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There's worse to come !

Discussion in 'Gillingham' started by alwaysright, Sep 2, 2022.

  1. alwaysright

    alwaysright @ Very Angry Camel

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    ...... I really don't want to go to tomorrow's game ! -But I suppose I'd better take the opportunity - whilst Gills are still in the EFL !

    I believe that I have previously said that I am certain that Mr. Scally has been trying to sell the Club for a number of years (( only his greed has prevented him taking £ 10 million offered a few years back. ))

    It is sad to say that Mr. Scally is showing less interest in the future of the Club - than I thought possible !... and, of course, he is sitting on a fortune - in terms of a residential complex waiting to be built.

    In all of my 60 years of watching The Gills (( yes- I am that old )), I have never known such a mess - either on the field, or off it - certainly not at the same time ! -- I am not going to induce more misery for everyone by making a list....

    .... because the ultimate misery is waiting to be written - and I think it will happen within 12 months - and, just for once, I want to be wrong.

    I FULLY expect that Gillingham Football Club will become as extinct as the dodo this time next year --- and that means not just dropping into the National League !

    IF Gills do get relegated - I expect that Mr. Scally will pull the plug..... If we carry on scoring goals at the current rate, crowds will plummet -- and Scally won't be able to afford to switch on the floodlights - let alone pay for a 4th rate striker..... The bills won't allow him to indulge himself and members of family - so don't be surprised if we go into Administration just after Christmas........ and there'll be queues of people with a long stick - wanting to get close to a pile of dog excrement - rather than touch anything to do with GFC !!

    In 2023 /24 Mr. Scally will have cleared off - back to the Isle of Dogs - whilst GFC will have gone permanently to the dogs.... leaving behind an area, where dog excrement prevailed.
     
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  2. Lord Sondes Clock

    Lord Sondes Clock Active Member

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    I share the exact same concerns Always. The rocketing energy costs and falling income (due to the dire product on offer) could well mean there’s no other option. As you say, what a mess.

    It’s been a hell of a rollercoaster ride since the summer of ‘95, but like all rollercoasters, we’re right back where we started.

    Very sad times.
     
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  3. alwaysright

    alwaysright @ Very Angry Camel

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    Maybe the worst has passed !
    I have to applaud the Gills players (( who didn't get sent off .)) They played very well - and with great discipline.... They might even have nicked an unlikely win (( but - you have to score goals for that ! ))
    After the red card, I feared the worst -but was pleasantly surprised with the performance... In the opening 10 minutes ( apart from two stupid fouls ), Gills looked quite bright... Swindon's defence looked shaky - and will be tested more critically with teams keeping all eleven on the pitch.
    Under the circumstances, a point was pleasing - as was the commitment - especially from Kashket...

    Gills may not have added a ( decent) striker - but- perhaps we have to have a different 'style' going forward -- a much more all-round team approach to goalscoring - and - if they replicate the commitment shown yesterday, the attacking options may start to bear fruit if we can compete with eleven men wearing a Gills shirt.
     
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  4. brb

    brb CR250

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    I've always argued that an all round team of strikers is better than a lone striker. I can't be arsed to look back, but the year we won the league two title, didn't our goals come throughout the team?

    Another example could be, both Son and Kane I believe have been golden boot winners, yet neither of them have a Premiership title in their collection.

    The sending off was probably a blessing in disguise, or as I call it fate. It demonstrated what we are capable of achieving, we just now need to achieve it with 11 men on the pitch.
     
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  5. gioblues

    gioblues Well-Known Member

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    Everything you said is possible but really hope you are wrong.
    Hopefully Scally will sell in the next 12 months and a decent buyer can lift the club. I really don't believe we will not have a club to support
     
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  6. The Gills PegLeg

    The Gills PegLeg Up yer Harris

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    Kedwell - 14
    Burton - 12
    Weston - 8
    Whelpdale - 7
    McDonald - 4
    Fish, Allen, Lee, Legge, Martin - 2
    Dack, Montrose, Barrett, Strevens, Flanagan, German, Jackman, Payne & Vincelot - 1
     
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  7. alwaysright

    alwaysright @ Very Angry Camel

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  8. alwaysright

    alwaysright @ Very Angry Camel

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    We're getting there ......in terms of 'worse' !
    Why is Harris still with us ? ...He looks the sort who by, now, must realise what a 'poisoned chalice' is the Gills' managers' job!! - even Evans has prospered at 'lowly' Stevenage after life at the bank of Scally..............but, I suppose our early (usual) exit from the FA Cup, next week, could be a blessing in disguise for Neil.

    As for Scally - I could accuse him of being a poor businessman - but - he isn't!! He's a brilliant businessman - insofar as it concerns his pocket... He has got the Club and its' fans tightly in his grasp - we're all now singing in soprano!....It won't change whilst Scally is still in charge...He (and his family), will continue to screw our collective arses....He still sits pretty on a multi-million £££ building site...Unlike the team, Scally cannot lose...

    ...Mr Scally has accused fans of being '' a cancer '', and of insulting him etc etc -- oh the hypocrisy ! - there's only one person guilty of contempt - and that is the brilliant self-serving businessman that is called Mr. Paul Scally.

    ... I still stand by my prediction....If by some miracle we don't drop into the NL next season, it surely will come about the following year.
     
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  9. gioblues

    gioblues Well-Known Member

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    Swindon now go 4th in league while we still can't score or win
     
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  10. Lord Sondes Clock

    Lord Sondes Clock Active Member

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    Apart from the Crewe game, I couldn’t muster the energy to attend any others during October. What little enthusiasm I still had was completely eroded by the dreadful product (from both teams to be fair) at Gresty Road. I couldn’t wait for it to end.

    By contrast to what we had before, Harris seems to be a thoroughly decent bloke and he’s gone about his job with us professionally as far as I can see. However, in any job those personal qualities would not compensate for failing to perform to the required standard.

    Playing devil’s advocate, if we were to assume a) Harris is getting the absolute best performances possible out of these players and b) there are no funds to add better players in January, then it wouldn’t matter who was manager. Our fate would be sealed already.

    If however, there’s a chance that a different approach with the same group of players might yield an improvement on the dismal goals per game and points per game ratios achieved over the first third of the season, it must surely be worth a role of the dice. Scally was rightly criticised and even blamed himself for the dither and delay over Evans. Will he or Fisher repeat the mistake?

    Lastly, if there were any funds for additions to the squad in January who would trust Harris and Storey with the decisions based on this summer’s recruitment?

    In my view, I regret that it’s come to this, but it’s time up for Harris.
     
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  11. alwaysright

    alwaysright @ Very Angry Camel

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    Lord Sondes,
    I can understand your heavy heart - try 60 years of the same misery ! (( I'm not talking about Mrs. A. ))
    I too think that Harris is probably a 'nice' chap...I also believe that he's getting the best out of a poor bunch -- which just seems to be getting worse each year....I also believe that Scally will not be able to give Harris, Klopp. Pep etc any funds ( reserved for him and his family ), to improve the standard of player recruitment.

    I am probably more cynical than you, but I am not confident that a different formation of the personnel will achieve much better than the rubbish we've got (( nothing personal ! ))...I think that most ( perhaps apart from Gbode )), have been given sufficient time on the pitch to justify their existence...the number of goals from open play will give you the blunt reality of the matter.

    .....and I can only see things getting ''worse to come'' ! - at least all the time we have the common denominator in charge... It's clear to me that Scally is only interested in the Club as his personal cash cow - which stopped being able to fund his Dubaii lifestyle a while ago - but which, can still give him and his family much comfort in the UK (( even on crowds of 4000 )) - and the way he has manipulated the ownership of assets, he would be better off if the pitch makes way for housing - he definitely will be able to afford a season ticket to the New Den.

    Mr. Scally claims that he hasn't been able to find a credible investor ( after umpteen years of tax-free living .)....Is that because he has caused the Club to become so uncommercial that nobody wants to touch it with a barge poll - especially as he insists on retaining power.

    I believe that the cash cow is terminally ill...I'm not sure if it's well enough to spend any time in the hospice of National League... and as things stand, I believe that Mr. Scally has instructed Administrator staff to DNR.........

    .....and there was I thinking I'd be dead before Gillingham Football Club.
     
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  12. brb

    brb CR250

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    A very well balanced view, I really enjoyed reading your thoughts and opinion.

    gioblue and alwaysright, you need to up your game lads. ;)
     
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  13. The Gills PegLeg

    The Gills PegLeg Up yer Harris

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    It's hard to define what the true answer is here. Harris has proved before he's not a bad manager, got Millwall to promotion and got Cardiff in the play-offs in the Championship looking to go up. You don't just become a bad manager overnight however he certainly would have had far more resources at his disposal than we do as a club right now.

    Now he's already taken to the press to moan about the budget, something that every manager since Justin Edinburgh has done (with the exception of Steve Lovell) so there is a common theme there in terms of perhaps managers being missold what they can use? Or is it a case of them overestimating how poor the club is? One thing is clear is Harris is not working to the same budget Evans was given when he first came in. BUT you also have to question whether teams such as Sutton, Harrogate, Hartlepool, Rochdale, Crewe, Colchester, Barrow & Newport County have bigger budgets than us either which I suspect not and perhaps our recruitment during the summer wasn't good enough.

    Unfortunately I suspect we will continue to slip down and down and have this manager merry-go-round until the ownership changes. We just have to pray that this deal with the American Real-Estate businessman does go through. He doesn't have to bank roll the club, just give us something competitive to work with.
     
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  14. Lord Sondes Clock

    Lord Sondes Clock Active Member

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    It’s just occurred to me that we could (actually highly likely) be out of the FA Cup before getting knocked out of the League Cup. Must have been a long while since that last happened. I remember going to Portman Rd for the 4th round League Cup tie in 96 I think, so that must have been around November time but I’ve no memory of that season’s FA Cup and can’t be bothered to look it up. I’m sure Always will know.

    If (when) that happens, will 4 defeats in a row (with probably no goals scored) be enough to result in a change of manager?

    I also note that Charlton beat Brighton’s U21s this week, which knocked us out of the Waste of Time cup. So we could well drop out of all three cups in the space of a week. At least we’ll be able to focus on not getting knocked out of the league as well.
     
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  15. alwaysright

    alwaysright @ Very Angry Camel

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    Lord Sondes - you lazy thing !..
    The Ipswich game ( a 0-1 defeat ), was at the end of November.
    In the FA Cup, Gills progressed to Round 3, and lost at home to Derby 0-2.... This was at the end of January -- and if memory serves me right, it was a re-arranged fixture after the original game was abandoned in the second half due to a frozen pitch ( bloody cold night. )
     
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  16. Lord Sondes Clock

    Lord Sondes Clock Active Member

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    Guilty as charged on the lazy accusation, no defence offered m’lord.

    Thank you for promoting memories of that 3rd round vs Derby, I wouldn’t have thought that was the same season. Wasn’t Paul Alcock referee for that game? I have a recollection of him abandoning it with only about 15 mins left to play, but the years might have distorted that memory.

    So anyway, back to my original point, it could well be the first time then, that we’ve been in the League Cup longer than the FA Cup, at least as far as the calendar is concerned.

    It’s a sad reflection on how dreadful the football is that this is the most interesting discussion point of the season for me.
     
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  17. alwaysright

    alwaysright @ Very Angry Camel

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    Lord Sondes -- you will learn that I'm alwaysright !
     
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  18. alwaysright

    alwaysright @ Very Angry Camel

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    that's all the goals we've scored in the last 4 league games
    I did tell you there was worse to come!
     
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    Last edited: Nov 19, 2022
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  19. brb

    brb CR250

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    I was somewhat confused by the Jefferies substitution, I don't pretend to have any tactical awareness but he seemed the most involved player on the pitch. Don't get me wrong, I'm not critical of the players that came on, I just couldn't make out why we took off a player who probably covered more miles.

    I was bored to tears by 75 mins, probably sooner than that, my brain just went numb.

    With the subs that did came on, all four of them was it, why didn't they start if we believed those players could do better than the ones that came off, they certainly seemed to have more urgency about them.
     
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  20. alwaysright

    alwaysright @ Very Angry Camel

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    I see that we improved last night -- to merely dreadful !
    The two tickets, for which I paid went unused !.. we decided to suffer to watch the Mbappe Show instead (( although, in my defence, I had just come out of hospital on Monday evening )), - and not fit to travel ....... but probably fitter to score more than our strikers..... At least we'll still be in the FA Cup for a couple of hours longer than half the others in Round 2.

    edit - brb - don't worry - I'll be at Priestfield on 3rd ( relapse ?? ))
     
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