Back home in Buckingham! Thought we played some decent football on a difficult pitch and deserved the win! Danny Kedwell was brilliant today! Linked everything up superbly! Deserves a load of credit! My man of the match!
Gillingham 2-1 Plymouth (A GREAT DAY) What a great day it was, a great game and a great atmosphere. Everything was brilliant and I am so happy after this game and with every game was like this. We were in control all through the game and looked so much better, all the players put in shift and players like German and Dack should be very proud as well as Whelpdale. You could tell straight from the start who was the better team and we played with so much more confidence and upped the performance a few levels and played so much better than we have been of late. German was great; he has so much pace and a great little striker who I did not expect to be that good. Straight from the start you could tell he was good but he got better and better as he got into the game but I was worried when he picked up a knock that he may have to go off but he run it off and continued to play brilliantly and deserves the goal he got and is unlucky not to have 2 to his name. We closed players down so much better as we had not been doing that enough in the past but today we were so much better. It is a shame that we did not win by more than 1 goal but it don’t matter, we won and others didn’t and we find ourselves in an unthinkable position where we are so close to promotion now. I will now rate each player individually; Nelson 7- He done what he needed to do, there was not too much but he did make some top saves to show that he is the best keeper in this league, shame he conceded but the goal he let in was of a good standard. Fish 7- He was good going forward and running with the ball and he got back and was part of our strong back four which was not going to let Plymouth have much of a chance. He and Martin both done well getting forward as well as at the back and I could not fault any of them. Legge 7- Another top performance by the excellent Leon Legge, what a signing he has been, he is amazing in the air and can even run with the ball, he commands defence and makes sure that we stay strong. Barrett 7- Another top performance by Barrett as well as Legge, Fish and Martin, I was really happy with him, he did not let them through and also went close with a shot. Martin 8- He was great today, running forward and also at the back doing his job very well, one of his better performances today in my opinion and I am really happy with how he worked with the other 3 at the back. Gregory 7- He was great today, worked hard and looked comfortable, he did not let the nerves get to him and he is a good player and even though he does make the odd mistake he is a good player and I like him in midfield now as he is getting better and better. Whelpdale 8- He was on form today and it was a shame to see him get injured (I hope it is not bad) he worked very hard and kept getting forward, run himself in to trouble at times but taking that away from it he was really good and also got a tap in which is good as it is a goal and another one for him and he deserves that. Robinson 9- He was brilliant today, we have to sign him. By watching him closely you can see he is a top class player, passing is good and dribbling is good, he is very intelligent and he knows what he is doing. I think he is getting better and better and he seems to be a top player in an attacking midfield position who would be a great signing, he works very hard and also gets back to get the ball and the amount of times he won the ball was amazing. He is a very good box to box player who I like to see in the team and is one great player that we need to keep hold of. Dack 9- Another player who had a top game and I was happy to see him start as he deserved it as he is a top player and he should be in the team now as he offers something that we are missing. He was great getting forward and is very good at passing and running through players, I think he is a top player and he was brilliant today, all he needed for a 10 out of 10 is a goal to show for his efforts but he did not get that as he done more today to set up others and as well as that he is good at taking free kicks. Kedwell 7- He worked hard all day long and it is a shame that he did not get a goal but other than a goal I could not ask for much more because he run and run and run and even though he did not go that close to getting a goal he was very important today like he normally is and I think he should remain in the team ahead of Burton as he works harder than him. Kedwell kept running after the ball and seemed to work very well with German and linked well with others. He kept running back and forward and won the ball a few times and passed through to others very well. German 9.5- It is nearly a 10, I am shocked by how good he was, I don’t know how many times he come close to getting a goal before he got one but he kept going and going and he was unlucky it was not 2 with the one that Whelpdale tapped in after he hit the post. He is great at running and keeping the ball and is also good in the air and landing the ball and seems to have a good shot and would work well for us if we were to keep him longer. I think he is much better than what I expected and I think it was good to take him off as he should play Tuesday as well and he deserves that place in the team after what he done. You can take away the goal and he was brilliant and I personally would have named him man of the match as he was top class. Subs East 6- He looks a good player in the time that he was on but he did not do that much so I can’t really rate him higher than that but I would like to see more of him. Richardson 6- First touch of the ball was not good but after that he got better and he seems like someone who likes to get stuck in and someone who would be good to see in the team more as he looks a good midfielder in my opinion, passing and tacking is good and he seems strong. Burton 6-Did not do much and lost the ball once or twice and should have done better, I think Kedwell deserves to be in the team ahead of him as he is not doing that well lately. Man of the match- I think that German was man of the match as he was immense but Dack was not far behind and with a goal I would agree with him being man of the match but I think German done a bit more, I think that it was a massive team effort and everyone deserves praise after that as they all put in a great performance and I am proud to be a Gills fan. Also have to add, what a turnout with over 10,000 in Priestfield today. I have to say that is amazing.
I think you are getting carried away with German, Hoadie. He had a reasonable game but he missed a couple of sitters and was bundled off the ball far too easily. If Whelpdale had not spared his blushes by rescuing a goal from German's miss, we would have been baying for his blood . For my money, Kedwell and Dack were head and shoulders above the rest of them today.
bristol407 - don't be too critical of Hoadie. He's expressing what we all feel - a sense of relief that the whole team put on a display for which the fans have had to wait a long time. I ditto'd your previous post -but I am sure that you must be a little more assured of our prospects after todays performance. Hoadie's emotions have allowed him to be slightly generous with his ratings - but let's not dwell on Hoadie's benevolent nature - but on the display by our team - a performance for which members in this forum have been begging for ages.
I would not argue always. My only worry is that we might all be becoming too positive after becoming conditioned to the truly dire entertainment that has been put before us over the last few months at Priestfield. There is a stunning irony in being top of the table after the garbage we have been served up. But, who cares. Deserved or not, promotion is even more of a cert, and what we saw today was easy on the eye and a corner seems to have been turned. Who would think that such an improvement could be achieved by simply encouraging the midfield to operate just inside the opposition half rather than just inside their own?
If we have Dack and Weston in the team we should have more purpose and not be so one dimention at least at home.
I think German showed real promise and hopefully he continues, I may have over rated him but he did work really hard and it was a great team performance.
Good workman like team effort in my view and that includes the fans who got behind the team from start to finish. I think Hoadie's views on German are not far from the mark, he worked hard presented as intelligent and linked up well. Need to also consider he has had little first team football and he is new to the team so hopefully he will improve. For me the man of the match was Dack he was in my view brilliant and one of the best performances I have seen from a midfield player for some time . Pleasing also that a close second was Robinson. If these two play like this for the rest of the season and the back four remain consistent and German continues to play like he did we have good reason to be hopeful!
Yeah I was so much happier with how midfield improved as I had been saying we should drop Lee and play Dack for a while and it looks like it works.
