Ok yes I am aware that I do bleat on about the shortsightedness and hypocracy of football fans alot, but I am assuming now that with that one win last night everything is rosey in the Gillingham garden once more, Allen has gone from suffering a bout of "MA"dness and is once again the tactical genius he appeared to be at the start of the season, and of course that promotion is a foregone conclusion and we will finish the rest of the season without dropping another point... yes of course I am exaggerating for comic affect but hopefully now people can see that the patch of bad form we were going through, was just that and not some monumental slide that would see us relegation fodder come May.
Well said, hopefully brb will stop his tiresome 'players are old' or 'rotation, thoughts?' posts and give MA some well deserved lavish praise. Go on you know you want to!!!
As I said yesterday........he has gone from the Monty Python "very naughty boy to Messiah...." A look at the table does reveal a 'what could have been'.....with possibly Northampton Town's home record as an example. A team that performs as well away as it does SHOULD be delivering at home too. That is not to say that I am ungrateful......just as long as the points keep piling up. Yes....promotion is the goal....but to go up as champions would taste soooooooooo good.
The trouble is the MAdness (copyright bristol407) still exists, however, last night he actually called it right, before the game, after the half time interval and during the game, up until the close of play. Whereas the previous game it was wrong before the word 'GO'. I do not believe this to be hypocrisy (in humour accepted) or any other word than 'realistic'. I said on another thread last night, at half time I spoke to my son about what we would do in the second half, particularly with the worry of the driving wind and rain possibly favouring Northampton, although it was swirling around so much who could tell. Our observations were do NOTHING, no changes, just keep doing what we are doing but actually take your time to do everything. MA did NOTHING so he got that bit immediately right in my eyes, then players such as Charlie Lee were gamely using the time wisely on the throw-ins, none of the normal rush in appalling conditions. We got everything spot on. If you want me to comment on recent departures, nothing changes from my previous opinions and I could ADD a few other observations. Last night though was about enjoying being top and giving due applause for an all round performance, the hypocrisy would only exist if I changed my views to which I do not. I've always been consistent, I noticed people praising Framps last night, er hello, who was the one supporter on here than continually praised him on seasons gone by, just ask Hoadie on that one - lol - in the same way I praised Rooney My views do not change, I am just consistent in how I apply them. When we get promoted. Notice I said 'when' - I will enjoy probably even more than the next supporter but at least I will be able to hold my head up in the knowledge I was not like the changing of the wind and remained true to my opinion. It is down to MA if he proves me wrong but it is not just about yesterday but two years from now, then judgements/hypocrisy of it can be called. Breeeeath.
I've just seen posted elsewhere actually about how one result can turn the whole thing around. After Saturday, I too was wondering what had happened to our form? Why are we going so badly after doing so well? But, having won last night.... Take a look at our last 5 results. Impressed? I am. Take a look at our last 8 results. Impressed? I am. In case you haven't seen them. Last 5 W3 D1 L1 Last 8 W4 D2 L2 Both of those runs, if extended over a season are promotion form. The 2 losses and 2 draws have been at home and we all know that our home form has been atrocious for a promo-chasing side. But the fact is, our form overall is pretty damn good. We have also in those last 8 games, played 5 sides who were/are in the top 4 or 5. Fleetwood, Rotherham, Southend, Port Vale and Northampton. I could go further and say that when we played them, Southend were unbeaten in 8 and Northampton had won 5 out of 6. Both very in-form teams. Even York have only lost 3 away all season. And take a look at Barnets results lately. They have beaten Rovrum & Bradford and drawn with Exeter. They are no longer push-overs. Bearing in mind the thread title, I'd like to remind people of that old adage - Things are never as bad as they seem and they are never as good as they seem. Lets just try to remember we are following a division 4 side. There are going to be ups and downs. So don't get suicidal or euphoric until the final whistle blows at the end of the season. Keeps those mood swings in check
I don't think there is going to be a huge mood change on last night's performance pleasing as it was to get a win against the "form" team. The two factors which brought home the points were first of all an astonishing error to gift Cody that first goal at the start of the game. Second some quite incredible misses from half a dozen goal scoring chances for Northampton in the first half. Gills controlled the second half with some comfort but it was a close game and if at half time Northampton had been a couple of goals up, as they should have been, it would have been a different story and a very different mood. There were distinct signs of sanity returning to MA though. First of all his team selection was sane given the self imposed folly of dispensing with real choice of midfielders. The big gambles were Frampton and Gregory. Frampton had a blinder and was stand out MoM for me. Gregory put in a really useful shift even if he did make Montrose look elegant in the process. What was more interesting was the formation. No fancy diamonds shapes with people unsuited for their role, just a straightforward 4-4-2 or was it 4-2-4 with Lee and Weston using the wings. It seemed to me that the opposing fullbacks, instead of marking Fish and Martin, had to mark Lee and Weston which gave Gills fullbacks free reign to support the attack which has been missing in the last couple of months. This may have been tactical genius by MA or it might have been a solution to recent woes which he has stumbled across inadvertently. Time will tell. The back four were solid, the midfield functional, the front two very quiet but McDonald looked sharp. Overall the XI got used to each other as the match progressed and looked strong in the second half. The key question is can Frampton maintain that level of performance and can MA resist destabilising the team by changing it. I doubt if many would mind seeing Kedwell selected ahead of Burton but MA would be wise to remember the maxim "never change a winning team" even if he signs someone before tomorrow. Last night's team would beat Wycombe but the risk of MAdness intervening must be high.
Please note I didn't accuse any individual of hypocracy, but lets not forget earlier in the season there were disccussion about how many points we would drop this season, and now there are discussion about if we can achieve automatic promotion at all!! Now this is a specific question for brb and Bristol, nothing personal but they have provided statements that I would like to seek further clarification. You have both stated that you feel that MA has made error in terms of team selection and letting players leave the club and have criticised him for those percieved errors. What I would like to know is what does he have to do to placate you and assure you that his changes are for the betterment of the club? The club is as high in the league as it possible could be at this moment in time, with a healthy lead over the 4th place team, a position many team would bite the proverbial hand off for. brb you make a very valid point that the success/failure of Allen's reign should be judged in the long term and not on the basis of one or two results, which I whole heartedly agree with, but yet you are criticising team policy and tactic over the last few home games, surely you should reserve judgement given you two year arguement? Bristol, during the excellent form of the start of the season, you were a leading voice in the "lets not get too carried away" faction, againI position I agreed with. However, since the dip in form I feel you have become a leading in voice in the "doom and gloom" faction and are guilty in my humble opinion of becoming "carried away" with the poor form and not being the voice of reason you were during the early season.
brb - I do love your comment 'however, last night he actually called it right'. Talk about damming with faint praise. Lets be honest if your top of the league your manager is probably calling most of his tactical decisions correctly. I would much rather a manager that is prepared to make changes, rather than play the same side irrespective of the opposition and never make any substitutions until the 80th minute.
BSG - I suppose the problem for me is if I waited two years as you rightly pick me up on, that could then see me as a hypocrite (not suggesting comments are aimed at me) because I praise the guy for two years, then stab him in the back when he has gone. Double edged sword I suppose. Better still that I make my opinions known now and then I am the one that can be judged on my comments in the future. Let us remember, I got it wrong about Fish, some would say I got it wrong about Rooney. I still do not believe I got it wrong about Rooney but hands up I made a bad judgement on Fish. That is opinions in the same way as idle chatter down the pub. Lenny and others will quite rightly pick me up on those debates but it would be a boring world without them. Looking forward to the next 18 games and seeing what the mood brings - joke on that last bit but expect more opinions.
If we didn't have mood swings or differences of opinion it would be a boring world and a very sad Not606 site. If nothing else, GFC certainly manages to stir the passions. Long may it continue........
You know something, this is what I like about this site. People have differences of opinions, air them, counter opinions come in but no one gives abuse. Long may it continue. Oh I'm gonna hold my hands up and say was wrong in a previous post. brb I don't actually think you got it wrong Rooney. I think Rooney got it wrong and messed things up, he till has time to sort things out, and I admire that you stand by your opinion although I'm not sorry he left.
BSG I am hugely flattered that you read any of my posts let alone remember them! Sadly I have just bust my laptop charging socket and only have a few minutes of power left (a bit like Deon Burton) . Not 606 always seems to not welcome contributions on other machines so I fear I am silenced for a few days otherwise I would gladly respond to your kind invitation.
I've had very little opportunity to watch Gills this season - I'm even going to be otherwise engaged next Monday, which I think is the televised game. Therefore all I can go on are the results and the comments from this board and others regarding the quality of the performances. Of course the results are the most important, but at the beginning of the season we seemed to be winning whist also playing attractive football. I have become increasingly concerned by the number of changes in playing staff that have been made since the beginning of the season. I believe that MA is supposed to putting together a squad that will at least survive and hopefully compete in L1, but I would question whether those changes have, overall, actually resulted in the squad being better and stronger now than the one that started the season. Certainly there have been improvements - notably Leon Legge and of course Cody MacDonald (I acknowledge that I expressed concern that he MIGHT not reproduce the form he showed the last time he was here, and without seeking to further justify that comment, it is still early days) - but I'm far from convinced that the squad now represents a significant improvement, if an improvement at all. Also I must share brb's concern that a number of promising young players have been replaced with 'experienced' players. Whilst this might achieve short term objectives, i.e. promotion, I certainly don't consider it building for the future. Club finances in recent years have been strengthened by the sale of good young players who have earned their spurs in the first team, the notable exception being Ryan Bertrand. However we now seem to be letting young players go without giving them the opportunity to show their talents even at L2 level, and whilst we might get some income from sell-ons if they succeed at their new clubs I would question whether the long term financial benefits will be the same as if we developed them ourselves. I'm more than willing to allow the rest of the season to proceed and see where we are at the end of May, and, more importantly, this time next year. But unless there are some very deep pockets behind PS I don't think we can afford to keep on letting potentially promising young players out of our grasp.
