Bristol City (A, Cup) - 29 Jan 15

[Kent_UckyFriedGills]

I won`t be going,I ticked Bristol City off last season so I am looking to tick off new away grounds now.Apparently we have sold around 80 Tickets according to one fan,credit to any fan that makes the trip.

I think we will go there to attack Bristol City as that has been our tactic since the caretaker four have taken over,also we`re 4-2 down on aggregate and will look to get an early goal.My fear is that our aggregate score will be something like 8-3 which would not be nice.I will be watching on Sky and hoping we can at least make it interesting.

[fan_of_mulligan]

As I don't have SKY on My TV I am hoping to find somewhere which does have SKY on there TV or find a way of getting SKY Sports One on a free trial basis as I have not changed my mind about going and The Second Leg being on TV makes it easier for me to miss the match and watch the game live on SKY Sports One Instead.

As for the strength of the starting eleven, I would go for it because the prize on offer and the dream of playing in The Football League Trophy Final at Wembley Stadium is still a live (even if our chances of progressing to The Football League Trophy Final are very very slim), if we can score early then we might just give Bristol City something to worry about, but even though I can see Gillingham scoring I cannot see us keeping a clean sheet so we will need at least three goals away at Ashton Gate, just to take the match to a penalty shoot-out.

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/sport/forwards-vying-to-replace-marquis-30859/

Gillingham will need to replace in-form loan striker John Marquis for their Johnstone’s Paint Trophy tie, The 22-year-old is cup-tied for Gills’ area final trip to Bristol City after appearing for Cheltenham earlier on in the competition.

This means that Luke Norris and Brennan Dickenson will be vying for the spot alongside Cody McDonald.

[baronnight]

I think you've said it all FOM the first goal is crucial, if we score it's game on, if they score it's game over.

[Kent_UckyFriedGills]

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/spor ... lls-30862/ Andy Hessenthaler hopes Gills can be inspired from Bradford`s 2-4 win at Chelsea for Tonight`s game at Bristol City.


http://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/spor ... -it-30926/ And Steve Lovell says we will give it a real good go Tonight.

[fan_of_mulligan]

I think Gillingham will line up as follows.......................

----------------------------------Nelson--------------------------------------
Hoyte----------------Egan-------------------Ehmer-----------------Garmston
---------------------------------Pritchard--------------------------------------
----------Hessenthaler----------------------------------Loft------------------
-----------------------------------Dack----------------------------------------
--------------------McDonald--------------Dickenson-------------------------

Subs: G.Morris (GK), Legge, McGlashan, Webster, Norris

The only change I can see Gillingham making to the starting eleven will be Brennan Dickenson in for John Marquis (as John Marquis is cup-tied), both Joe Martin and Leon Legge looked short of match fitness against Tonbridge Angels and I would stick with the same defence that started the game against Oldham Athletic at the weekend - even though I am less then impressed with Max Ehmer and Bradley Garmston down the left side of our defence.

I will keep Jermaine McGlashan on the bench so he can give us an injection of pace in the final 20 - 25 minutes of the game, especially if there is only one goal between Bristol City and Gillingham in the tie, while Charlie Webster is traveling down with the first team tonight and either Charlie Webster is traveling down to experience what it is like traveling to a first team away game (similar to what Martin Allen used to do with our younger players), or Charlie Webster will be named among the substitutes tonight, I have gone with the latter and think Charlie Webster will be on the bench.

First goal is crucial tonight, if Bristol City score first then the tie is effectively over, but if Gillingham score first then the tie is alive and we will give Bristol City something to think about.

I hope we can do what Sheffield United did last night and score two quick-fire goals to level the tie and put superior opponents on the back-foot - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!

[Garawa]

Since beating Bristol City away in 2012, we will have faced each other 8 times in just 2 seasons. This is only the 2nd game in 7 at Ashton Gate.

Bristol City are unbeaten in 6 against the Gills and have won the last 4 and 5 of the last 6.

The Gills have played 8 cup games so far. The 4 at home saw 3 defeats and a win however the 4 away have seen 3 wins and a draw.

The Gills have managed to score in 9 of the last 10 matches against Bristol City.

The late 90's saw Bristol City fail to score in 5 successive games against the Gills. The 12 since saw only 3 blank sheets occurred, 2 for the Gills.

All of Matt Smith's 9 goals in 12 games for City came in his middle 5 matches with 6 of those goals coming at Priestfield against the Gills.

7:45
Kick-Off

8:02
GOAL! Bristol City 1-0 Gillingham.

8:17
GOAL! Bristol City 1-1 Gillingham: McGlashan

8:22
Bristol City hit the woodwork for the second time.

8:40
FULL-TIME: 1-1
The Gills miss out on Wembley by losing the area final 5-3 on aggregate.

[Rimshot]

That was a performance we can all be proud of, we were the better team for much of the game and the likes of Egan, Dack, Mcglashan, Mcdonald can all be threats if given enough encouragement to go forward. I don't think Hoyte and Hess are anything other than journeyman but you can't fault them for effort. Equally the back four do look very vulnerable but they tightened up second half.

It was interesting that the Sky team chose to make some comparisons between the two Chairman; ours - bought the club for a pound, lives in Dubai tries to see all the games, even if its on TV; theirs - ambition to get Premiership status, expanding the ground to 27,000 capacity, spends money but wisely.

That will never change at GFC under the current regime but on the pitch there was a lot to be optimistic about last night.

[gillsfan1066]

I will be the first to admit I hated the managing by committee bit, but there doing a great job ,so big hand for them. I think they have shown just how out of touch Taylor was, and I am at the stage where I hope Scally doesn't bring a manager in to cock things up, a complete 180 on my part from my thoughts of two or three weeks ago.
Hate the month of February,who ever gave us this schedule deserves a good kick in the pants, but I think if we can pick up at least a point from Sundays game GFC can go into the next few games feeling a bit more confident, and I think we stay up without to many problems ,he says typing with crossed fingers.

[Kent_UckyFriedGills]

I thought it was a really good performance by us,we attacked them and there was a period where they couldn`t get out of their half as we kept the pressure on.The goal we conceded was disappointing because Smith had two opportunities to score which he did the second time of asking.Our response to their goal was positive and we got our rewards when Dacks expert pass cut through their defence for McGlashan to run on and finish.He got injured when scoring,but luckily he was able to run it off.We had some momentum and Loft`s shot was tipped away well by Fielding.We kept looking to score in the second half McGlashan`s curled shot tipped away by Fielding.Nelson made a couple of decent saves to keep it close,but it wasn`t to be for us.We left ourselves a mountain to climb after the first leg,but I was pleased and proud with our performance in front of the cameras.We could have rolled over,but we kept going until the end.Matt Smith really was the difference over the two legs,it could have been so different if we learnt to deal with him,but well done to Bristol City on reaching the Final.

McGlashan was the pick of the bunch for me,he caused City problems all night and showed why he deserved to start.Pritchard looked decent and is growing in confidence,and Dack assisting the goal and making things happen was good to see.The downsides were Egan now being suspended for Walsall away,and Martin going off and leaving on crutches.We`re unbeaten in three games in all competitions,and hopefully we take the confidence into Sunday now.

[Garawa]

It was interesting that the Sky team chose to make some comparisons between the two Chairman; ours - bought the club for a pound, lives in Dubai tries to see all the games, even if its on TV; theirs - ambition to get Premiership status, expanding the ground to 27,000 capacity, spends money but wisely.

You missed out a key bit though. They said he was a billionaire who refuses to bankroll the club and only spends some money "wisely" when necessary. He didn't bail them out when they were close to relegation and they went down so all in all, we all know Scally doesn't have billions in the bank, there is little difference between them!

This match summed up our season. Again I go back to earlier matches I said we played well in. Last night we had less of the ball, less shots at goal, slightly fewer corners but I feel much the better team. We could have easily won 3-2 and play like that for the rest of the season and we will safe (and would beat Walsall Sunday). Plenty of times we have been the better side and it not backed up by the stats. The only difference recently is that we are attacking instead of trying not to concede. Again I have said most of the season we have the players who can attack and cause damage. I hope the new manager doesn't put a stop to that as we get sucked back into the old way of things again.

[Rimshot]

We all know you are Scally's biggest apologist but that's categorically not what they said - he is bankrolling the club but sensibly. Just a look at the ground developments going on might have given you a clue. He and Scally are miles apart in terms of ambition , commitment and personal wealth.
He puts money in, Scally takes it out.
I'm sorry that your comfy seat in the press box is worth more to you than the truth.

[lidbid46]

Unfair rimshot; I think Gary has a balanced view and criticises when necessary; not just blanket criticism of whatever Scally does. He; Scally has admitted in the past that he doesn't have the sort of money that many other chairmen have. That is hardly his fault; I'm sure he would love a few more million pounds! If someone came along with a lot more money he would sell but I'm not sure there are many such people around nor would they look at Gills; much more likely to approach a small London club. Yes, he does draw a salary and I would prefer it if he was around more often, but I'm not sure what more we can expect from him in terms of finance.

[fan_of_mulligan]

I have got to say that I was a proud Gillingham Supporter on Thursday Night because a 1 - 1 draw away to Bristol City is a decent result and although we lost to Bristol City 5 - 3 on aggregate and we didn't progress through to The Football League Trophy Final at Wembley Stadium, I thought the effort and commitment was there from the players but we also looked liked a side full of confidence and capable of playing decent football against the best side in League One.

Although there were two contributing factors for why Bristol City didn't look at there best 1. They had a two goal cushion which became a three goal cushion when Matt Smith opened the scoring so Bristol City didn't have to be at there best and 2. Had either Jermaine McGlashan or Doug Loft scored to make the match very interesting then Bristol City could of gone up a level if they needed to, but neither of these factors takes away the pride I had on Thursday Night and there won't be many teams who go to Bristol City and get a 1 - 1 draw at Ashton Gate, so although we have been eliminated from The Football League Trophy, I think we can take a lot of positives out of the game and if any potential manager was watching the game on Thursday Night, they will know that they have got a good group of players to work with.

Had Luke Freeman been sent off for his challenge on Gavin Hoyte then the game would of defiantly swung in our favour, on initial viewing it just looked a 50 / 50 challenge and Luke Freeman was second to the ball, but on the slow motion replay Luke Freeman's studs were high and the challenge looked more malicious then it did first time round, because Luke Freeman and Gavin Hoyte went for the ball and slid in, Referee Graham Scott understandably only showed a yellow card for Luke Freeman's challenge.

If a potential manager was watching the game on SKY Sports One on Thursday Night, they will have a lot of young players to work with as John Egan, Max Ehmer, Jake Hessenthaler, Josh Pritchard, Bradley Dack, Bradley Garmston, Luke Norris and Brennan Dickenson either started or appeared as substitutes during the game, we have got nucleus of young talented players for the next manager to work with and we just need to find a system that gets the best out of these players because 5.3.2 was only ever going to be a temporary solution, because Leon Legge, John Egan and Max Ehmer were all putting in exceptional performances at the time.

Just a shame we started the game slowly and grew into the match at 1 - 0 down, it seems to tae something to get us playing / starting well and had Jermaine McGlashan scored first then it would of made the match very interesting, I thought our combination play was very good, especially Cody McDonald's back-heal to Bradley Dack and Bradley Dack's perfectly weighted pass to Jermaine McGlashan to make the game 1 - 1 on the night, and although Bristol City had there chances to win the game late on, I am glad the score-line remained at 1 - 1 because Gillingham deserved a draw away at Bristol City, and we can take the positives, encouraging performances and a decent display on national TV into The Walsall Game Tomorrow - because if we can held the best team in the division to a 1 - 1 draw on there own patch then we can play any team and put in a decent performance and get a positive result.

I thought Jermaine McGlashan took his goal really well and it was a brave finish from a player who hasn't scored enough goals for Gillingham this season, although two goals in his last three appearances is a decent goal return and hopefully we can see McGlashan go on a goal-scoring run because the midfielders need to take the goal-scoring burden off Cody McDonald and John Marquis's shoulders, I think that is why Peter Taylor invested the bulk of our wages into midfield with Jermaine McGlashan, Doug Loft, Aaron Morris, Brennan Dickenson and Josh Pritchard signing in the summer and with the loan signing of Michael Doughty as well, the goal return from our midfielders hasn't been as high as expected.

Although Doug Loft and Jermaine McGlashan were both unlucky to see decent efforts on goal saved by Frank Fielding and Doug Loft would of scored if Frank Fielding didn't get a all important touch on the ball and had that goal gone in at half time then it would of been a good time to score because Gillingham had the better chances in the latter stages of the first half and we had Bristol City on the ropes and the half time whistle came at the wrong time for us, McGlashan also saw his shot saved by Frank Fielding in The Second Half and had McGlashan gone for the top right corner (which is what I think McGlashan was trying to do) then Gillingham would of been 2 - 1 up and we would of had the momentum and Bristol City would of been very nervous as we would be only one goal in it.

But that goal never came and we never set up a grand-stand finish, but at least we finally prevented Bristol City from beating us, but then this was a match Bristol City didn't have to win as the damage had been done in The First Leg, But Gillingham defiantly deserved to draw on Thursday Night and even though we lost 5 - 3 on aggregate, we can take a lot of positives out of the game.

But there were negatives to, like Stuart Nelson's performance in goal as Matt Smith almost scored from a cross in The Second Half as Stuart Nelson came for the ball, I thought Stuart Nelson could of done a lot better for the goal and we have now got to the stage where someone needs to have a few words with Stuart Nelson and just remind him that his place in the starting eleven isn't guaranteed, I wouldn't drop Stuart Nelson completely but just a reminder that Stuart Nelson's place in The Starting Eleven isn't assured might be the kick up the back-side Stuart Nelson needs.

Joe Martin starting back-fired as he had to be substituted late on and considering I saw Joe Martin play against Tonbridge Angels on Monday Night and he looked short of match fitness / match sharpness, why did we start Joe Martin against Bristol City ??? - Doug Loft isn't a left winger and he seems to be the player we're moving around to accommodate into the starting eleven and I would like to see Doug Loft play in The Number Ten Role behind Cody McDonald because that appears to be his best position on the pitch, there was also a lot mentioned about Doug Loft's reaction to being substituted on Thursday Night as well.

I thought John Egan was suspended because he picked up his fifth yellow card of the season on Thursday Night, but there is a earlier cut off point in The Football League for yellow cards and thankfully that means that John Egan is available for selection for The Walsall game on Sunday.

Fair play to The 169 Gillingham Supporters who were at Ashton Gate on Thursday Night, it's not often I miss Gillingham Matches, but with Gillingham 4 - 2 down from the first leg meaning that we had to win 2 - 0 just to take the match to penalties, with Bristol City beating us three times this season and add ticket, travel, food, drink, programme costs and this match being televised, I just felt that this was the match to miss and I watched Bristol City V Gillingham in the pub instead.

Finally, I think Matt Smith has probably got the best goals to games ratio against Gillingham as Matt Smith has scored seven goals in four appearances against Gillingham this season, it does make me wonder if Matt Smith is the most prolific striker for the opposition who has scored goals against Gillingham ??? - Phil Jevons, Neil Harris and Jack Lester all came to mind and I am sure there are several others as well.

[Garawa]

Rimshot, it's a shame that because I don't despise Scally I have no opinion worthy of a listen. Scally has no idea what I do and what I do is as a MASSIVE supporter. I criticise the chairman when needed (a few days ago the latest) and I feel he is his own worst enemy but I don't think he is the worst chairman out there either. I consider myself to have a balanced view NOT a strong pro-Scally one.

We will have to disagree on this one. Their chairman will not be financing the stand out of his own pocket and they clearly stated he has billions he spends wisely when needed and he refuses to bank-roll the club. Be anti-Scally that's fine but don't disregard opposing views because they don't match the same philosophy. I respect your opinions because you do listen to various aspects and have strong informative arguments except when the view is mine it appears!! I am perfectly happy for you to disagree with me but for the right reasons, not because of where I sit or because (weirdly) I attend every home game!

Just for the record, what I do was from a favour for the old media manager. I love what I do but I am not connected to the club in any way. He is no longer there and is one of the reasons why this board has not migrated back onto the new club website....that and the fact Scally hates message boards!!

[Rimshot]

Bristol City Firstly, they said quite specifically that their Chairman does fund the club, albeit with discretion. That IS bank-rolling but within sensible limits.

On to Scally....not the worst ?
Which of these statements is incorrect ?
Has only put £1 into the club.
Has consistently taken salary packages well in excess of £300,000 pa even when the club is losing money.
Has placed members of his family into well paid jobs /'consultancies' at GFC for which they are unqualified.
Has involved GFC in a series of costly legal battles all of which he has lost.
Has consistently misrepresented his activities and expenses in Dubai as a quest for investment.
Has consistently lied to the supporters about investment and ground development.
Created a company of which he was the majority shareholder and then sold the ground 'to himself'.
Heads a family which is riven with criminal behaviour and convictions.
Has publicly fallen out with former Directors, the FA , the local authority , other clubs, former managers.
If you can find me a worse example I will gladly recant...