Merry Christmas to all. The season has been very dramatic, to say the least. But we are the faithful and the Gills's life must go on. In the last match we played, when we scored the third goal, I cheered SOOO LOUDDDDD. Why? not because we knocked out a side in the dying seconds, BUT HOW the goal was scored. It was at last a pice of class, a goal worthy of the recent world cup. I have been banging on all season, there is talent hidden in this side and one day we would see it. Now with a couple of fixtures postponed due to frost, we have had enough break to get on with the Xmas and New Year fixtures. A Massive 6-pointer Boxing Day and see,s us climb out of the bad zone. 29th away to Sutton and I am sure a HUGE away victory and now ebbing towards the middle of the table. And then the BIG ONE on the 2nd of January, this will show us how we will progress, and we owe them one . Well once again a MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, have a great time with those closest to you and stay safe UTG
Merry Christmas Lenny and Everyone Gills put up a good fight against Wolves last night, to hold out for so long, which once again proves my theory that Neil Harris is more styled to dealing with bigger teams, than the dross that exists in L2. I'm not a fan of the recent cold and snow, so envy your warmer climes Lenny, although the temp has risen this week, and hopefully we will see Christmas out with no more freezing temps. Shortest day of the year today, (breaks out into song) so things can only get better Enjoy All.
Merry Christmas everyone. Hopefully Santa will deliver some investment so we can shop for better quality players in the January sales.
@alwaysright got a Christmas pressie for you... https://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/news/2022/december/club-statement---23.12.22/ Sadly the ghost of Christmas past mantains a minority holding.
The takeover has got to be good news... Doing nothing - just carrying on as we were was only going to lead to a (( not-so )) slow death. I was actually serious in the thread 'things could be worse.' - I genuinely feared for the very existence of the Club. Now the hard work begins. The league position is still perilous - but - there are enough games to turn things around, and retain EFL status... This WILL depend on decent player recruitment in January - so, hopefully the new Chairman not follow the example of Ebenezer Scally ! There may be sceptics of the takeover - with claim that the property developer will turn Priestfield into a building project if things get worse - Indeed, even I have feared the same fate ....... but- allow me to be more positive for a change - If Scally had remained in charge, GFC would definitely not exist next season... There is much to put right ... There is no guarantee of recovery... but- it would seem that we may have found a proper Doctor - rather than a 'quack.'... The Fairy Godmother may have delivered a 'golden goose.'... I just hope that the pantomime horse isn't being allowed to bleed dry the sick cash cow.
@alwaysright @Lord Sondes Clock I'm going to do a thread and a write up on this sometime, but I just thought Christmas wasn't the right time to do it, nor was it right for this sthread, as it's going to be a bit of war and peace - I've got a bee in my bonnet and the only way to get rid of it, is to do what my mate @alwaysright does, and let it all out in words. Hopefully it will make interesting reading, if it don't at least it will make me feel better. It's going to be on the scale of my Youth v Experience write up many years ago. please log in to view this image
I'm too upset and angry ... ((( with myself - for wasting my time ))), to get into an argument. SACK THE WHOLE LOT OF THEM -- ALL, ALL ALL OF THEM... NOT ONE FIT TO WEAR THE SHIRT.
Ok, regardless of my opinion on Harris, this is the dilemma we have at the moment... We have a new owner, who I believe is travelling to the UK in January, so I think it's a fair assumption to make, possibly in time for the Leicester game on the 7th January? I think I'm also correct in saying that the transfer window opens on the 1st January 2023 until the 31st Jan. The new owner, I have it at a guess will not know much about Neil Harris, dependent on prior contact, although it wouldn't take much to gather performance stats within the States from online material and they aint going to make pretty reading. Also we know nothing of the new owners business style or how ruthless he may or may not be. Now before I go on, I don't know what Paul Scally's shareholding is, so I don't know what influence he has on decisions or whether he still remains as having an active part within the club regarding it's running and that of people's employment. So first question from me, if Neil is sacked who will sack him...Paul or Brad? If the latter, how would that be done? I ask that because if we are going to seriously venture into the transfer market, we've got around five weeks to do it in or only possbily four by the time Brad flies over. That is not a criticism. Edit: Could Fish sack him? Surely for whoever is going to manage the club after January, they are the manager that needs the budget, but it can take four to five weeks to take on a new manager, if that is the route we are going, UNLESS they already have another managerial candidate lined up, but there has been no vibes in that direction. Can you see the dilemma lads, and what do you think the answers to it might be?
Sorry mate, we're going up market now with our billionaire in control, this isn't going to be a club run by a cook mate that's a mere millionaire, we may be National League fodder at the moment, but we're going onto bigger things like Champions League glory. Read it and weep my friend, read it and weep, our time has come! please log in to view this image
I've calmed down --- a bit ! When I said '' sack the lot- ALL are not fit to wear the shirt '' I wasn't being overdramatic - or making a knee-jerk reaction to the latest painful defeat by The Gills.... ... in 60 years of supporting GFC, I have seen plenty of painful defeats... I have seen Gills every relegation season in the EFL structure - so failure is something very familiar to me, and none of it is ever very pleasant. It could be argued that a team will 'fail' and / or get relegated, because the players are not good enough.. This accusation would be a fair assessment of the entire current squad.. (( and not a reflection of personal character off the pitch. )) I don't think it would be too difficult for any of the players to humbly accept their individual lack of ability -- and even that trait is not a reason why I would 'condemn' them ! Many Gills teams, over the 60 season I have had (( too few pleasure )) to experience, have been lacking in quality...This season, Gills seem to have a group of players who don't know how to score.... Earlier in the season, we had a sequence of 5 games without a league goal... Currently, we are in a sequence of 7 games without a league goal - the worst sequence since even before I started to go to Priestfield....The current goal drought shows no sign of ending ! A very worrying feature of both the aforementioned goalless sequences, is the alarming lack of chances that have ( not ) been created - virtually non existent - or actually non existent... which hasn't been helped by the poor percentage of possession - even against the mighty non-league teams that Gills have faced in cup competitions this season..... and let's mention these in a little greater detail - Gills may have managed to get a couple of wins against 'inferior' opponents - but - let's not kid ourselves - the victories were 'scraped' together - and very unflattering - including equalisers deep into stoppage time - with possession stats that embarrassed us.... There was much about which Gills should feel ashamed even in those very hollow victories....but - I am NOT angry because Gills were embarrassed by non league teams ! So - why am I so pi55ed off ? I can take failure by The Gills (( I have had plenty of practise. )) I can accept the limited level of general overall quality throughout the team -- we are not World -beaters !... I am realistic about the level at which Gills will perform within the EFL structure ....... although, we have the prospect of (( potentially )) real budget for player recruitment, there may be hope to raise my expectations --- we will see how 'aggressive', Mr. Galinson intends to be next month !........ ...... I can forgive ALL of the failures I have pointed out - and all of the negative accusations I have mentioned - BUT what I WLL NEVER FORGIVE - is the lack of commitment, and ANYTHING less than 100% effort... In previous 'failed' seasons, generally the fault lay with the inability to outscore the opponent - so as to be able to secure divisional status... But- the subtle difference was that, in those 'failed' seasons, the team could usually be relied upon to score a 'few' goals -- it was our defensive frailties that was the problem...Even when we were losing, there was always some hint of hope that we were trying to avoid a disaster------ NOT THIS SEASON ! What I saw today, wasn't just a group of men who have virtually no ability (( forgivable)) - who will struggle to make any attempt at a shot ((forgivable)) - let alone on target -- and, please - don't expect a goal anytime soon ! (( forgivable - but extremely painful ))... ......What I have seen today - and on TOO many occasions this season, was a bunch of uninterested individuals who know that they're useless (( as footballers )) - who know that come next month they're going to be Yanked out of Priestfield - and who couldn't be bothered to make any real effort to challenge the 2nd worst team in the entire EFL - who had achieved only 1 point from their previous 10 away league games. The lack of effort by the team was a disgrace.... It was more **** than their combined quality... it was unforgivable... It was ALL of them... SACK THE LOT sorry - did I say that I had calmed down ?
We’re between a rock and a hard place. I don’t think Harris will survive the rest of the season as I have no confidence in his ability to coach, motivate or set up a team to win, even if a dozen established championship players joined next month. Unless a new manager is set up and ready to be appointed this week, I fear Harris will be here through the transfer window. If someone else is waiting in the wings however, the crumb of comfort in yesterday’s absolute pile of dog-doings is that it provided complete justification (not that any more was needed in truth) for Harris to be shown the door.
