Pre-Season Results

[Garawa]

I never thought I would say that I miss Jacob! Wonder where he is now? Must be about connections Elg, it all seems the wrong way round otherwise. For us however I think it has more to do with scoring a goal or two. Its all very well having fancy ties but if their defence is that good and you are unlikely to score then it must be difficult to try set ups without seeing who creates and scores the goals.

[fan_of_mulligan]

http://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/n ... 80274.aspx

£12 for a pre-season friendly is our of order and I think the price will put off many Gillingham and Ipswich Town Supporters from going to the match tomorrow, although pre-season matches at Priestfield usually are poorly attended.

Ipswich Town will defiantly give us our toughest test this pre-season and I think Gillingham will play one team for a hour and a second team for thirty minutes rather then name one team per half like we have been doing for Welling United, Dartford, Bromley and Folkestone Invicta.

Who else on here is going to the game tomorrow ???

[Garawa]

Looking forward to it. Need to start working out who is who!! I think he might approach this more like a normal game, a chance to try out the formation and team in a much more competitive environment. I think there will be a lot of subs but ones made randomly during the second half as there are a number of players that really need to show what they can do over 90 minutes. I am hoping we are a more solid unit this season and a 1-1 draw would be quite creditable in my book.

[gillsfan1066]

Spanking tomorrow, probably going to ship at least three or four into the Gills net, maybe lucky enough to get one ourselves, if were really lucky. Not got a team good enough to compete with Ipswich, still watching the Sydney v West Ham game at least we didn't fly halfway round the world to get our butts kicked, lol,
Going to take a couple of real good looking birds with me tomorrow, going to be sitting with my mate Scally and giving him advice for this season, so you guys can wave to me if you want but not to much fuss OK ? Regards Dave.

[Kent_UckyFriedGills]

Gills lost 2-0 at home to Ipswich.Reports say we passed the ball nicely,and the new players (especially Loft) look good.Gills play again on Tuesday Night at Dover.

[Kent_UckyFriedGills]

Taylor is sending two Teams to Dover,and Faversham on Tuesday Night.The Faversham game will be managed by Hess which will be mostly made up of Youth Players,and a few senior Players.The Dover game will be the strongest Team.

[Garawa]

Why have the club not given out this information or did I miss it?! If you find out more let me know as a mate of mine is going as his little boy is in one of the Faversham youth squads. Sadly I will miss it as we are going away for a couple of days.

[Kent_UckyFriedGills]

Gills lose 1-0 at Dover through a Sean Raggett goal.Disapointing to lose when we had a strong side out.

In the other game Gills came from behind to beat Faversham 1-6.Goals from Norris,German 2,Linganzi,Freiter,and a Botterill own goal.I wonder what Taylor will be thinking as the stronger Team was out at Dover.Taylor will be thinking of other possibilities now I imagine of who to pick.

[Kent_UckyFriedGills]

We play our last Friendly tomorrow away at Ebbsfleet.Taylor says he will play two different Teams and give them 45 minutes each.Ebbsfleet had an impressive 3-0 win against Portsmouthlast week,so it will be a tough game.Hopefully we play well and get the win,and most importantly avoid any injuries.Matt Fish is out with a knock,and Pritchard started training on Thursday.

[Kent_UckyFriedGills]

Gills have lost to Ebbsfleet 1-0.Dack misplaced a pass which found Charlie Sherringham who finished past Morris.A shame to lose our last pre-season game.We have a week to prepare for the more important stuff which is the start of the season at MK Dons.It would have been nice to have gone into the season with a confidence boosting win.

[gillsfan1066]

We played one "real" team during the preseason this year and lost, I sure as hell hope this does not come back to haunt us. Beating up a bunch of tomato cans in my humble opinion is not the way go into the most important season in the history of Gillingham Football Club. Wish we had had a couple more sterner tests, GO GILLS.

[Elgrande]

The most important season in our history? Why and when and because of?

[gillsfan1066]

why, why, lol, Well I don't think anyone,supporter, casual fan, management ,or players can do anything about the seasons that have gone since 1893 do you ?? , BUT THIS YEAR starting next week we could WIN the FA CUP, get into Europe, Win Promotion, Win the Kent Senior Cup,Win the Johnston Paint trophy, win the League Cup, get planning permission for a new stadium, get a foreign investor to donate 100 million pounds into the club.
I think only THIS year is the one that matters don't you,could be GFC's best year ever ??

[fan_of_mulligan]

My report on Gillingham's 1 - 0 defeat against Ebbsfleet United. (Part One)

I am going to have to politely and respectfully disagree with suggestions that Gillingham are going to play 4.1.3.2 this season - don't get me wrong I do believe at times we will use the formation during the season - but I just think that we have got the players and personal to play a 4.2.3.1 formation very effectively, one thing that does worry me is that I have not seen a combination up-front between Luke Norris, Antonio German, Danny Kedwell and Cody McDonald that looks like it is going to work this season, losing Adebayo Akinfenwa in the summer was big loss in more ways then one because Akinfenwa could play up-front with Cody McDonald, now that Akinfenwa has gone we either have to try and find a strike-partnership that works or go with my suggestion of playing one up-front.

Although it is worth pointing out that in the first half we had Josh Hare, John Egan, Adam Barrett and Gary Borrowdale in defence with Callum Davies and Devante McKain as defensive holding midfielders so there was not a lot of creativity in midfield to create many goal-scoring opportunities for Brennan Dickenson, Luke Norris, Cody McDonald or Jermaine McGlashan to get on the end of.

I have to say that Devante McKain has really excelled in the defensive holding midfielder role, alright he is passing the ball backwards and sideways and not many forward passes, but in comparison Callum Davies is playing like a player who knows he is leaving in this transfer window, the summer signings of John Egan and Kortney Hause has really pushed Callum Davies low down the pecking order and when you combine this with Callum's poor performances for The Gills this pre-season then it is time for both player and club to part ways, Callum Davies is 21 and he clearly wants to playing regular first team football and that just is not going to happen at Gillingham.

One thing I did notice in the first half was that Preston Edwards kept targeting Alex Osborn with his kick outs and more often then not Preston Edward's succeeded, I wish this is something Gillingham would do because when Stuart Nelson kicked the ball long down-field all twenty out-field players were occupying the same space, I would like to see Jermaine McGlashan and Brennan Dickenson go out-wide and spread the pitch nice and wide, although it is worth pointing out that we are trying to pass the ball from the back as John Egan and Adam Barrett dropped deep so Gillingham can build attacks from the back.

After a slow start both teams created one chance a piece in the ninth and tenth minute's respectively as Michael Cocroran's cross to the far post was nodded down by Matt Godden and Alex Osborn see's his shot brilliantly blocked by Callum Davies and a minute later Jermaine McGlashan does really well out on the right flank to work himself into a shooting position and Jermaine McGlashan's shot was deflected over the crossbar and I thought Gillingham were going to be awarded a corner kick, but I was surprised when Referee Ian Fissenden gave a goal-kick.

McGlashan and Dickenson have both done well to get to the byline but there crosses from wide positions lacked the quality of the build up play, I can see these two causing defenders a lot of problems during the 2014 / 2015 season, Aiden Palmer cuts inside Josh Hare but Jermaine McGlashan puts in a fantastic recovery tackle and a minute later Brennan Dickenson uses his pace to get the byline and Brennan Dickenson's shot towards the near post was well held by Preston Edwards.

Josh Hare has whipped in an superb free kick which was deflected over the crossbar and Brennan Dickenson took the resulting corner kick and John Egan's powerful header just went wide of Preston Edward's far post and that was it for the first half.

HALF TIME: EBBSFLEET UNITED 0 - 0 GILLINGHAM

Very few chances created from either side and neither Stuart Nelson or Preston Edwards have been seriously tested between the sticks, I thought John Egan excelled in the heart of our defence and from his performances in pre-season you can see that John Egan is an quality player and I cannot believe we were able to sign him when Blackburn Rovers and Huddersfield Town were seriously interested in signing The Former Sunderland Defender.

Another young defender who I thought has done superbly well in pre-season is Josh Hare and should Matt Fish miss the opening match against MK Dons at Stadium MK then I would have no problems with seeing Josh Hare starting at right back, I know it is one thing to play well against Ebbsfleet United, Welling United and Dartford and another to play against MK Dons, but Josh Hare deserves the opportunity to play against MK Dons, if we're not going to play him then you have to wonder why have we offered Josh Hare an professional contract in the first place - I would play Hare IF Matt Fish is not going to be fit enough for the opening league game of the season.

SECOND HALF.............

Ebbsfleet United could of opened the scoring at the start of The Second Half as Anthony Cook's cross bounced over Joe Martin's head who completely mis-judged the flight of the ball and Alex Osborn's shot went underneath the advancing Glenn Morris but Kortney Hause was in the right position to clear the ball off the goal-line, what was Joe Martin doing ??? Gills really got away with that and we should be losing 1 - 0 now.

A Few Minutes Later and Ebbsfleet United were causing us problems down the flanks again as Aiden Palmer's cross was going towards Anthony Cook and there was Kortney Hause again to make an crucial interception and in the 52nd and 53rd minutes Gillingham created two goal-scoring opportunities back to back, the first attempt was a tame effort on goal from Brennan Dickenson, but Preston Edwards was tested a minute later as Doug Loft played the ball through to Danny Kedwell who's one touch layoff was perfect for Bradley Dack to run onto and Dack's powerful shot was brilliantly saved by Preston Edwards just as we thought Gillingham were going to score.

Seventy Six minutes into the match and Bradley Dack's corner kick to the far post is headered over the bar by Danny Kedwell and four minutes later Jordan Sanderson's superbly taken free kick was going into the top right corner of the net until Glenn Morris does brilliantly to tip the ball over the crossbar - Diane said to me just before that save she didn't rate Glenn Morris and then Morris makes an save like that.

Just as the game was pettering out and going to end in a 0 - 0 draw, Bradley Dack's under-hit back-pass is woeful and Bradley Dack has given the ball to Charlie Shearingham who blasts the ball past Glenn Morris giving The Gillingham Goalkeeper no chance and Ebbsfleet United have taken the lead and what on earth was Bradley Dack doing, he could of whacked the ball into the stands or played an simple pass, but Dack gets stuck in two minds and that mistake has proven to be costly.

That goal was really the last meaningful action of the match and that's how the score remained until Ian Fissenden blew for full time.

FULL TIME: EBBSFLEET UNITED 1 . 0 GILLINGHAM

[fan_of_mulligan]

(Part Two)

This was a match of very few goal-scoring chances and as Patchy has pointed out there were some robust and reckless challenges that went unpunished and maybe we didn't go full throttle because we didn't want to pick up any injuries, but if that is the case then maybe we should not have any pre-season friendlies a week before The Football League Season Starts.

I thought The Fulham Trialist (Alex Brister) at right back got caught underneath the ball a few times and I was not impressed with him and I would be happy with Josh Hare to provide cover and competition for Matt Fish, while Gary Borrowdale will probably be offered an contract as he has been with The Gills right the way through our pre-season campaign, personally I would like to see us sign an first choice left back who has the athleticism to get forward and back but I accept that maybe we don't have the finances in place to make this type of signing - I just don't rate Joe Martin at left back and his lack of pace caused us a lot of problems defensively last season.

The Second Half saw Aaron Morris, Doug Loft, Jake Hessenthaler and Bradley Dack in midfield and with these four all taking up central midfield positions you can see what our team looks like once you take Jermaine McGlashan and Brennan Dickenson out of the midfield and we look very narrow, we don't have a lot of pace and we cannot get in or behind teams, I think Peter Taylor is looking to sign an pacey winger who can provide cover / competition for Jermaine McGlashan and Brennan Dickenson.

It's so disappointing that we have ended our last three pre-season games with three defeats and even more concerning is that we have not scored against Ipswich Town, Dover Athletic or Ebbsfleet United, Ipswich I can accept losing too because they are a top top Championship Side, but Dover Athletic and Ebbsfleet United have looked more fired up against us and created better goal-scoring opportunities as well.

Maybe once we're playing for points we see better performances from The Gills, better tempo, an understanding of how we are going to play and how we are going to line up because throughout pre-season Peter Taylor is defiantly keeping his first eleven an secret as he keeps rotating players and keep trying different combinations in all positions, but he must know the core of his first eleven even if there are still 1 - 2 positions up for grabs in the starting eleven and a few spots available among the substitutes bench.

With the young athletic players we have got in the side and pace down both flanks in Jermaine McGlashan and Brennan Dickenson you can see how The Gills are going to be playing this season and this explains Adebayo Akinfenwa's departure, but at the same-time Adebayo Akinfenwa going has given us problems up-front because Cody McDonald, Danny Kedwell, Antonio German and Luke Norris have not really linked up in pre-season and it is concerning to see that we don't have a front two that works.

Me and Diane stayed in The ClubHouse at Ebbsfleet United and Facebook is not great for giving balanced or fair reports, when we won against Folkestone Invicta, Bromley and Dartford there were comments of "we're going to win the league" back to back defeats to Dover Athletic and Ebbsfleet United have seen "doom and gloom" and "abusive and over negative" comments and somewhere between the two is probably a more accurate representation of how well or how badly Gillingham are going to do well in League One this season.

I think we got a lot in our squad to be hopeful for, Kortney Hause, Aaron Morris, Brennan Dickenson, Josh Pritchard, Like Norris and John Egan are all 24 or younger and they are six of our nine new signings this summer, Glenn Morris is an experienced goalkeeper who will provide cover for Stuart Nelson, while Jermaine McGlashan and Doug Loft look quality players, we do need to improve defensively and ideally we can do with another winger as well, but we are also dictated by finances on who we can and who we cannot afford.

I also agree with StroodBoy, if we put in performances like yesterday throughout the season we are going to lose more matches then we win, but I am hoping that when we're playing for points and the real football begins we start to see the players playing close to there full potential and we see a style, a system and an understanding in how we're going to play, the pace, tempo and intensity will be there from the off because we're playing for points, yesterday was a pre-season game and it wasn't a pressurized environment.

Also, why was Danny Kedwell booed by Ebbsfleet United Supporters yesterday ??? - I know Danny Kedwell played for Welling United but surely Ebbsfleet United's main rivals are Dartford and they are more likely to boo Cody McDonald for being A Former Dartford Player.