In under one weeks time the first game back in League 1 will be over and we will have a much better idea how our season will be heading. Obviously everybody is entitled to their opinion about the way things have been this preseason and how we will do next season so I thought I would put together a (mostly) opinion free list of the positives and negatives going into the new season: Positives Stronger squad - Despite many people gripes about the strength of the playing squad going into the new season, it is important to note that the squad is stronger or at least of equal strength to the one that won League 2 convincingly. We may have lost Forecast, Frampton, Montrose, Payne and Burton but those players have been replaced to some extent and the vast majority of those who won the League one April afternoon will be available come Saturday. Cody McDonald - may seem strange to single out a certain player after already addressing the squad on the whole but Cody is something special. Arguably one of the most universally popular players to have played for the Gills in recent years is back at the club on a permanent contract. His goal scoring potential is undoubtable and will give us a real treat upfront that was occasionally lacking last year with Kedwell and Burton. Squad confidence - many people seem to have very quickly forgotten one of the greatest achievements in the clubs history, winning the League 2 title, thankfully it seems the squad hasn't and despite poor preseason results the mood will still be very positive on the back of a title win, seen in The Germans recent claim we will be in the playoff picture. Even if our own fans cant be positive, hopefully the eleven players who walk onto the pitch next week will be. Negatives Preseason form - even though myself and other fans have claimed that preseason doesn't matter at all, it is impossible to say that the preseason we have all witnessed has been reason for celebration. Many defeats and few victories has meant that many people have began to get quite nervous ahead of the new season as in some games (Millwall) the team have not even played particularly well and todays defeat to lowly Woking will have hardly have boosted the confidence. Pre-season is only a warm up for the real thing but it is hardly ideal to clatter into seemingly every hurdle, struggling to gain momentum, rather than gliding over increasingly difficult tests before flying into the new season all guns blazing. Midfield? - an area of concern for many a lost soul (or Gillingham fan), the strike force admittedly does bring around a slight faintness due to the level of excitement but the midfield and to some extent defence do the exact opposite. To describe the midfield cupboard as bare wouldn't be too far of the mark as both Payne and Montrose have left the club, Frampton chose to go to Wimbledon and the strange situation with Lee means that from last season we have lost 4 midfielders and only added one in Linganzi. Now I am no maths wizard but losing 4 and only adding 1 when going up a division is not a recipe for success. This combined with the apparent lack of budget for new faces make it quite nervy times as with under one week to go their seems to be no new signings on the horizon that could help solve this midfield conundrum. Budget blown - We may all debate signings and where money should go but honestly none of us know exactly what Martin was given to spend this summer, however we can all take a safe guess that their is little else but cobwebs left for new signings unless something happens with both Lee and Birch. The signings of a young striker who is still unproven in the german, a big target man in bayo, the raw potential of Linganzi and the goalscoring of ability of McDonald all sound decent additions but only adding 4 players seems quite risky especially when you take into account that more players have left than joined. It seems Allen is trapped in transfer limbo where he can't sign anyone else till players leave which is not a position you could like the manager to be trapped in. They are my positives and negatives, personally I'm not bothered about the pre-season results as I see pre-season as more a attempt to get players used to playing together and getting match fit once again rather than simply winning at all costs. Despite this I can sympathise with some fans issues and deep down they are niggling away at me but hopefully some positive news comes in this week in the form of signings and this time next year we can all panic about how our preparations for the Championship are going! UTG
gfclukey - well written. I have previously said that I am concerned with a lack of midfield creativity & a proper midfield 'General.' Possible answers to the midfield conundrum might be 1. Hoofball 2. A rapid distribution to quick wingers who can put in decent crosses for Cody/Bayo/Kedwell. As it stands, from what I have seen in pre-season, I don't think we'll be doing better than mid table. This won't be a disaster, but hardly in keeping with the claim by Scally that he wants to get the Club back into the Championship A.S.A.P.
very positive about the new season! Only negative is will Adam Barrett's arms be strong enough to lift the League One Trophy? Apparently, it's bigger than the League Two trophy!
Positives, We have"on paper" added some good players to the squad. negatives, Based on what I've seen having attended over half of the pre-season matches. Last seasons rock solid defence seem unable to recapture their form (or are league 2 level and no higher) Our strikers have failed to show much quality in-front of goal (bar the one who is on the transfer list)
