Matt Lawrence Dean Rance Danny Spiller Curtis Weston Dennis Oli http://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/page/NewsDetail/0,,10416~2766481,00.html
Weston leaving makes me sad. lost his form but still a decent player. Spiller will probably go southend, another good player. Bold statement made by the club.
I would have liked Curtis to stay, probably the most technically gifted player inthe squad but lack of form and being played out wide never helped him... plus he is probably on big wages so I can understand why he was let go.
No real surprise with any of the names... Weston although talented has gone stale at the club, Spiller too injury prone, Lawrence despite being shafted by Hess was probably at the end of his career anyway, Oli is and always will be a non league forward, Rance well apart from his skills at hitting the crossbar from the halfway line has not really shown any progress. Wonder if there will be more to come (Richards, Kuffour, and King come to mind).
Sad about spiller but as others have said think it may have been coming. Interesting for them to not say anything about anyone else, Scally did say he would leave a few big decisions up to the new manager but surely Weston and Spiller would come under that?
those five players would be released by me as well, though spiller was 50/50.....hold on, the club are forgetting one person....GARRY RICHARDS ! while he remains this club will fail again & again....GET RID while we have the chance !!!
Really? Seem to remember him being an integral part of our promotion under Stimson. But hey...being fickle is a wonderful concept.
Really disappointed Curtis has gone. In my opinion our most talented player. Undeservedly seems to have paid for his recent spate of injuries. Strangely no mention of long term injury victims Fuller and Richards. Surely the club cannot offer any sort of deal until their fitness is proved.
I'm surprised with Lawrence more so the treatment he got as soon as Hess said he wouldn't offer him a new deal. Could have been useful for helping the likes of Essam and Davies. Not fussed with the others although they're are probably 1 or 2 more to come.
Relly gutted about Spiller as I do think he added something to the team. Curtis needs a change much like Crofts did. I wish all 5 well for the future.
I suppose Richards and Fuller having had long term injuries,there is no need to make an immeadiate decision on them. They won't be going anywhere until they've proved their fitness, so the new man can decide on them.
I'd say fickle & very unaware seems to sum up your take on richards tom-tom, you best check that memory of yours again, the only integral one actually, was the guy he played alongside and who carried richards through the season that you talk of....that player being SIMON KING...i think that concept of yours needs fine tuning...REALLY !!! richards has always been found wanting and will transfer his many bad habits to the up and coming players this club has in waiting, the guy is never going to improve our backline...i say it one last time GET RID WHILE WE CAN !!!
sorry oxon but for me before getting injured richards was one of the more stable parts of our team putting in a more than solid performance most weeks whilst the rest of our back line faultered through lack of pace form and injuries. to the matter in hand i think spiller could be a loss always looked lively when he came on and turned down a rather lucrative offer from the states to play for the gills so clearely wanted to be here. weston its a shame he never recaptured his early form he had from when he joined us but i think him going was inevitable. the others no suprise there really. wish them all the best execpt when they are playing against the gills!!
I am not surprised with any on the list, thought that Weston would go as he has not been good enough, Spiller sadly has got to injury prone to stay, the writing was on the wall for Oli and Lawrence and Rance had never played, so not a surprise there for me.
Richards is a bad footballer, those of you who think he is good will do so because he throws in a big tackle or hits a big clearance, but im sorry football has moved on from the 70's. It's about playing the ball out and building play from the back, an ability Richards does not have. I'm sure he would do well in Blue Square South but we need players from the back with quality, like King in his day. In regards to those released, I'm disapointed about Weston but kind of expected, and i think with a move it could reignite his career and he'll become a top player, because undoubtedly he has a lot of ability. I've met him out a couple of times and found him a quality bloke so i hope he goes on to bigger and better things. Lawrence and Oli were inevitablele, as was Rance probably. Bit surprised about Spiller but we can hardly risk having him injured for another season. I Love King but i think he should go to and let the new Manager come in and build from the core that is left. Offer Tomlin a permanent deal, it's a must. Anyone know if Jackman is out of contract this year?
Yeah Jackman is out of contract, looks like he wants a new one though after his comments about the club lately, I think King should be given a 1 year contract as I have to say I believe in him and also you are totally wrong in regards to your comments about Richards, I think he has improved massively this season, before this season I would agree with you but this year he has been reliable up to his injury.
yes gills man ant dog, danny jackman is out of contract, but has this week gone on to say he'd like to stay if possible...though that was before hess stepped down. i'd offer simon king a pay as you play deal and get gavin tomlin signed up ! man dog it's also nice to see someone notices richards downfalls & playing style that will rub off on our young crop going forward jokeykid & hoadie...each to our own i guess, though time will tell...time the guy doesn't deserve...as we've seen with dennis oli
I agree that Richards isn't the most cultured centreback but I would argue that you don't need to be cultured in league 2. How many time have we seen teams simply lump long balls into the box, or get wide and swing crosses in to big lumps of forwards or forwards simply try to bully the defence? In these situations you need to fight brute force with brute force, which Richards has in spades. Against more skillful players he comes up short, as seen against some of the better teams we faced in L1 but skillful players aren't exactly two-a-penny in the basment division. Put simply Richards can do a solid job at this level. I agree that as you move up the divisions the effectiveness of the classic english centreback becomes less effective but we are in the championship anymore and we need to cut our cloth appropiately. I think the the limited resources we have would be better spent strenghtening other areas of the team as between Frampton, Richards, King and Essam we have sufficent cover at centreback. Give Richards a one-year contract so we can get rid if we go up. Look at back four we had under Pulis in our promotion season... not the most cultured defence I have seen but very effective at that level. Of course if Richards chooses not to sign a noew contract then we will have to look elsewhere but I warn you that the cultured centrebacks you crave are like rockinghorse poo at this level and don't come cheap, lets face it the only reason King is still here is because since his injury he is a shadow of the player he used to be.
RE: my comments on Garry Richards (and thanks GMAD for launching the offensive) are that yes, he's not exactly a `cultured` player but you really don't need to be at this level. The problem I have with pinning all our hopes on Simon King is that he's lost a lot of his pace over the last couple of years through the obvious injury problems he's had. His reading of the game and his awareness is second to none but if we try and push him too far, he'll break again and that will be that. Richards will be an adequate squad player at this level, no doubt about that. Those calling for Richards' and Frampton's head on a platter must really look at the bigger picture.
