club and maybe some with Harris mentality for me I think the change of Abrahams needed to come a hell of a lot sooner.
Overall, it isn’t a season defining loss, we need to go away and reassess after this, regroup and get a result against Crewe on Tuesday night.
