Legge was fantastic today an absolute rock and chipped in with a goal. Great buy MA. Kedwell was frankly pathetic he is so immobile I think we would be better off playing a statue upfront. We need an inform striker urgently. On the plus side the chasing pack are inconsistent as us!!!
Legge seems to be one of top player nearly every match, keeps on making it into team of the week around places so he is brilliant, what a signing he was and he is someone who could do really well in League 1.
Lenny you might want to be seated for this... are you ready? Sitting comfortably? Ok here goes... I agree with you Well nearly Not impressed with the front two today but Burton was just as bad and imo was the statue. That's all.
I would have played one or the other when it comes to Burton and Kedwell, why not play Dack next to them, he could sit just behind them in the form of an inside forward. Also Williams should have had a chance, why has he and Richardson been signed, I don't moan much about Martin Allen but why is players like them on loan and then not even get a chance to play. I really want to see them play as I feel that they will do well, defiantly Williams.
Good to hear that Legge had a good game and sad if Kedwell is becoming as immobile as Burton. I see Connor Essam had a stormer in Crawley's away win. It is ironic that Legge was not good enough for regular League 1 football but is prospering in league 2 whereas Essam was deemed not good enough for even the bench in league 2 but is settling into league 1 football. Some MAdness here I think.
MA is clearly grinding out the results. A good back four and Joe Martin was my man of the match today. Obviously the aim is to edge closer in every little step towards those autos, so in that sense job done. However, if we play like this in L1, considering this is supposedly what the squad is being built for, then we will come straight back down. No flair, no pace. Really refreshing to see 'YOUNG' Dack come on. Evidence of what we are clearly lacking for future development, unless PS has got an open cheque book. We will be promoted but I have concerns of what we are supposedly building from there on in.
brb - I agree with you Burton isn't very mobile but to be fair he is 500 years old... What's Kedwells exc
Yeah that is amazing, I think Legge was a great signing but we should not have let go of Essam as he should been part of our future, I can't see how he did not get in the team.
I can't be asked to make an excuse for either of them. You know me by now Lenny. I say what I see. We will get the job done with what we have but we are along way from next season's target. Before people say let us get the job done here first, let them remember it is MA that has used this area as his reasoning.
Jack Payne played the full 90 today in the championship and was highly praised by his new manager, what's going on? also comments on a fans site rated him.
The answer is clear Grumpy. The current Gills squad must be better than either the Championship or League 1 standard and the only problem is to get the other teams in League 2 to realise that! More seriously, in the case of Jack Payne at least, he had probably gone stale at Priestfield and needed a new challenge to motivate him which may still prove to be good business for Gills.
brb are you ok? First agreeing with Lenny and then giving Joe Martin Man of the Match????? What is the world coming to?
Hasn't this already been covered by MA? We have had a post from someone (apologies I forget the posters name) where Allen spoke to fans at the training open day and explained that this season was about shoring up the defensive frailties and then bringing in the flair next season. We have no reason to doubt this approach, it is what Pulis did after all. Agreed it is not pretty but no one can deny it is effective
I was going to make the exact same point, The Pulis team of Martin, Harris, Green, Smith, Stannard, Leo Etc was hardly pretty to watch, but they were very effective and damn hard to play against, and if I recall we rather crawled over the line that season too, but the following year better players were added and lets hope Mr Scally as a long memory too and if we do make it up he gives Allen the same support he gave Pulis, heres looking forward to seeing the next Akinbiyi or Hessie in Gills colours (Blue that is!)
I have my days Two for the price of one today No sorry, I don't think it has been explained. Firstly I should add it is not having a go but as I said to Lenny earlier saying what I see. MA may have spoken to the fans at the training ground but you only need to look at the comments re Payne and Essam today to prove my point that there was no frailties in their department that needed shoring up. Both now a Championship and League One player respectively. Legge was as usual fantastic today but that does not cover my points. Aldershot could have easily have taken us to today as we could have them. MA I believed claimed in his previous media responses re outgoing/incoming transfers about building a League One side NOW not next season. If that was a League One side today then we have some serious issues ahead. We are top of the league and we will get promoted but I refuse to join in the use of the media for nothing more than damn right honesty...http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kentonline/sport/2012/november/23/connor_essam.aspx "With that type of attitude they are going to have big futures in football so we are lucky to have them at this club." Thursday, November 22 2012
Thought Kedwell was a bit unlucky today! Great double save from the keeper denied Kedwell after Legge had equalised!
Dare I say it but I think you are being a litlle niave. You are picking on two players, one of whom has had a highly successful career with the club (but who it still technically our player) and an up and coming starlet, who have sadly left the club and comparing that to being top of the league, and dare I stay it, almost guranteed promotion. There is no comparison, I certainly know which one I would prefer!! Football is a team game (unless you happen to be Spurs or Barca) and for success you need a strong, organised team to support the flair players and give them a foundation to build off. You imply that we didn't need any shoring up in defence because we had Essam, but one player doesn't make a defence and I wouldn't have him ahead of Barrett or Legge. The reason why Essam left the club I believe was financial, yes the windfalls from the Gazza, Jarvis and Bertrand deals helped but the books still need to be balanced (good players don't come cheap), and unfortunately for young Conner he had just signed himself a bumper three deal year! Ideal for the player and the club (keep the better) assuming he actually plays but a huge financial ball and chain if he doesn't. Youth players need first team action to develop and if you can't commit to that then any youth player is a drain on sparse resources. No one player is bigger than the club and sometimes popular players (with the fans) are forced out, but the proof of the pudding is in the tasting, for the club this is an outstanding season thus far, we have been top for the vast majority, we can't get any higher this season!! Your concerns about the standard and style of play are valid but I feel you are looking for negatives rather than seeing the bigger picture.
I think as we had both Essam and Davies, MA felt he had to make a choice, possibly because he couldn't keep both of them happy as they would have to be on the bench, and maybe to get some funds, because didn't we get Legge in after Connar had gone? Jack Payne, by all accounts ,didn't like the rotation policy and wanted to play every week. Nothing wrong with that, but if the manager didn't or wouldn't accomodate his wishes ,then he was better off going. I thought anyway,he had got a bit stale ,as Crofts did, so it's better for him and the club to go.
Martin Allen has been lucky / wise in the signings of Barrett & Legge. ( Legge may yet win the player of the season ). I was disappointed when Essam & Evans were released. I was also disappointed when Davies was relegated to the bench. I felt that these three represented some of the future of the Gills. I was also worried that we might go on to suffer the injuries with our centre backs that saw us 'run out' of them in the last couple of seasons. The recent injury to Matt Fish highlighted our lack of cover at rb. I wasn't happy that in Barrett & Legge we were signing like - for - like (only older) - but I will concede that ( especially in Legge's case ) they have been great signings.Thankfully I don't hear any grumblings from Davies now that he's warming the bench. I'd like to think that he knows that he is here for our future. I think that Payne suffered during our 'rotation' period. His abilities should have been accomodated, and not subjected to the player merry goround that was more in prominent at the time..... is it my imagination or have we become less effective ( going forward ) since we have had a more 'settled' side ? We may well limp over the line - or end up champions - but - as I have said before we will need to have considerable changes in personnel to tackle L1. I still believe that Essam, Evans ( & Davies ) would have been a real part of our assault towards the Championship. Oh well - if we don't have to suffer the play-offs, the management team will have more of the summer to get in a decent midfield and some strikers.
Couldn't disagree more, Payne had not gone stale - he was the reason that we won so many games in the first half of the season. We have some good players, but now we've lost Payne we look disjointed every match, and there is a very real danger of missing out on promotion. I know he wanted to play at a higher level, but we were too weak in letting him go before the end of the season, and it could cost us dear. I also disagree with everyone saying that if we do go up we'll come straight back down. For me securing promotion is the big deal. People overstate the difference between Leagues 1 and 2. We have a rock-solid defence, and for that reason we will stay up reasonably comfortably, IF we manage to get over the finishing line and get promoted. However, we would need to buy a quality striker in the summer - Kedwell certainly not good enough for Lg1.
