Well i have to admit i didn't see that result coming sounded like a smash and grab but great resilience and only a 6th clean sheet of the season. Good to see Hewitt in the holding roll as he has been poor at right back lately. Hopefully we can enjoy the rest of the season now and no more doom and gloom. Lets give Taylor some credit for turning this season around.
Wow where did that result come from? After Saturday you could only see a comfortable MK Dons win.But as we say a lot this is typical Gillingham! I listened on Gillsplayer and it was all MK Dons,they put us under a lot of pressure.We defended brilliant as a Team and got a smash and grab win,which is a massive result for us.I think we probably only need 4 points max to stay up now.I`m pleased ***an scored as he has been getting a bit of stick,but he hasn`t been playing in his best position upfront much.We can now enjoy the 11 day break and look forward to Rotherham at Home now without worrying about our position. Credit to the 341 Gills fans that made the trip,they made a decent amount of noise on Gillsplayer.
I don't think there has been any doom and gloom just realistic reporting, Saturday was as poor a performance as last night was good, last night 11 players ran, fought, battled as a unit. 3 points and a clean sheet away from home was an excellent result and leaves us on the brink of safety, we now have a weekend off to get over the bug that has been sweeping through the squad and prepare for Rotherham.
I totally agree grumpy and if we had not given five points away at Bradford and at home in a dire performance against Crewe we would be in the position that I said was possible some weeks back...verge of the playoffs. PT's been playing the negative or cautious approach in my opinion for safety. It's not about doom and gloom, it's about being honest in what we see. So in the reverse scenario, what do the supporters do, say oh well we are virtually safe now, no point the day trippers paying £20+ a throw. I want 100% commitment every time and we clearly did not get that at Crewe, whereas Notts County last night clearly exploited the weaknesses that we failed to identify on Saturday. Yeah ok Notts County are fighting for survival, but then so should everyone of our players, because come the end of the season some certainly need shipping out regardless of the this result against MKD. I can't comment on last night's game and any subsequent due praise before anyone starts because i was working. But well done on the three points lads.
I'd say there certainly has been doom and gloom. A bit on here and a lot on the other sites. I'm all for the realistic comments grumps. But sometimes (after a defeat and inept performance) posters slate off all the players, tactics, manager, substitutions etc. Wrong players were chosen, wrong positions, players didn't try, no effort etc. Why is it never that the opposition played well, or we had an off day? the bounce of the ball or just that we were 2nd best on the day. Players can certainly have an off day that is nothing to do with their own effort or skill level. Yesterday v MK, virtually the same team played as v Crewe (I think). I doubt many people agreed with the starting X1, and there were no subs used. If we had lost, or if MK had got a late equaliser, I imagine there would be people on here (and other sites) absolutely apoplectic at the result/performance/team/tactics/lack of subs. As it was, we gained a terrific 3 points. Doesn't mean we are world-beaters, but if we'd got 1 or 0 points it also doesn't mean we are useless and going down. I just think there should be a lot more 'middle ground' taken by our fans. Rant over (for now )
SirKeefy, I don't know whether you were there Saturday but Crewe are the worst team I have seen us play this year, there was no way you could praise the quality of the opposition it's just that we contrived to be even worse. I don't slate players lightly and will frequently support them (***an a recent example) in the face of what I consider unfair comment. Last night we played against a team who have good players and playoff hopes, we had a game plan and carried it through with passion, fight and effort, and the team deserve all the plaudits, Saturday they were poor, lack lustre and generally poor against weak opposition and have to except the criticism. At no time after Saturday was it said our season is over, at no time this morning has anyone mentioned playoffs, exiled fans want and deserve to know how we honestly perform, I will try to keep them informed.
It's been a funny old season, frequently following great win with dire defeat, followed by encouraging draw, etc. Some days we score 4, other days we look like we could play for 12 months without scoring. Would be wrong to curse our manager / players, and also wrong to praise them as a great Gills side. Will be very interesting to see what happens over the summer. If it goes well we could challenge for the play-offs next season; if it goes badly we could finish bottom next season (technically we could still finish bottom this season as bottom side Stevenage are only 11 points behind with 2 games in hand). But that's unlikely, we are now looking pretty safe. Not counting any chickens though until we hit 52 points (don't think 50 will be enough this season).
No grumps. I'm an exile and I love being kept informed. Keep it coming. And don't get me wrong, I wasn't saying you were being gloomy (despite your moniker ) or that people were particularly OTT after the Crewe game. It's just generally in a lot of fans eyes we are either hopeless, never going to win again, worst manager ever, or we are going up, best team ever, mourinho in charge. I have no problem being told we have played poorly, maybe should have set up differently, sat back too much, whatever. Or that we played well, deserved to win etc. In fact, just like you described those two games just then. It's when some fans reckon player x should never play again, be sold, shot etc or the manager is clueless or whatever. If we were on a run of 10 defeats or something I could understand. But all season we have won some, lost some. We are mid-table. Anyway, no need for me to keep harping on. I was only responding to the statement that there hadn't been any gloom & doom. I think there has, but I love reading all the opinions, comments and reports both good and bad. Keep it up everyone
I think the reason why the doom and gloom hasn't left is because we are so inconsistent and the must ein games we always end up losing. If you'd had told most of us that we would be 12th by the end of March we would have probably bitten your hands off, however its the fact we still aren't safe and when we do look it, we just get dragged back down into the fight again. This season will definitely see us stumble across the line.
brb how can you be so critical towards Taylor as when he took over we were in the bottom 4 and could only dream of 12th. You say we should have been trying to make the play offs but that was never realistic with the team we got. I don't think we will remain this high up the table but should now be safe. I would like Taylor to carry on next season when he can bring in new players for pre season.
Taylor does have a good football head on him. He has proved this with more teams than those he has had lees success with. No…he's not a top flight manager. David Moyes is ….allegedly…. and he has turned a premiership winning side into one struggling to achieve mid table mediocrity. It is whether he can get the right blend of players into the team and then get the best out of them. Taylor is still working with MA's left overs. I mean no disrespect to MA as he did a marvellous job in winning the Championship……it just wasn't a team to take us further forward. Taylor deserves the chance to do this…….in my opinion.
After the first 8 games we had 3 points so let's just presume we scrape a 1-0 win against Evans' lot then that would put us at 1.5 points a game since that defeat to bradford , this season had been a gradual improvement
Fair comment gioblues. I just feel its difficult to measure how fantastic a job Taylor has done compared to MA if he had still been in the role. However, I seriously do believe PT could have achieved more. I knew months back that Posh were faltering and 6th was up for grabs, all PT kept doing in my opinion was looking over his shoulder rather than forward. Why do we keep thinking we a relegation fodder instead of playoff contenders. Realistic?...I don't think being 12th in the table is being unrealistic, the same as I don't think 6th would have been. But everyone is settling for contentment rather pushing that little bit harder. Let's just blame MA for all our ill's. I'm constantly told in opposition to my traditionalist views that football is a business now, well its the only business i know that don't performance target itself on maximum potential. Its like saying well i've achieved my target and I can sit back now and the directors of the business won't expect me to doing anymore for the remaining weeks of the financial year. All at the expense of tinkering, by a manager who may or may not be here next season, and with players who may or may not be here next season. I wonder if i can get a little bit of discount on my ST for contentment. When does contentment become failure? I pointed out the faults with MA's squad loud and clear last season while a lot of supporters were focused on a tin pot, it was obvious what was going to happen. As for Taylor the jury is probably still out but I absolutely hate is horrendous tinkering and it does not appeal to me in the slightest, MA or PT is there much difference in their style...well at least the youth got a look in under PT, so that appeases my character. Sorry about the long verse but you did ask.
Who do you think we are better then that currently sits above us in the table BRB? Wolves, Brentford, Orient, Preston, Rotherham and Peterborough - No chance MK Dons, Walsall, Swindon - We have performed well against all 3, however they're resources and style mean they will always win more games than us Sheff utd - underperformed for most of the season but still no doubt they are a better team that us Vale - Poor side, agree we should be looking to finish above them However, i believe we've done extremely well, particularly when you consider the early season turmoil, to currently be ahead of Bristol City, Crawley, Bradford and Coventry - in fact i have a feeling they will all be ahead of us at the end of the season, which i don't see as anything other than a success. We've never been in a position to go for the play offs, our squad just isn't good enough. 16th or above will be a massive success, then we look to build for next season. If we're serious about growth as a club, we look at the 5 year cycle, 4 years consolidating and slowly improving, then go for the play offs on the 5th year. Your all forgetting it wasn't instant promotions back with Pulis, it took time.
Gillingham doesn't do consolidation. Its not in the club's vocabulary, we either fight for promotion or fight to stay up. This season being the latter albeit we've stumbled across the line.
