Firstly I'd like to thank you for taking the time to read this. The views and concerns that I put to you below are just my personal feelings. I do not in any way direct them at any one individual. Following the recent euphoria of our new signings I have, unfortunately started to have fears for the (not) fast (enough) approaching season. What is behind my fears??? Is it depth of the squad? No, I actually feel we have a good squad put together with cover in pretty much all areas and where we are looking a little light there is still until 31st August until the window is shut so plenty of time if needed. For league 2 I feel we are well equipped. Is it our manager? certainly not. In my opinion, he has gone about his business in the right way, identified his targets, gone for them and got them. I see this nonsense that goes on with premiership/European managers and players and it disgusts me. Is it his tactics? Sometimes this did seem a bit of an area of concern, but there are other factors that we need to consider with this, match conditions (weather & pitch) and the other teams tactics. Too many times last season we seem to play football that suited our opponents, this season hopefully with the players brought in, we will be able to control games a bit better. I believe we can do that. Is it the chairman? At the moment I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt when it the stadium/financing plans. I believe he deserves this much. Again he has gone about his business this close season in the correct way. He has backed the manager and generally kept his nose out of places it should be. So what is it? Simply put it's that there is still this underlying sense of fear and negativity I'm seeing all over the place. Any tiny little thing that doesn't go as someone thinks it should, BAM, out come the knives......... We've missed this player, that player, too many friendlies, poor trialists, an injury, What's Scally up to with the stadium and Priestfield Developments, must be dodgy as it's Paul. We haven't signed enough players, get rid of him he's ****e, waa waa waa. Now very my fellow not606 posters please note that on the whole, we, on this site are by no means the worst offenders of this. I see it more by posters on other sites, many are, I'm sure, posted by WUMs. But over the last couple of days there does seem a little bit of that negativity and fear creeping in and sometimes I read what people write and I think "if this is truly what you believe why do you support the Gills? Do you remember we're a league 2 team? Yes there are truth's in what some people write but there are also limitations to what can be achieved. It can not always be perfect. There will always be things that people will believe can be done differently but to have a go at every opportunity over every little thing is unhelpful, not needed and they only seem to create more negativity in other areas. I am going in to this season with a confidence I've not had for years, a belief that, together, the fans, players, management, et al can have a successful season. With a little bit of luck we'll all be happy campers come next year. But if we're not you'll still find me getting behind the team as I know all of you will. Here's looking forward to a season which starts, for me, for of promise and expectation. Let's get behind the lads and cheer them on to success. TOGETHER. UTG
If you're not used to it by now, you never will be. It's football, fans do this, at almost every level... it's the standard of football. You lot, the 'EVERYONE CHEER AND ENCOURAGE EVERYTHING WE DO' brigade are just mindless. You lack reality, people will disagree, and in the modern day era of the internet, there's many platforms to voice their disagreements. Nothings changed, nothings increased, and nothing is different about Gillingham to most other football league clubs.
Well said Gemi but Alex is dead right. That's football and probably the biggest issue for the Gills is the sense of euphoria and over confidence after signing a group of largely unproven non leaguers. We need a dose of realism alongside the optimism but a lot more things have gone right this pre season than for several years and the average age of the squad has fallen which is helpful.
Thank you for your comment Alex, especially as it's your first. But who are you to say I lack reality? Maybe I have not got my point across as I intended. I am fully aware that there are issues at the club. But there are issues at all clubs. I accept that there are limitations and I believe that the club have worked well within those limitations. It's not about 'EVERYONE CHEER AND ENCOURAGE EVERTHING WE DO' as you highlight but by the same token it shouldn't be about criticising and moaning about everything. Most of the time we don't know the full story. My biggest issue with doom merchants is that they don't explain their reasons behind what they say. The way I want to look at football is the same as how I look at life. There's good and there's bad, I like to learn from the bad, focus on the good and use what it puss my self forward. I see enough things in my everyday that are far worse than what happens in football. I want football to be a joy in my life and when unfortunate things happen I won't let them get me down so I like to move on quickly.
Agree all the way, we have good reason to be positive and although all the new signings will take time to bed down as a team, this is a very srong squad. Last year I believe that we over achieved given the squad we had - the season only really got going when Whelpdale and Lee arrived. We carried some of that momentum on after they left but we all had a chance to see just how influential they will be on the side. Up front we will miss Cody but but not Akinfenwa - strong player though he was, his lack of mobility made us very one dimensional and when things got tough we just banged the ball to the big man hoping we could play off him. This season though, Hess has had time to put a side together and the squad allows a variation of tactics that we didn't have last year. You are quite right that Hess has conducted himslef admirably this summer (unlike all the nay sayers who were moaning about the lack of action on the signings front) and we owe some thanks to the Chairman who has allowed him to go out and get the players he wants. This is a squad that has been planned from some way out to to the job its not just thrown together. This, more than any season in recent years, is one for optimism.
I'm not sure what the point of this thread is....supporters are not allowed to make constructive comments? Surely the whole point of these forums is to have genuine debate? It would be extremely boring if comment after comment just stated how wonderful the manager/chairman/players are doing. A reality check please. On a positive note I think Scally has shown great faith in Hessy again in this transfer window. I'm still worried about the tactics Hessy uses, I think he's tactically naive in many aspects. We need to get off to a good start following the dire start last season.
Oh come on, are we really going to do this again? Football is all about opinions and opinions are like fingerprints - everybody has their own and none are exactly the same. People need to learn to be more accepting of peoples opinion rather than shouting them down, face it Gemini you aren't going to change the mind of "the doubters" the same was Alex isn't going to change the minds of the "optimists" by exposing them to "reality" (sorry to use names but it was for ilustrational purpose and not a criticism).
Happy with and confident the team should be pushing all the way this season !! However, have no faith or confidence with Hessys capabilties. Especially after last years dire season, one of the worst i have witnessed !! Scally deserves ALL the praise for the decent new signings , Hessy can have praise for Dover dross and Kedwell !!!
There have always been positive and negative opinions in football and that will never change, what has changed is the way those opinions are expressed. Years ago when things were going bad, fans would use more humour to express their feelings at a game, now it's all booing and foul mouthed vitriol directed at players, manager, chairman. I think the whole world is becoming increasingly more hostile and less tolerant.
I would agree with that comment, I can remember going to the Dover and Wycombe games last season, watching how sections of the crowd turned on Scally & Hessy, to say the least some of the comments were very hostile. I certainly cannot remember crowd reactions like this, when I first started going to games as a young lad and the Gills were in the old division three. Absolutely nothing wrong in expressing opinion more, however, to what degree is it acceptable, dare we mention the criminal damage caused, is that acceptable opinion these days? We can blame a mindless minority for incidents like that but I think sometimes we also need to look more closely at the way we express ourselves verbally.
i think its more of a nervous "twitch" with negative words that are spoken as we all deep down want the super blues to get back to the feared side we once were & i am sure will be there once again,
Is there not an element of expectation involved? When I first started watching the Gills back in the early 80s, the football was terrible, and I mean terrible. Countless seasons finishing in the bottom third of the basement division bred very little expectation in the small but loyal fanbase. But I still remember the managers getting stick and abuse from the fans at various times. Then the "glory days" occured and the fanbase grew, but then the glory left and the club returned to its previous status, but the fans stayed. Many have pointed out that the level of disatisfaction has been increasing over the last few years and I was wondering if there was a correlation between the two. Now don't get me wrong, I am not implying that fans who started supporting the club after '95 aren't as good fans as those beforehand but I am wondering if the expectation plays a part
lets be honest on the face of it we have made some very good signings, a lot of which most gills fans wouldnt have expected to happen. we've spent money when we said we had none and released a couple of the money sucking players who we had in our squad over the last couple of years. the future is bright yes however, as man city have been able to prove very well up till now, throwing money at a football club (not saying thats what scally is doing) doesnt mean you are going to be successful. many a thing could go wrong and some of it already has (birchall injury, cos even if it is a short term one he wont be fully fit come start of the season). theres a good chance that the team will not gel given the number of new signings, some may not find the same form that they have before for other clubs. again however baring a spait of serious injuries just before the start of the season and the addition of 1 or 2 more players (keeper to challange for the number 1 and maybe another striker) as gills fan we have the building blocks to be as optumisitic as we have been for a very long time because on the face of it a team that only missed out on the playoff on goal difference and automatics by not many points is now much much stronger overall
I noted you mentioned the year '95, reason being is something that I believe might play a part in all this more vocal opinion, is the compulsory introduction of all seater stadium in 1994 and also further back in 1990 SKY Sports was launched. For what reason's I'm not sure, however, it appears we are all becoming 'all seater' player, coach, tactician, manager and chairman all rolled into one supporter!
I said earlier that things have changed and humour is the key, below I try to give an example for those who only know the modern Priestfield. Player "X" keeps playing the ball back to his own goal:- 2011 supporter rushes forward and hurls vile abuse toward the player concerned, "you F, W, C" 1991 supporter cups hands to mouth " Oh! we changed ends at half time" (crowd fall about laughing) Player "Y" keeps hoofing the ball towards the sky:- 2011 supporter rushes forward and hurls vile abuse toward the player concerned, "you F, W, C" 1991 supporter cups hands to mouth " Oh! careful of the pigeons you've just killed one" (crowd fall about laughing) In both examples the player gets the message, but in the first he gets wound up and becomes hostile toward the crowd, in the second he strikes up a lighthearted banter with the crowd. The supporters in the first example have some who join in, whilst alienating others, in the second example the supporters are happier and united.
