I was at the game tonight and for the second home match running I thought Montrose was top notch. He played some quality football just in front of the back 4 so I was surprised to see him come off. I Think the game changed and he was missed as his linking play between the back 4 and the front line was the difference. love to hear the views of others as for me he was the best player on the pitch All the above said I think MA is just brilliant and tonight's defeat is just one of those things can't win them all up the Gills
You are joking aren't you ? He was rubbish - especially his passing - and he can't run to save his life. There was a break on our goal in the 2nd half - where other defenders were rushing to get back to cover -Montrose galloped like a horse in a dressage competition. The only surprise was that he lasted so long before being taken off. Montrose has improved this season - and I have given him praise - but - give me Jack Payne any day.
Montrose is the new Adam Miller, an easy target for criticism. Again and again people ignore his work rate and effort to win the ball. His tackling is great but his touch can be poor, same as most league 2 players... I think he should have stayed on last night, a CDM is an asset at this level, it does not lead to the most exciting play but gives a strong anchor in the middle. Having said that it looks like Wright is coming back.
It was Montrose that supplied the superb through ball for Whelpdale's opening goal of the game. Let us put this in perspective a bit, we were losing 1-2 at the time of the substitution. Romain Vincelot his replacement conceded the penalty and picked up a booking. We still went on to concede further despite the substitution.
I wasn't at the game so I can't confirm whether he played well there or not but tbh in that position I still prefer Jack Payne over Monty. When I have seen Monty there he's done ok but never seemed to be able cut out the play as much as what the defensive midfielder should. I think we are seriously missing David Wright at the moment though. His ability to cut out passes is far too good for this level and if we could get him back then I think we will be away and sailing again. Also just to compare to 2009 quickly. Towards the end of the season was when we started to look a real powerhouse in the league. One of the reasons I personally feel that happened was due to the signing of Joshua Wright. He severley calmed our team down and allowed Lewis and Weston to be able to play higher up the pitch and still be able to give the defenders some extra cover. This just shows that having an able Defensive Mid at this level is key to a promotion winning team (or a Gillingham promotion winning team anyway).
Now I am nowhere near Lewis Montrose's biggest fan, howevever 'alwaysright' on this occassion you most certainly are not right. I thought Montrose did very well last night, which surprised me as i thought Sat was a one off. He calmed things down, kept it simple, linked defence with attack and broke up play, granted he can't head the ball to save his life but there is no doubt that there is some correlation between us playing well when he was on the pitch and poorly when he was subbed. To be honest, and I have raised this point before, it concerns me how much Martin rates his son who in my opinion is inept at this level. He runs around like a headless chicken unable to keep shape (something Montrose did especially well last night) and offers very little going forward other then a change of pace, but what is the use in a change of pace when you're running down a blind alley? Martin seems to have a reticence to sub his son and starts him in far more games then he deserves to be started in, a bit worrying to be honest as it ould suggest Charlie will start in the big games when clearly he is out of his depth. Last night, quite simply wasn't good enough and we are on a poor run of form at the moment, regardless of results. The FA Cup game has been our only good performance in recent weeks other than 1 half against Cheltenham. Im not complaining about it as we are bound to go through bad patches, we just need to put things right with a tough run of games coming up, I don't like the look of Accrington and Rotherham away one after the other.
Montrose was the pick of the midfield last night and it was madness to take him off (although he had had a quiet 5 mins beforehand). Contrast Montrose's contribution with the error strewn effort of Vincelot for the second game running. Allen junior never got into the game and Charlie Lee was up to his old tricks-a yellow and the free kick from which Exeter scored. But in their defence Alleen and Lee were rusty and it was foolish to reintroduce both of them in the same line up. All this can be remedied of course with some selection consistency and there is no need for panic or shopping--just choose the best XI and stick with them whoever the XI are.
GillsmanAntDog I know that I'm not 'alwaysright' ! I responded to Whitstablegills assessment that Montrose was 'top notch,' - giving my opinion on the performance of Montrose ( whom I have praised, in this forum, more than once this season. ) To be fair to Montrose he was not on his own as far as the list of underachievers against Exeter is concerned. This list probably includes most of the outfield players - and some of our members have given their opinion about certain individuals. I do not really want to expand on these, suffice to remind you of my sentiments in this paragraph. I did pick up on one passage of play - when Montrose infuriated me for not busting himself to get back to cover. I will not apologise for comparing him to a dressage prancing horse. His lethargy lacked passion. I know that brb reminds us that it was the through ball from Montrose that led to the Whelpdale - goal ( yes, I did see it ) - but to be honest ( as pointed out by brb) Whelpdale had no right to get to that ball - let alone score ! - so the 'assist' by Montrose rather flatters him. Also - so as not to single out Montrose - Kedwell's avoidable mistake which led to the winning goal hardly thrilled me. The whole team needs to raise their game - we have been fortunate in the last few results that we have not lost too much ground that we have made - other teams have dropped points, and we're still in a healthy position - lets not lose it. See you at Accrington. UTG
I did not like Montrose but I can see he is getting better, his passing can either be shocking or top class and he showed both sides last night, he works so hard and tries his hardest, I think he is the type of player who will try to play the ball through whether or not a player is there which is a problem but then on the good side he can set up a great goal like he did with that great through ball.
When Montrose went off we had no defensive midfielders on ,which played into Exeters hands. Allen said after we were to gun ho but he changed the team. Payne played 90 mins yesterday in the development team. Will he play again for the Gills? We certaintly could have done with him. I expect Wright to come back.
