Thetownend.com

Need a convincing win.

Swindon 4-1 Jills att: 8,622 (484 them)

1-1, though as I'm not there maybe 4-1 isn't unrealistic

Think we'll get a win,but closeish

Piece of piss, 4-1

2-1 defeat in front of 8,132 (434 Jills).

Swindon 2 Gillingham 0 att: 8,950 (480 gypsies)

It will be interesting to see how J.Williams plays for Gills tonight, they definitely aren't getting the same goal benefits that we did.

Brewitt out tonight so I guess Minturn will come in, he did pretty well on Saturday so a good performance tonight will go a long way towards him becoming an important member of the squad. I imagine it's going to be attritional tonight, possibly another game where a red card is shown.

In an ideal world this is a nice easy 3-0 win where we get to give Clayton 30 mins at LCB and push FBT out to LWB, as I believe that that is the future!

I wonder if we start with Rush tonight.

I know some on here are very against that. The left side is seen as our weakness though, and every side we play targets that area. It may not work, but has to worth a go at some point. I’m a big fan of getting all our best players on the pitch.

Charlie has done brilliantly to play as much football as he has, he must be due a rest. I think maybe start Rush & Charlie and then swap Charlie for Young on 60 minutes? Against a stubborn Gills defence I think Rush's pace could be valuable. Get them stretched.

Is Genesini injured or just out of favour?

I did wonder that but not sure Charlie is really an impact player off the bench unless we want to go route one...

That's why i suggested having Rush and Charlie at the start and then replacing Charlie with Young after 60.

The latter I think. I've really only seen him at FGR and thought he was a very solid 7/10 at LWB so he must be absolute garbage in training to be seemingly so far off the matchday squad even.

Ah, sorry, misread that! Yes, we are in agreement!

I suspect he's not great going forward so possibly doesn't offer as much as Shade does. That said, given he's probably more of a defensive option, it might have been worth bringing him on Saturday to offer more security at the back - that said his defensive tackle at Reading to give away the penalty was pretty feeble defending!


No worries fella.

Just got my ticket  :pint:

I don’t know why but I have a horrible feeling we might lose this one.

Hope I’m wrong and we keep our winning home streak 🤞

Almost forgot to predict a defeat in the Prediction League, but I've rectified that now - we definitely will not be losing 3-2, so good to rule that out at least.

Hopefully not. Either way!

He was fairly poor at Reading last week, but so was everyone that evening.

I see Jillies fans were up to their old tricks again.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c88m9m92354o

And

https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2023-10-22/league-two-goalie-struck-with-object-in-damaging-football-incident

What's the car park time limit at Tesco's nowadays? 

Gills fan preview.

“The Swine” is so cringey.  :girlgiggle:

Is £27 a rip off in the context of the rest of L2 prices, for comparable seats?

Feels like multiple away fan quotes mention our prices.

Crewe are also £27. Highest in L2. Dreadful tbf.

MKD are 24

Grimsby were the biggest moaners as our ticket price was £1 more than they charge for walk ups! charge them £24 like most clubs in L2 (average price) and sit them on the bank in the open wind and rain and let them moan about the cost then, rather than a nice high up view not explosed to the elements.

Like them charging away fans £24 (walk up price) for this shite.

(https://www.kentonline.co.uk/_media/img/TI2J8VSXKSX1SZXMIKC5.jpg)

Right! I’m off to the game. 4-1.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F9OCvQnXwAAqqhc?format=jpg&name=4096x4096)

As expected Minturn in otherwise unchanged. Only 6 subs again.

1 man short of a full bench

Cain must have had a setback in training.

Don’t need anymore suspensions tonight especially if Kemp isn’t available on Saturday.

I didn't realise its Charlies 100th game for Town tonight, 50 goals in 100 games, thats not to be sniffed at, I hope he can add a few more to that total today.

was thinking about that earlier. 1 in 2 is fantastic

shows what a great job SSP did when here too

Interesting that Young gets the nod ahead of Rush off the back of two anonymous performances

To be fair, RHM hardly grabbed the opportunity against Notts County. Looks better as an impact sub

I agree on that.

Super sub David Fairclough!

Tickets half price tonight for under 18s for half term
 Not sure if the club marketed that particularly well - they may have done but I don't recall seeing anything.

Not sure RHM is ginger enough to be David Fairclough! 😂

As long as he has the same impact when he comes on😁

Looking a pretty sparse attendance at the moment.

I thought it would be quite big considering it’s half term.

Its not looking it yet but its still a few mins from KO, it may pick up though.

Cheers :D

Looked a better than usual turn out from Gillingham too. From memory they brought a decent amount last season which was a surprise, as never remember them bringing more than 400 odd

Ex Town players Johnny Williams and Conor Masterson starting, ex Town trialist Tom Nicholls on the bench.

I remember they brought a decent amount a few years back on valentines night.

They always used to bring about 1,000 back in the late 70s/80s but since then its far less.

Last 9 visits they have briought.
961
275
488
278
452
412
439
453
563

I'm sure I remember a game many seasons ago,but I could be wrong when we kicked off without a minutes silence/applause

I don't remember it! may as well just make it a matchday ritual now!

Hawes saying Gillingham look a big unit.

Harris liked to sign big lumps.

Great flick by Austin to Kemp but he just over runs it as he went past the keeper.

You can’t take the Millwall out of him.

Dokes playing almost in an advanced midfield role again so far.

Corner to Town.

Short corner from Kemp to Shade but his cross doesnt find anyone at the far post.

Shade beats his man and cuts inside and outside but his cross is blocked.

FBT cross to Austin and his header from 12 yards goes just wide, softly.

I know they are meant to be a very good defensive side, but they are far too happy to stand off us atm.

Nice run by Minturn who chased 20 yards for a loose ball and won it and set up an attack by Town down the right.

And we arent capitalising on the possession as they sit back and soak up the pressure, we need that killer ball rather than sideways passing which lets them get more men behind the ball.

Save by Mahoney from a 20 yard shot.

We need to wake up😁

Deep corner tipped over the bar direct from the corner for another one.

Another corner for them.

Young fouled on the counter in their half.

Looked like a yellow to me but the ref doesnt give him a yellow.

Oh and Williams 1st real touch and he goes to the floor to win a free kick, qhat a surprise!

Young beats his man and has a shot from 25 yards but its straight at the keeper.

Gills player dives in the box under challenge by Khan but the ref doesnt give anything.

Turns out it isn’t all that enjoyable watching Williams do that when it’s against you

Absolutely, hes good at what he does.

Good defending by Shade in our box there.

0-1

Heavily deflected shot from 20 yards beats Mahoney.

Will be really tough now. These are a good side defensively and are hard to get one past, let alone two. Frustrating

Hope that doesn’t knock Minturn’s confidence.

Couldnt really see if it was Minturn or Dokes that it was deflected by but it was enough to toally wrong foot Mahoney.

Why the fuck didnt Khan cut inside and shoot there rather than passing out wide to Young?

What Khan’s just done there will be the issue. So slow and no real energy going forward. Need to quicken it up

Given a lot of time to get a shot in. Element of luck with the deflection, but we didn’t do enough to close the man down.

Kemp cross to Young and his low volley is saved.

Lovely move by Town ends with McEachran fouled 25 yards out in the middle.

Austin has played a couple lovely passes to get us in behind so far tonight

Awful free kick by Kemp well over the bar.

He has, his touches have been excellent so far today.

As has Shade, who I think has been excellent so far. Just hope he doesn’t drift out of the game as he often does.

FBT gets away with a poor clearance there.

Young’s attempted shot there sums up his last few games

Shade passes inside to Young who missed his kick totally and it falls for Kemp and his shot is blocked for a corner.

Kemp corner to Austin and his header goes just wide.

No one at the far post. Criminal from a corner

All our players were attacking the near post it seemed.

Great save 1 on 1 by Mahoney as Minturn fucks up at the back. After a very poor pass by Kemp.

Don’t want to jump on his back as it was one poor touch, but can’t say I’ve been completely sold on Minturn from what I’ve seen. Flashes of looking good, but too many mistakes atm for my liking, although suppose to be expected from a young player.

Minturn header goes out for a corner to them.

Minturn is a bit of a rabbit in the headlights so far unfortunately. A few yards off the pace.

Absolutely agree, Minturn reminds me a lot of Thompson, he looks really good at times and then makes 1 or 2 silly mistakes that cost us, or nearly cost us. If he can get consistancy he will be a good player but hes very raw.

FBT breaks and goes on a mazy run and nearly finds Kemp on the edge of the box.

Nice block by Minturn there.

It’s just too slow when we go forward currently. Some teams you can pass to death in those situations, but Gillingham are not one of them

We are playing some good football when we are attacking but we are a bit slow in getting a cross/shot in from good positions, but we looks often asleep at the back at times.

Not sure we’re going to win this by pelting crosses into their huge defence

He isn't one of the four on 4 yellows is he? Would be ultimate shithouse to get suspended in a game you can't play in anyway.

They are a very well organised big unit at the back, we need to be clever and not just let Hutton hoof the ball into the box, beat your man and hit low crosses not high ones, or try a shot now and again.

Good from Minturn there

TBF Paul Bodin is saying about how well Minturn is playing today against such an experienced international striker.

They are sitting deep. We are not getting the delivery right, yet.

How many centre backs would try a backheel in the opponents box, and it nearly worked for Dokes there too.

Sorry meant we can’t afford anymore suspensions from other players  as the squad is small enough plus Kemp won’t be available for Saturday

That bottled header from Shade on the half way line is unforgivable

I’m not one to usually comment on atmosphere, but christ, it’s awful. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been a poor half, and fans haven’t had much to get behind, but you wouldn’t have thought we’re unbeaten at home with the lack of noise. Must have one of the worst home atmospheres in the EFL.

Yep, that was fucking shocking.

Corner to them after a defensive header by McEachran.

HT 0-1

Bit of a nothing game really, feels like a 0-0 but obviously they've had the luck with the deflection. Need to find another gear in the second half.

Not great. Needs to be better second half to break them down. RHM's pace might help.

Let’s hope Flynn can get them motivated for the second half.

We are going to need a bit of quality or RHM ‘unpredictability’ to get anything from this.

Young off for RHM I think. Been far too slow, RHM has pace, and can add some chaos to their back line as I’m not entirely convinced even he knows what he’s doing next.

Agreed! That really irritated me!

At the moment, and it could all change, the difference between the two teams is the desire of the defenders to defend.  Gillingham have put in extra effort to either block the cross, attack the cross or the edge of the box.  On the flip side, four of our players watched while taking a sip of tea and a biccy while their player got a shot off (of those four, Minturn can at least claim he was the last one, so the others should already have closed him down).

It's all a bit too pleasant.  I haven't watched much of the last three or four games, this seems a lot less intensive than the start of the season.

Best chance was probably the volley from Young. Some half-chances as well. Though those dried up a little once Gills started to sit back.

We were trending towards toothless by the end of the half, and look ripe for a counter attack.

Need the rub this half to get a result.

We started slow then gained momentum to become the better side then an absolute fluke puts us behind. Seen just about enough of us going forward to feel we can get back in it. Plenty of crossing opportunities,a couple of decent ones second half could reap benefits.Kemp needs to establish himself in this game I think as Khan and McEachran are winning their fair share of ball. Come on ,we can do this

We do seem to have lost a bit of the early season intensity. Hate to say squad size and schedule but it does seem likely.

A combination of the ball not falling for us, being too slow and ponderous and a rare Kemp stinker.

Plenty to play for if we can up the intensity.

Young is trying too hard to make it happen…

Think teams are also setting up differently and less expansive against us now

Same. Pathetic.

Definitely a factor, but I feel that FBT and Dokes are much closer to normal CBs than they were earlier in the season. How much of that is wingers playing high and forcing them and how much is our own tactical adjustments to try to ship fewer and how much is tiredness... well, choose your own agenda I guess.

Just need a bit of luck and we will be well back into the game, just have a fucking shot and dont hit high deep crosses that the huge defence will mop up all night long.

After 60 mins get RHM on and play the ball on the floor quickly and we will get goals. Just dont let them hit us on the counter.

Agree in general, except that Dokes has played a fair amount of that half in Kemp’s position!

Kemp looked like he was fouled in the box there.

Kemp gets fuck all from refs

He has, Dokes has been very far advanced for most of the game so far.

Att: 8,853 (610 Gills)

Corner to them, end with a powerful shot well saves by Mahoney.

Mahoney pulls off some cracking saves!

Poor header after a corner by them great chance we got away with that.

This is frustrating. Making the wrong decision, time after time

Good turnout from them.

Descended into a bit of a shambles. A lot of our players are miles off it.

Can't keep falling for them surely?

Mahoney wasnt near that shot that was wide.

Shade beats Williams but cuts inside and shoots when he shouldnt have.

Poor header by Young from a McEachran cross.

Time for RHM to come on for Young now I think. Change it up a bit its just not working for Young tonight.

Hutton nice shot the keeper just pushes it round the post from 20 yards.

Corner to Town from a Hutton cross missed by Young.

Great cross better. More like it

Keeper fumbles the corner but we cant do anything with it.

For all Shades ability in taking a man on, his final ball and decision making is absolutely toilet. Just consistently getting in to good positions and then being infuriatingly shit.

Shade is so infuriating, just flatters to deceive. He glides past people into dangerous positions but doesn’t have a clue what to do in the final third.

Gills could be the most defensive side I have seen at the CG in years, but they are doing it well, they just have to block the defence out and not concede, which they are doing so far with ease.

Khan has been like a crab today. Sideways or backwards, never looking for that forward pass

Fireworks going off somewhere down Shrivenham road. Be nice to see some fireworks on the pitch.

Agree. We can’t find that bit of quality

Why the fuck is Khan so scared of shooting?

Please take Young off

Shade is infuriating at times, hes a typical top level academy player, he has good ball skills, hes fast and can beat his man but gets a rush of blood in good positions and doesnt have a footballers brain when it comes to passing or shooting when it matters most.

Its just not working for him today.

Young misses his kick again in a good position.

Yellow for the Gills winger for synically hacking down FBT.

RHM on for Austin.

Mainly because they are winning!

OMG that was shocking By Young there.

Young is having a shocker for the last 15

Exactly they dont need to score again to win, we need 2 which is unlikely.

Couldnt even get close to the corner flag!

Terrible cross by Hutton.

Completely out of ideas going forward

Even Kemp hasnt been up to his usual standards today.

Penalty. This is really poor

Pen to them given against Minto.

They’ve had three proper attacks all game, and have looked so much more threatening on each of those three than any of ours

Always the risk with Minturn. He commits to every tackle, too many in my view. The positive is you get some great looking dominant tackles. The downside is well, that.

He missed.

Awful miss too well wide.

The more Hutton crosses high the more they will easily defend them, play low hard crosses. Use a bit of intelligence.

Christ! Not seen such a bad penalty against us!

Frustrating as fuck

Every cross is being headed away with ease.

Christ on a bike, feels like I've seen about 475 crosses not find a man in red.

Too fucking slow in possession, stop passing sideways.

Please drill a low fucking cross

Yellow to the Gills player for time wasting.

I can't remember the last time I saw a team this good at defending a lead at this level. Just unlucky and frustrating that this is the team we concede from a deflection against!

This. So fucking this.

The season is going rapidly downhill.

Recent results shite!, performances shite!!

It may be relatively early but anyone who believes we can get promoted is seriously deluded!!

Floaty shite crosses straight to the head of a Gills payer all fucking night.

Fucking hell Hutton cross is low and hard, whip it in not float it.

Clayton on for Minturn.

One-dimensional. Rubbish.

And this includes Hutton. No better than Shade tonight.

Hutton is the worst culprit for shit crosses today.

But Hutton just needs that 1 cross to hit its intended target, surely one must do today.

6 second rule ref for a keeper kick out of his hands, not 16 seconds.

Feels like Saturday/Tuesday weeks are going a major issue. Just don’t seem able to sustain any pressure.

Drifting towards mid table mediocrity.

Nothing is working for anyone today really, its frustrating as fuck.

Squad depth non-existent. Thanks Clem.

A defeat like today would have been manageable if we did our job at Morecambe and Salford

That was a great save by the keeper from Kemp.

This.

Abodo on for Shade.

Get ready for the copy and paste Flynn post match interview...

The fact we’re now reliant on a 16 year old to try and get back in games speaks volumes.

Hutton just sack off training low crosses? Seriously, fucking hell, how can you be a professional footballer and not realise that these floaty crosses are not working

Definition of madness.

Fuck sake! Half of you only post when we are losing!

Gills set out to get a 0-0 draw, fill the defence and hope to hit us on the break, its a perfect away performance from them.

Pretty much 1 shot on target and it gets defelcted and goes in so then they dont need to play any more just clear the ball, which they have done well.

FBT shot saved.

5 mins added.

Young misses a great headed chance from 3 yards out, FFS.

Shame because we started so well before the lucky deflected goal. Chasing the game we've been fucking dire.

Brilliant ball from Hutton, fair play, but my word, how isn’t that a goal

That was THE chance of the game today.

It's a sort of siege but Gillingham look comfortable despite the fact that our chances are technically pretty good. Just looks a side confident in defending vs a side not all that confident in attacking at the moment, which is a far cry from where we were a few weeks ago.

Oh Jake Young!

So frustrating. 2 great chances this half not taken.

FBT wins a corner.

Absolutely frustrating performance.

Not good enough I'm afraid.

Was it a bad performance, no not really, was it a good performance? no definately not, just utterly frustrating against a team with a packed defence.

FT 0-1

And that’s how you defend a lead  :crash:

An absolute masterclass in how to defend a lead and see out a game.
We could learn a lot from that.

I think that undervalues them a bit as well, they missed a penalty and had two clear cut chances to score on top of their goal.  We had maybe one or two good chances all game, when we were trying to press.

Frustrating.

We were poor, slow, and predictable. We didn't change it either.
Back in Pub

Started off well. Got progressively worst and could have played for a week and not scored. A lot of the players look mentally tired if not physically with decision making really poor tonight.

Utter bollocks sorry.

I don't buy it at all. They were crap. We weren't at the races and still had 4-5 absolute glorious opportunities. They were so deep they might as well have all been on the goal line.

I didn't see that as a good defensive performance. We had Shade and Hutton 1v1 virtually every minute. Cross after cross after cross. It was just utter dog shit quality in the final third. Nothing to do with Gillingham being good in my opinion.

Missed the good chances again. That wasn’t happening earlier in the season.

Bad luck with the deflection for their goal. But they defended really well after that.

Young reducing his future weekly wage every game at the moment unfortunately.

We were not bad tonight per say. But in both boxes they were better when it mattered. Shit penalty aside of course.

After seeing it again it probably was a penalty for the foul on Kemp, but not enough to make him fall over, so why not stay on your feet and take the shot on! Infuriating.

With our home form where it is we need a rethink against the low block, because we will see it plenty more times.

Shit game. Shit goal, Gills defended well. Young was fucking awful. Not going to be voting in the MotM poll.

You couldn't really ask for 3 better chances to win a game in the last 5 minutes

Oh,and another blatant pen turned down

It does also help if your opponents miss clear chances

Run out of steam by mid october.

Good job we have the squad depth to switch it about. Oh.

The Shade and Hutton 1v1 point you make, I understand, but look at how they defended them crosses (bar the one Young header at the end). They are a VERY limited team, but astute defensively. Their keeper was forced into one good save, and a couple of routine ones. For all the possession and crosses, they were fairly comfortable. At least, that’s how I saw it..

Think I'll give this a miss for a bit. Ends up being a £70 day for fuck all return.

As I said - the quality for the large part into the box was horrific. That's what helped them.

People can say good defending. I disagree - Letting up 78% of the ball and allowing your full backs to be constantly ran at 1v1 and not stopping supply into the box in my opinion is not good defending. It's just waiting for the inevitable. And the inevitable should've came many times despite how bad we were.

Burnley did exactly that in the Prem under Dyche for years. If you think you're better than the opposition at defending crosses encouraging the opposition to cross isn't bad defending, it's backing yourself.

Yeah, but the "routine" saves were because of our poor finishing

Our wing backs are just not fit for purpose. Make Dokes and FBT play wing back and get some proper Centre backs in to fill their places.

At the moment we have wing backs who can't defend and on tonights performance have one shit trick going forward.

Shade defended well I thought tonight

A Dyche team wouldn't leave their full backs exposed 1v1 all game. It's not the same.

So frustrating. They were well drilled, organised and committed but that game was there for the taking.

We looked tired. Young had an all time stinker. Kemp didn’t turn up at all.

We were just so slow and ponderous out wide and the quality of balls into the box wasn’t high enough.

Decision making in key areas was just poor.

Plenty of endeavour from everyone really but I think today was the day that the threadbare squad finally caught up with us.

Clem wanted the club in the Championship, or so he said. Laughable.

TBF they doubled up on Shade a lot, so not exactly 1v1.

It was maddening how we kept trying the same type of cross over and over though. Shows how important the first goal is though. We didn’t defend with the same energy they did, and got punished.

Stockport, Notts Co and Wrexham top three now. Ominous.

Ultimately apart from RHM we have fuck all to try and change a game.

It's not acceptable. I can't wait until we are owned by somebody who can actually afford to run us.

Sending a 16 year old onto the pitch to try and nick us a goal. A 19 year old starting at the heart of our defence.

With their outlay Gillingham should be there

We were crying out for a target man to bring on.

Instead we had a 5"8 16 year old to bring on.

Flynns doing a great job. Needs Clem to give him the tools to complete the squad.

Game of opinions but I strongly disagree there. We were toothless but Gillingham defended as good as I’ve seen in a good few years, yeah it was anti football but it’s easy to see why they’ve ground out so many 1-0 wins this season. They were defensively very well structured and their keeper had a very good game.

Yes we could have done a lot better ourselves at trying to break them down but to say none of it was to do with them setting up in a well drilled defensive structure is absolutely wrong in my opinion. They took a while to get into it but settled in their banks and then at the end conceded the width to defend the middle (more so when Austin went off) and it worked.

You don't concede 6 or 7 good chances by defending brilliantly. For me,it's down to rank bad finishing

One day we’re going to agree on something mate and the world is going to end

Not sure there were that many great chances. Young header at the end for sure, but what else would you qualify as a great chance?

Flynn:
- We have to stop throwing points away
- Dominated the game
- Gave away a poor goal
- The missed chances were poor
- If its not our night in front of goal, we shouldnt be losing the game
- So much good play, but we have thrown points away
- Feel for the strikers at time. They dont know exactly when the crosses will come in
- Hutton decision making was better in the second half
- We missed a header from 3 yards. We dont see the likes of Wrexham doing that.
- Its about belief, mentality and being clinical
- Its not a mentality thing. We've dominated the game. Played best football Flynn has seen in L2. But we have to be clinical. Flynn hates losing games
- We gave them something to hang on to
- We know how they were going to defend
- Its worrying that we allow a left footed player cut in from the right. They didnt let Shade do that. We shouldn't let them do it. Its the basics of football
- Young was getting frustrated and let it show. The best players miss chances and then shrug it off and hopefully score the next one.
- Cain was injured in post match running at Salford. Felt something in his calf. Probably a couple of weeks
- Kemp out vs MK: We'll have a look tomorrow. Players on a cool down. Someone will have to step up! We aren't a one man team.
- Brewitt taking part at the weekend?: We'll see how it goes as the week progresses

😂 bring it on!

It's all about the finishing, if we put our chances away then it's a routine win.

No Cain for the weekend. Fuck knows who's playing the 10 role then!

I’d have thought it might be Shade… or Khan and Kinsella comes in.

Young twice first half, Kemp rounding keeper first half, Kemp second half from FBT's great pass(great save admittedly), Young header from Shade's(?) cross second half,Austin header first half from a corner, FBT shot second half,McEachran,straight at the keeper after a lay off from Young are the ones that spring to mind. I admit they missed a pen but I think we should've had one.
Not knocking Kemp but he had a desperate off day today

I would think Khan and Kinsella.

Shade at number 10, FBT at LWB, Clayton at LCB, Minturn or Brewitt at CCB. Young will probably be benched as he looks so out of form, so RHM to start.    

Bingo.

McEachran played further forward at some point last year I think? Not saying I’d do it but could see Flynn going for him in the 10 and Kinsella and Khan behind him.

Personally I’d ditch the 10 out completely, play a more reserved midfield 3, Clayton into LCB if he’s ready and FBT into LWB. I liked what I saw from Minturn today, not faultless but enough to think there’s a player in there, under different circumstances I’d push for him to start again on the weekend but it Brewitt is back then probably best to put him back in.

Overall, first half I thought was decent. Little unlucky with their goal, but thought we had showed some encouraging signs. More disappointed about the second half. We looked clueless going forward, and really out of ideas. The fact they had only three proper attacks, and scored from one and won a penalty from another was concerning.

Khan not at the races today, neither was Kemp or Young. Some other poor performances too, but them three having off days was a big issue, as so much of our play comes through that trio. Young trying too hard (a cliche I hate using, but rings true in this case) and that’s never a good sign for a striker. RHM probably deserves another chance at a start, which I think he’ll get at MK.

Imagine someone like Harry Smith in this team…

Supposedly we was after him in the summer

FBT is not a LWB. He wouldn't have the energy to get up and down. Had chances tonight to go outside his man but didn't look confident.
Shade is not a LWB. He is right footed and their full back always showed him inside.
Crowd were focal at times tonight.
I boo'd Williams. Greedy cunt in my eyes. Don't get the love for him. Didn't set the world alight here.

Couldn't see their penalty claim. Poor one though.

Think a draw would have been a fair result. Fair play to Gillingham fans. Good singing and attendance on a Tuesday night.

Need some money spending on more players in Jan/ free agents but we know it’s not coming unfortunately 🙄

In Flynn we trust 🔴⚪️👍

Plenty of endeavour from everyone really but I think today was the day that the threadbare squad finally caught up with us.

Clem wanted the club in the Championship, or so he said. Laughable.

Clem is in the last chance saloon this season with me and a lot of the fanbase. More seasons in this dross league aren’t going to be tolerated.

The squad depth is totally laughable and embarrassing to be honest- just don’t see us getting promoted under this ownership.

January is his last chance for me to show proper intent. Words are cheap

Just back.

First, I was impressed with Gillingham, they should have had a couple more - wish we could defend like that. Great turnout from them on a Tuesday evening.

I can’t remember a game where we put so many high crosses into their box only to get them easily mopped up by their CBs. If ever a game needed a big, shithouse No. 9, that was it.

We’ve got 2 strikers that haven’t scored from open play for ages. Can’t keep expecting RHM to dig one out as a super sub.

Finished with FBT as LWB and Clayton CB - as it should be. Again, I thought Minturn was overall pretty good. Some great saves from Mahoney and a comedy classic penalty from them.

Gills could be promoted with a defence like that. We, as we have done, will muller some sides but give away points with a porous defence.

Hate to say it, but that doesn’t look like a promotion side to me.

They have vastly more resources than we have- we are miles away from being a top 3 side at the moment and I don’t see that improving with the current owners. Lack of investment on the pitch is a complete joke

It’s nights like tonight, when you see us bringing on a 16 year old kid, that my anger at the “Clem’s the real deal” wazzocks at the Trust starts to bubble up again… Hopelessly naive.

#CompetitiveBudget

Unsure what game the “sponsors” were watching….Hutton MOTM…..WTAF.

Just to add, I think we all know the “competitive budget” was bullshit. We’re now being found out like others have said. January could go one of two ways IMO. I fear it’ll go badly.

To a point I could see an argument for saying the money needed to compete this season is silly, we'll have a development season and hope for a clearer run next year with those teams gone. But it's pretty depressing that we're talking in those terms and they wouldn't admit to it anyway.

Honestly, last season was the chance and we fucked it massively.

Depends how you see it. There’s Stockport, Wrexham, Notts County, Gillingham, Mansfield, Franchise, Bradford, Salford and FGR (debatable if those last 2 will last) who can likely offer financial terms far better than ours. Only 4 of those can go up max at once, along with not knowing the size of the clubs coming down from League One, it’s risky to bank on this being a one off season financially and that we’ll be able to compete again next season.

I can see how Gillingham have not conceded many, ten men in the box on many occasions but a more physical side will not worry too much about that and we are not one of those teams.

For anyone not knowing the result the “stats” (for what they are worth) would probably make them think that we had won the game quite easily and therein lies a problem that we can out pass, out shoot, have more corners etc. etc. but it is only goals that win matches and that was sadly lacking tonight.

My view on Young is that after a great start down here he had something to prove to Hughes, but since his sacking he seems to have lost his way, possibly by being out on a limb now and not really knowing where his future might lie and trying that bit too hard to impress.

Were you watching the same game? Since kick off they double marked our wingbacks, whenever it went down the side they drifted a midfielder over to cover alongside their wingback, that's why it always when backwards to dokes or FBT. They knew our biggest threat was from the wings so they doubled down on the wings and whilst they did that the other midfielders sat and screened the three center backs.

They know how to defend and knew that if they double marked the wings and didn't give us space between midfield and defense then Kemp couldn't work any magic.

I personally clapped him off. He was out of contract and had a better offer. We got him on the cheap and used the contract extensions to keep him and I bet even that wasn't a decent wage.

I don't know him personally but when my grandad had a heart attack he recorded a video for him hoping he would pull through and wishing him well which meant the absolute world to grandad. Working with Caroline he got the team to sign a card and gave grandad a signed shirt. I met him in hospitality a few times and he was a really nice bloke that loves playing football.

He did a service for the club, provided us with some great memories, and left for a better offer. We would all do the same in his situation. There is no loyalty in football and we all know that.  

James (orchestral tour) were fantastic at Bath Forum. The setlist will piss off the greatest hits people too, ha ha(though they did do Sit Down).

As far as I can tell from this thread the football was huff and puff against a house of bricks, and Jake Young has turned into  Chris Hay

I've not even noticed Young on the pitch the last few games.

Young's two air shots (admittedly one of them a lot harder to take than the other), shot straight at the keeper in the first half and *that* header at the end, he's getting the chances but cannot finish at the minute. Hugely frustrating performance all around, and shows the lack of a plan B when the other team have worked out how to stop our wingbacks playing.

It’s not so much last night that’s the problem, one off defeats happen. It’s the sloppy dropped points against Salford, Morecambe, Wrexham etc that make any defeat much more damaging.

It seems to be a problem we’ve talked about for years that we only have one way of playing whether we’re winning or losing and this season seems no different. We no real plan B to turn round games or alternatively become more solid defending a lead and just see games out. Flynn admittedly hasn’t been helped by the owner clearly not releasing the funds to finish the squad.

yeah, it's difficult to see what attacking plan B can be other than being on RHM for some pace.

why oh why didn't we sign another forward. Though even then I'm not sure that's the total answer

433 with Shade & RHM either side of Austin/Young?
4231 with Shade, RHM & Kemp in behind Austin/Young?

…ok…not massive differences and the same players but there is some possibilities other than wing backs.

I’d be tempted to go 433 at the weekend without Kemp

Without wanting to be too critical of a young lad thrown in at the deep end, Minturn was culpable for the one on one Bonne missed and the penalty. I don’t think we will see him start again for a while which is a shame as that was a big chance for him.

No complaints on the score line for me, echo what most have said - we are clearly under cooked as a squad.

MK on Saturday will be interesting - they were rampant last night under a new manager.

Our starting XI is good enough for at least a playoff spot. After that we have no options. We all knew that and selling Wakeling on deadline day is looking a worse decision by the week

Selling Wakeling fine… but not replacing him, laughable. Really feel for Flynn. We have 85% of a great playing/managerial set up here. I can absolutely see him getting fed up and going to another insultingly shit club a la Flitcroft/Lindsey et al.

What I don’t understand is that the finances we are talking about to bring in 2 or 3 more “good” L2 players can’t be earth shattering. We don’t want the moon on a stick.

January is going to be interesting. Sell anyone key and the supporter meltdown will be for the ages.

Reminded me of last season in terms of we huffed and puffed but couldn’t break the door down with a better starting 11. We’d have lost that game last season too, only by a bigger margin.

I’m regretting buying tickets for MK already for a trip that I, optimistic LL can only see as ending with our tails between our legs for a miserable trip home, god I hope I am wrong.

As I and others have said if there is no money to strengthen in January it’s mid table again. Sadly I do not regret the decision to let go of the season tickets.

Fair enough but I don't think that really explains why we got so many crosses in(not good ones I admit) or created so many chances. Yeah they lapped up high crosses but that was our fault for not changing it up. Kemp saw plenty of the ball but had a rare off day for me.

Totally agree

...but not forgetting the terrible pass from Kemp that put us in trouble

Nothing against Williams but if you look at the players in that role before and after him - Payne & Kemp he is definitely the lesser of the three.

For me, it just never felt like Williams did enough - was never as influential as a player of his ability should have been..

Just re-watched their goal. Total lack of communication at the throw in. Why does no-one tell Khan, in pantomime style, "He's behind you!" Dreadful and shows that lack of leadership we have on the pitch.

Kemp even looks at the man about to receive the throw in space and does nothing.

Khan's attempts to then track back and intervene are woeful and McEachran, who I thought had a really good game, again fails to close the man down effectively for the shot, as he did for the cross for Salford's equaliser on Saturday.

These are the basics.

It's not Minturn's fault. He's had so little game time and should not be playing at the heart of a back 3 where he's often isolated 1v1. Especially against somebody of Bonne's experience. He's doing fine for his age. Apart from the lad Hills at Accrington I doubt there's any other 19 year old centre halves playing regularly in league 1 and 2.

Minturn should be on loan in the national league but he has to stay for cover because our squad is pathetic. We are operating like a Harrogate or a Sutton. Serious questions need to be asked. If Clem can't afford to fund this club then I sincerely hope it's up for sale.

A 16 year old coming on when we need a goal. We don't even have somebody to come in for Kemp.

Flynn is working miracles for me and is being massively let down by the ownership. I can see us sliding massively in the coming weeks as our squad gets more injuries, suspensions and further fatigued.

Amazing how quickly things can change, our forms now 4 points from 15 so realistically we need to pick up a few points from 3 very difficult games over the next month against MK, Stockport and Mansfield otherwise our good start could end up looking a poor one. Imperative we get something against Colchester and Harrogate at the very least, the sloppy dropped points are looking really costly now.

Stood frustrated watching that...havent read back.

I expected the Gills to be organised and hard to break down and wasnt let down.

We started slow, stayed at the same pace, telegraphed passing and constantly cut inside.

We committed the biggest sin...conceded first.

Went in at half time.

Came out....and played...the fucking same....

Having said all that we did create chances....the missed header a the end was the cherry on the cake!

Our Free kick at the Bank summed up our match.

Gills missed a pen they didnt need.

We werent shit but .....a frustrating evening.

Thats crap, FBT came as a LB/LWB and he played that role well under Lindsey last season, he would fit perfectly at LWB and play Clayton at LCB who is not so prone to straying up the field as FBT does at LCB.

Not sure I would call a 4-1 home win against a managerless team rampant  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Pretty much agree with all of that especially Flynn let down by the Owner(s) in the transfer market.

There wasn't. Outside of one Hutton cross to the back post it was like a museum of bad crossing all night. Hit and hope and not even with any conviction. Just float one in to the area most populated with Gillingham players.

Shite.

Austin’s header in the first half from a corner. Couldnt see clearly but there was a scramble on their goal line in the first half as well.

Couple of good saves from their keeper in the second half, fantastic block tackle on their 6 yard line late on, Young’s header.

I was in line with their 18 yard line in the second half - at times they had a back 6 strung out along it. Great defensive display I thought.

Probably why he can afford them then.

Read partially back. A frustrating evening against a well marshalled, defensive unit. I actually thought we didn't play too badly but we were just unable to unlock their defence. I agreed with Bodin on comms who early on stated that the Gills were playing narrow, allowing us space on the wings and were then relying on their CBs to mop up everything. Masterson was excellent throughout I thought. I've read contrasting opinions as to whether Gillingham defended well or not, at the end of the day they kept a clean sheet so for them it's a good night's work regardless of what we think. Unfortunately Hutton's crossing wasn't quite on point consistently and I was massively unimpressed with Young in front of goal, wild swipes, missing the ball completely, he's totally gone off the boil. I also wonder whether Charlie is knackered as well, he's just not quite there either in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, he works hard but it's not really happening for both of the strikers.

Disappointing to have lost and my takeaway from last night is the contract between the 2 benches. Our game changer was RHM, but in a match against a side sitting in, it's not really setup for him. Then you've got Obodo, who might have all the untapped talent in the world, but he shouldn't be anywhere near the first team setup. Clayton, good to have him back, Genesini and Kinsella - meh. Gillingham were able to swap Jonny Williams for Lapslie, who is a brilliant midfielder at this level and also bring on Tom Nichols - a real L2 poacher.

I do feel for Mike Flynn. The hand he's been given is not bad. First 11 are pretty good but when you get beneath the surface he really doesn't have a huge amount to work with. I think that's also why we don't really seem to have a plan B, the formation and way we play never really seems to change, we just bring off 1 player for a vastly inferior one in the hope we'll improve. I also was thinking about Dan Kemp and how Williamson at Franchise surely is going to utilise him in the way he likes to play - sadly I think he'll thrive there with Jack Payne, Gilbey etc. I also noticed Joe Tomlinson is at Franchise so no doubt they are going to come back to haunt us. Just bought my ticket for Saturday, I'm approaching that game with trepidation.

In nine games time it is exactly halfway through the season. Wildly assuming that 80 points is a play off space we need 17 points from nine games to be on target for that aspiring 40 points.

Didn't say competitive for what league position or even league to be fair.

Agree.

Might need to put him on crossing practice the way we play, but then can't be worse than Shade.

the dropped points after sloppy, but what really worries me is I doubt Kemp will be here in February -we aren't making hay while the sun shines

I saw a stat on Twitter (which I haven't corroborated so it could be horse cack) that says we haven't beaten anyone in the league above us in the league this season so far. Flat track bullies.

we've been in the top 8 for a while, it does limit opportunity

It does, but it doesn't make it incorrect. I guess as we slide down the table we have more chance to put it right.

always a bright side!

It is true but when you look at it 3 of them we've not played and 3 of them have failed to beat us,so not really a yardstick as such to be fair.....yet!

Quite  a few comments about the crossing and whether or not Gillingham defended well.

I think they understood the threat, pace down the flanks that can whip crosses in, but nobody up top with height.  They did send a midfielder out to ensure the crosses were from deep or from cut backs, never from the byline.  That way the crosses have to be higher to get to their target and over the potential blockers, unless you are Beckham.  Then you sit in and have two or three big defenders who know what their job is going to be, and a couple of midfielders briefed on just pressing the edge of the box to avoid any long shots or slipped balls from Kemp.  They did it well in my opinion.  Our lack of options meant we kept going at the same way of playing.

Agreed. Not a complicated plan but a well rehearsed one, carried out impeccably. They were also very good at closing space for shots down on the edge of the box (which we weren't...).

I thought we had a few personally,Young twice first half,Austin header from a corner,Kemp rounding the keeper.Hutton forced a great save early second half,Young two headers second half, Kemp from FBTs great pass(good save) FBT and McEachran both straight at the keeper. Chances like which we were scoring regularly a few weeks ago. This, I reckon has been the main cause of all our defeats so far, the missing of chances the likes of which we were gobbling up in the first 2 months.

We had a few half chances and the Young one was a very good chance.  Kemps rounding the keeper for example - he was pushed wide, which is good defending.  You bend but you don't break.  Kemp was never in a position to score, even if it looked like a threat.

Some of the other chances were rushed shots, again because they pressed or put bodies in the passing and shooting lanes.

Young had a volley early on, it wasn't ever going in, but it was probably the only time we got in behind a littler or had the right trajectory on a cross.  It's L2, they won't be able to go full European Cup away performance from the early 90's, but they stuck at a game plan and came away with a clean sheet.

Mahoney made the better saves and watched a penalty go wide.

Piss poor from Franchise. Not great from the Vegans either

1 win out of 5 games against sides currently in the top half. That win being against Crawley, who seem to be slipping down to a more natural position

I was shocked to see Flynn has only won 6 from 17 games... To be clear, I think he has done well but all signs still pointing to mid-table without investment despite a couple of early season wallopings.

Did I hear a drum in the TE?

I bloody hope not

Swear I heard it once just before the game started.

Just needs a Stanley knife..