Gillingham FC Forum

I have been guilty of this, because when Gillingham signed Josh Pritchard Last Summer I thought the young midfielder was going to be the lynchpin in our midfield and someone Peter Taylor was going to build a team around, as Josh Pritchard had loan spells with Tromsø and FC Honka and he never made a first team appearance for Fulham when he signed for Gillingham, Josh Pritchard's best moment in A Gillingham Shirt has to be that cross he whipped in for Leon Legge's late equaliser at Deepdale, as Gillingham earned a 2-2 draw against Preston North End, we just never saw those moments often enough.

One player who did the opposite where fans didn't rate him to start with was Gavin Tomlin when he signed on loan from Dagenham & Redbridge, Gavin Tomlin scored six goals in nine appearances for Gillingham, including the winner against Hereford United, but before signing for The Gills, Gavin Tomlin hadn't scored in twenty one appearances for Dagenham & Redbridge.

So do we judge a player on who we signed them from, or do we wait to see how that player performs in A Gillingham Shirt before deciding if there good enough ???

Do you judge a book by the cover or read the first few pages before buying it ??
I think if we sign a guy from say Manchester Uniteds academy and a guy from say Dover I think you always expect more from the Man U guy don't you ?? Of course he might be anti Gillingham because he has been sent to the depths of hell and not running out to play City in a Manchester derby, where as a guy from Dover might be so happy to get a chance with a bigger team he punches above his weight and is a winner.
You have to wait for a guy to get a few games under his belt before you can start judging, different system, new team , I just hope we pick up some good players this off season so we can make a run at promotion again next year.

I guess everyone's totally different and should be based a merit. If a player is released by a lower league club after a poor season then we rightly should question why would he be good for us however what if he was released because his wages were too high or wanted to be closer to family for example. The opposite works with players from bigger clubs. Donnelly came with a lot of promise from the Premier League. He apparently turned down Liverpool to sign for Swansea before coming here and although he scored 10 goals and clearly has the touch of a top class player, he has been largely anonymous in most games this season. Jackson came from non-league and has been superb.

There's no rhyme or reason why some players are like they are but it's natural at the end of the day.