Transfer listing Chris Whelpdale, Charlie Lee, Steven Gregory and Antonio German. He went miles out of his way to get Gregory, stole German off of Brentford which we had to pay for and also transfer our best midfielders. Not only that but he's done it 2 weeks after the transfer window and we are light enough on the ground as it is. I just about took letting Essam, Jackman and Evans go. I wondered if we would regret not keeping Burton but to now transfer list Whelpdale and Lee, especially when Lee has been our best player so far this season. Sorry MA but you've now lost my trust.
In MA's defence it does say in the article that he knows who he wants in place of the four and it wouldn't be a case of sell them and then look for who we can sign. Also he's in a very difficult position as if he did nothing he would be critiqued for doing nothing so he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. However I can't help but feel that stubbornness will be the death of this Season. Its becoming clear to me that Mr. Scally gave MA a budget that wasn't particularly large after the big spending of last year which has now been spent and Mr. Scally refuses to give MA more than he's already had meaning there is a deadlock with us, the fans, suffering. Shame to see Whelpdale and Lee listed (as I think Charlie was taken off the transfer list for all of 2 weeks!) but honestly they are the only two who will bring in any money as they are the only two players (apart from Nelson) who any other club in this division would actually have in their side! Gregory and German I don't really care about in all honesty, yes Gregory does unglamorous work but he doesn't do it particularly well and German hasn't played a league game since coming back and didn't really set the world alight when he was here on loan so those two aren't exactly Gills Legends in the making but Lee and Whelpdale are, making their inevitable departure all the more upsetting. Transfer listing them now is very strange as PegLeg said because I noted in the article Allen said nothing about Loans but I assume unless we plan to keep four unsettled players in our paper thin squad till January we are surely going to loan them which seems idiotic, yes we get the wage freed up but thats all meaning that if Whelpdale leaves we get no money apart from the other club paying his wage and I don't know any other wide right player who would come down from the Championship or Premier League for the salary of a recently promoted League 1 player unless we get a kid in which is a huge risk (e.g. Williams who we had last year from Fulham who clearly didn't work and ended up never playing a game). Hopefully this is just a Hail Mary attempt from Allen to convince Mr. Scally that he needs more money to spend. In my opinion I'm not disappointed my this as at least it shows MA isn't too big to admit he is wrong and that the squad needs changing and thats a positive trait in a manager, he's also done some good deals in the transfer market and hopefully he can do it again because he does know this division quite well. In conclusion, if we go down this season, I'd be happier that we took this risk rather than just steadily sink.
I think he's finally realised that we aren't a league 1 team, heart and passion can only do so much but you still need skill, just a shame he took so long to realise what the rest of us have known since pre-season. Maybe it's time to give the youth a !!!!! oh hang on that's brb's domain.
Oh dear! I was saying all summer long that the priority was to get two MIDFIELDERS because last season we got by on a strong defense, and the memory of 1996 when we needed the likes of Hess to keep us up was fresh in my mind. In league 1 you get murdered in midfield if you are not good enough. Guess it's a case of the listed players playing up or moving on. Doubted Gregory was good enough when we signed him, and German was not necessary. A survival year now in prospect.
We may not be a league one team but all these players have played at this level or higher for Peterborough, Mad Dogs lost it I hope he can prove me wrong but I just can't see it happening
That's if there is a team left......at this rate we'll have the 'Gems' on the subs bench.....WTF is going on please?????
I think MA needs to act as clearly the Gills are not good enough for this division. I am not clear on his plans however of the 4 listed I would not be concerned about Whelps German and Gregory leaving as i don't think they have offered much this season. To be fair German has not been given a chance so I would prefer that he goes out on loan. As for Lee I am wondering about his attitude to be honest and perhaps there is some conflict. Anyway I will reserve my judgement and will wait to see who comes in. Sometimes brave decisions need to be made let's hope MA can put things right for the good of this club and up the Gills
I have just read MA's statement on KentSportsnews to be honest I think he makes some valid points and it is our midfield that clearly needs firming up, bring back Jack P! Anyway you can make decisions and try to improve or just sit back and let the season draw to a sorry conclusion so he must be bold and act. Also the message he has given to the players is shape up or ship out, nothing wrong with that in my opinion. Hopefully results will improve soon but we will be lucky if we don't get stuffed on Sunday by free scoring Coventry.
Thankfully the answer is accepting that we need to twist - but how ? Gillingham FC, with its' current financial backing is a L1 side - but that is not to say that we shouldn't expect the best / better from the staff. That has to start with the Directors. I am convinced that some more money was available to strengthen our weaknesses ahead of this season. But, like brb, I no longer receive replies to questions I pose to Mr.Scally ! The 'buck' then passes to Martin Allen.... I can defend him for some things. He doesn't have control of the finances, therefore can't have every player that he might desire - but a large part of his job is to ensure that the players at his disposal at least give 100% effort. We were an embarrassment at Wolves - not just because their players were better - but because there was little 'fight' in our outfield players. The 'effort' in the last 12 + 6 minutes at Crawley was woeful. Allen needed to have been blasting rockets up the backsides of our team during this period. I applaud the fact that he has stated that we need to improve in midfield - so why did he throw out the likes of Jack Payne, whose abilities and committment would put most of our midfield to shame. I will defend MA for bringing in Harriman who looks more than a useful replacement for poor Matt Fish - but why did MA throw out Essam & Evans & not used Davies. I do like what Legge & Barrett has done for the Club, but this season both are being tested for pace - especially Barrett ( who looked very slow in pre-season friendlies before the start of last season ! ). He is beginning to remind me of Guy Butters - lovely man - did well for us -but got too slow too many times. I shall skip the midfield for a moment ! ( well, the ball does too often for my liking ! ) What the hell is MA doing with the strikers and our forward tactics ? Why doesn't he use the Cody/Bayo partnership ? - that worked well for the previous manager. Is MA too proud to do so - in case it works well again and he won't receive the credit ? Why are still deploying hoofball ( too many times ) ? This is usually to Bayo - who, to give him credit, has been a nuisance to opposing defenders - but hasn't got anyone close enough to him to feed. Kedwell has worked quite hard, but seems to be played deeper this season so is not in a position to properly help upfront. German has been injured and judgement on him has to be reserved... Weston - I'm not sure if he is quite good enough or we are not using him to his best strengths. Even I am not sure if he is meant to be a striker or midfielder. The midfield I have already stated something that is missing - a proper disruptive midfield 'General'. We haven't got Jack Payne or Hessenthaler or Paul Smith - but Lee should be good enough. He has been playing well this season ( not including his madness last week ). Gregory has done some good work ( defensively ) - but not enough and has little creativity ! I am not impressed by Dack - who seems to just run around aimlessly - and has conceded too many free kicks. Charlie Allen is similar to Dack - both are not good enough ( yet ). I may seem a little harsh on these two - but they are hardly at the same stage of their development that Payne and Jarvis were at the same age. Whelpdale can 'do it' but seems to be inactive for periods of the game - is that because of our longball game ? In terms of being better at their jobs - be it defence or creating, our midfield does need some change - both in personnel and in tactics. But this is 'only' L1. The current playing staff should be good enough to consolidate our statuus this season - but all of them need to be giving the 100% that MA claims in postmatch interviews. I can't believe he was satisfied with the effort at 2-3 down last week. Our tactics need to change from what was effective in L2. We need to play on the ground - pass quickly to feet and move just as quickly when going forward. To defend the midfield, I will accept that much of our play by-passes them - and when we quickly lose possession again, the midfield is spending a lot of time defending - thus highlighting the deficiencies in that department of some individuals. But with what we, as a L1 team have got, the players are good enough for L1 - if only we use the correct combination of personnel and tactics ......... And of course - as long as they get stuck in. In the past we have proved in Cup games that as a Division 4 team we could beat clubs from Division 1. Those wins were not achieved because we had better players - but because we were motivated enough to up our game - if the players possess that quality, why reserve it just for the glamour games. Martin Allen should always be on the lookout for players that we can afford & can improve our squad - but he should also ensure that anyone wearing the shirt of Gillingham FC is always motivated to use 100% of their ability and 100% of their effort for 100% of the game.
Could the timing of this announcement have been any worse? As Gills PegLeg says, its 2 weeks after the end of the transfer window, which means that the players he doesn't want can only go out on loan. According to Wikipedia (referencing a BBC article) "Free agents can be signed by a club at any time during the season, if they had been released by their previous club before the end of the transfer window" so even if they were released from their contracts they wouldn't be able to play for another League club until January. Of course we wouldn't get any money for them under those circumstances, so I can't see that actually happening. But in the meantime what motivation have they to put in stellar performances now, at just the time when we need every player on the pitch giving their all. And by the look of things we're not going to get in any new blood until some of the current players actually go. You can count me in the number wondering exactly why some of those have been chosen for the chop. I won't bother repeating the arguments that have already been made, but in general I concur with those. It'll be 2 weeks before I see my next game, at Crewe. I wonder what the names on the teamsheet will be, and what the motivation of the players will be.
itstimupnorth I probably wouldn't surprise you if I said I decided to sell my home because I'm fed up of my neighbour. I could say that I will put my house up for sale and see what price I get before looking to see what I can afford ! In the meantime why should my family bother to do much in the place - and if 4 tiles on the roof become broken, I won't bother to repair them.
If was a player and was placed on the transfer list I would raise my game and do my very best to perform and send a message to the current manager and any potential buyers. To not do so would probably see me playing pub team football in a couple of seasons. So I would hope that the 4 listed players try to make a point and see their plight as a challenge or they could apply itsimupnorths attitude and sulk and underperformance!
Point taken, but I can't understand what sort of message MA is trying to put out to the team / squad, or indeed the fans. The only message I can see is that he got it wrong last season (building for L1) and again in the summer. Surely a manager with his experience has a pretty fair idea of the standard in L1 (and he experienced it first hand with Gills when we played Preston in the Cup and came up well short), and knows the level of ability of the players in the squad. However maybe he should be applauded for some straightforward talk, rather than telling the players personally (which I hope he would have done) and letting the players' agents do the work directly, and then risk the decision being brought into the media by other means. I don't think there's any doubt that he's feeling the pressure, and knowing that he got it wrong won't help that. It'll be interesting to see how the team respond to that situation. If you're at work and you know that your supervisors / managers are getting things wrong, professionally you have to carry on and do your job to the best of your ability, but surely the lack of confidence you have in their decision making, be it tactically or commercially, will have some effect on the way that you conduct yourself.
I must confess that I am completely bemused by this situation that we now find ourselves in, the transfer window has closed and we suddenly put 4 players up for sale, 2 of them are our amongst our most experienced at this level (Lee and Whelpdale), and Whelpdale is also probably the most technically gifted footballer in the squad . German is a youngster who the manager clearly saw something in when he was with us last season, enough for us to even pay a fee to sign him (which is almost unheard of these days), and Gregory was the managers signing made to play a specific role, which in recent weeks he has finally showed some promise in. This seems like the actions of a desperate man, we know that Lee and Whelpdale are amongst the top earners at the club and I can only think that this all an accountancy exercise to allow us to bring other players in on loan who fit with whatever the managers plans are, which currently appear to be very route one and with mention of other players being put up for loan after the weekend I would not be surprised to see Weston also added to the list I just hope that if players do go out that we have the deals in place to bring in their replacements because we cannot afford to lose players from the match day squad. I agree with those who are saying this is looking like a long hard winter, and if the first 6 games are anything to go by we are not even going to see us try and play good football, if the hoofball was being effective we might get behind it, much as I hate to say it at least Stimsons side that was relegated was pleasing on the eye (at home). By 5.00 tonight we are likely to be 2nd bottom of the league and we will be without a win in 9 matches in all competitions, I was a staunch MA supporter last season, but this is a results business and if we do not win 1 of our next 4 matches I would expect Scally to wield the axe, because in my opinion there is sufficient quality within our squad to play some football and get results at this level but it may take a fresh outlook to achieve this and that decision must be made soon enough for the turnaround to be achievable
Well I think MA has made mistakes in under estimating the quality in league 1. That said I wonder how much of what is going on is down to mentality and player and manager confidence. I for one , placing myself in a transfer listed players position, would raise my game and be looking to prove a massive point. Effectively a good couple of performances will raise interest and player value. It is time to dig a little deeper and let's hope we can get that win soon.
Only Gregory of the 4 is in todays matchday squad so they are not being shop windowed or offered the opportunity to prove to the manager one way or the other, looks like he has made is mind up and thats that! (Lee is suspended)
That would indicate to me that you hadn't been performing to your full capacity, and would justify putting you on the transfer list (however bizarre the timing). It would also send a similar message to potential buyers - i.e. that once you've got a nice cosy contract you can afford to relax..
And that's certainly not the case for Charlie who has been playing out of his skin and Antonio German who hasn't really been given a chance yet.
Not long got back from Northampton...erm...where do I start with that defeat...maybe questions from anyone that could not make the game today?
