Crawley have signed Wes Thomas today and It seems we were after him, he would have been good for us I think, Crawley seem to be building up an amazing team, Probably the biggest team of quality players ever to come into the Football league as many people will expect them to be one of the favorites to win our league along with us. Hope we can finish top, But first, Just beg we can bring in some good players. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13608770.stm
Hoadie.........no one wants to come to Gillingham. Full stop. Crawley ....ambitious and have the desire to invest and succeed despite having a tiny ground with limited capacity. Gillingham.....bum hole of Kent. Decent sized ground (can never fill it). Over charged fans. Short changed on investment, information or encouragement. I escaped many years ago but still make it to home games when I am not working overseas and living on the south coast in Sussex. I feel the pain when Gills lose at home to no hoper teams below us and also feel the pain when Mr Scally ( who I thank for saving our team) remains silent. Makes you wonder if it is worth supporting the Gills anymore. I live 25 miles from the new Brighton stadium.......perhaps I should take a look in there. Trouble is, it wasn't long ago that Brighton were the whipping boys for the Gills.
It’s not surprising that Crawley Town are signing new players and quality ones at that. If you were a player and had to decide between a team that has severe wage restraints and massive budget cuts, or one that as far as this Division is concerned, where money is no object? It’s a no brainer! However, all new teams have to settle in and need to be motivated, perhaps, not only by money and this where a Manager earns his crust. It is still possible for us to get promoted even with the squad that we currently have (there goes another pig flying by my window!) but the players need to be coached and motivated to do so. On the other hand, you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear!!
We cannot get promoted with the current squad. If we buy a goalscorer, a good keeper, and a good pacey winger, then maybe...
I am in total agreement with Steve, whilst we have the nucleus of a reasonable team, without the addition of 5 first team players (Keeper, Centre Half (unless Simon King makes a miraculous recovery), Centre Mid and 2 strikers) we are looking at lower mid table. Starting 11 GK - New RB - Fuller (but not capt) CB - Lawrence (Capt) CB - New (Or King if fit) LB - Martin DM - Payne CM - New CM - Jackman AM - Weston AT - New AT - New Bench, Richards, Spiller, Rooney, Oli, Hawkes, Davies, Miller
I agree with kentish, if he can bang them in for fun with the reserves i'm sure he could do some damage in league two against some very poor defences if paired with a big centre forward or another decent strike partner. Although i'd definitely agree that we are in need of some pace in the midfield, a goalie or 2 and a couple of centre forwards, Rene Howe and Ashley Grimes would be a great shout in my opinion. Lloyd Owusu/Marvin morgan may be a more realistic cheaper pair to bring in though?
think most gills fans are willing to give s.payne a chance but only if we cant bring in a more proven goal scorer or someone with a little more league experience. not to sure about the need for a cm as we have j.payne, spiller, weston, rance and even jackman and thats if maher doesnt sign. the more pressing need is for an out and out winger with pace to compete with oli (if he can stay fit) and rooney. espically seeing as it seems that all the good strikers on a free seem to fall into the big man category thus we need people to getr down the channels and whip balls in for what could well be a 2 big man strike force to attack
I must admit I didnt see enough of Stefan last season to make a judgement, but will admit I should have remembered we had him and put him on the bench, I didnt know that he was stop scorer for the reserves. Rene Howe is an interesting one I thought he was effective as a support striker alongside Jackson, but would he score enough goals, Lloyd Owusu is very experienced but chose Luton over us before and I cant see us stumping up any more money in terms of wages than we offered before, Morgan apprarently has a bit of an attitude, so for me Ashley Grimes is the one I would most like to see join, but somehow I fear that he will be offered more elsewhere as well. There were a number of strikers in the conference who scored 15+ goals last season, and some of the names such as Mangan at Fleetwood have scored regularly for a few seasons, and I think that we may do better with a hungry non league player than with players who have been released and are just looking for "another" contract
Jokey, I am making the assumption that Maher does not sign, would like to think that if he was staying we would have signed on the dotted line by now, I dont no if the club have put a date on when we want a decision by, but I guess that now they are actually out of contract we can withdraw our offer at anytime? I would be concerned that a midfield containing 3 from Weston, Payne, Spiller and Jackman, and then a winger, is too lightweight, I dont much about Rance so cant comment, but I feel that we need a big strong sitting midfield player, (for those who remember someone in the Sean Gregan mould who played in that role for Preston in there promotion seasons) in order to give us a bit of presence in the middle of the park. Another idea would be to go bcak to the Pulis plan and play with 3 centre halves and get the width from the full backs, but I fear then that we would need 2 centre halfs and a pair of speedy wing backs!
its a fair point you make about size actually hadnt thought about that. i mean spiller likes to put himself about and certainly doesnt shy away from a tackle. this is where i think letting bently go was a big mistake, espically considering we are slimming down the squad. even if he didnt play from the start as a player to have on the bench that could fill in in 5 different spots on the field would surely be an advantage. so maybe finiding someone in a similar mould to him who maybe plays cm/dm as their first role would be the answer along with the other requirements
Kentish Man, I agree with you too, Whelpdale would be a very welcome addition...I am sorrry for rather monopolising the board this afternoon (it is very slow at work!). But one thing we haven't mentioned in regards to signings is bringing in a couple of good quailty loan signings as Cody proved last season this can be very rewarding and hopefully messrs Hess, Hendon and Scally are using there extensive list of contacts to bring us at least 2 good quality season long loan players..
I'd be very surprised if Whelpdale does sign for the Gills when Crawley Town FC are beckoning. Loan players might be an option but come next season should we not go up (again) and the loan signings do well, then,like Cody they will be off and who can blame them and we will b back to square one.A better option might be to get an established squad and tie some tried and tested players to at least a 2 year contract at least. I know the budget is very limited and the season is only a few weeks over, but the fans rightfully expect some news and communication from the Club that they love and support. The Club always ask the loyal fans to respond when things get tough so why should it be different the other way around? The fans are loyal and patient but in this economic climate they will not continually dip into their pockets each week to watch mediocre football. They will "vote" with their feet!
