Firstly, I want to reiterate a point grumpygit made yesterday, in that the Rainham End do not speak for every supporter. I may be a very upset supporter but a lot of that is due to Taylor's presence and not much else, after all even with AP i was pretty subdued by brb standards. However, having said all that there is only one man that is now going to silence the Scally OUTers, I believe that to be Martin Allen. I did a poll on twitter, it asked a simple question, Maddog or Fatboy, in a landslide victory of about 64% and over 8,000 supporters...oops i mean votes, Martin Allen was the number one choice. Scally go get him ps. taking a leaf out of alwaysright book, if there was over 8k in that ground yesterday, I will stop posting on here. ps of the ps. I sometimes tell lies.
brb - ( at times ) if you and I didn't post on here, it would be almost as empty as Priest field is going to be VERY SOON
Whoever takes over will be screwed for the next few months until the transfer window opens - the players we have are simply not good enough, having sold/lost our best 3 players and failing to replace any of them. I agree that it's thoroughly depressing the way Taylor has got Gills playing, but I can sort of see where he's coming from - if we concentrate on defence then we stand an outside chance of snatching the odd goal and winning 1-0. Whenever we have tried to come out of our shell this season we have ended up losing 3-0, because the players are not of a sufficiently high quality to play attacking football whilst also retaining a degree of discipline at the back. As much as I can understand the approach, yesterday was the worst Gillingham performance I have ever witnessed - even at 1-0 down there just seemed to be no attempt to score (or even have a shot on target). In the 88th minute Portsmouth were taking defensive throw-ins and were able to simply bring the ball down and clear their lines with no pressure on them whatsoever. The absolute bare minimum should be to put pressure on the opposition ("box them in!") when you're behind and chasing the game. The players just looked like they were saying "A 1-0 defeat will do, no worries".
I cannot condone violence. I can understand the anger and frustration of the 'fan', in the Medway Stand, who decided to confront Mr.Scally. There is conflict as who it was that instigated the physicality that ensued. I don't suppose that, either the fan, or Mr.Scally have covered themselves in glory - with both sides obviously suffering some sort of provocation. A possible difference, between the two , as I see it, is that the fan (all fans ), have been persistently 'provoked' by the performance of inept managers since Martin Allen left. Fans have been persistently provoked by some awful tactics - that seem to know no downward limits..... Leave one up, Taylor etc. Fans have been persistently provoked by some very poor signings, a lack of goals, poor defending, poor fitness, poor discipline [[ please feel free to add to the list ]]. Fans have persistently been provoked by the ever-increasing off-field nonsense in which Mr.Scally gets himself embroiled..........and all of the time Mr.Scally gets a huge 'consultancy fee' at the expense of the fans -- it beggars belief just what useful 'consultation' can be gleaned from somebody who is ultimately responsible for so much that is wrong at GillinghamFC. I can guess that in the prelude to the altercation ( which probably was more watchable than the game ), the 'fan,' probably a STH, was further provoked by seeing many freebies all around - whereas, anyone stupid enough to pay on the day probably forked out £27. I can accept 'some' freebies - but not on an industrial scale! Freebies, in this manner are an insult to STH ( in fact all paying fans.) There were many freebies near me - with very few of the kids not on their mobile phones ! ( not that there was much to watch on the pitch ). I don't know what happened to send the disgruntled fan 'over the edge' --- partly because there is so much to chose from. What I do know is that Mr.Scally is responsible - fans have no control of the innumerable mistakes that are being made - on and off the pitch. There is very little acceptance by Mr.Scally of the mistakes ( that is the responsibility of nobody else ) -- and no answers to try to appease the fans. I cannot condone violence - but I know where I would have liked to put the corner flag pole...... " bend over, Taylor - bend over
I don't mind if people want Scally out, I don't mind if people want Taylor out, however, at this moment in time I don't agree it to be the best course of action but my main concern Is when people express the view during the match. Our young lads have gone from playing youth football in front of maybe 100 supportive family and friends, to playing in front of 8,000 hostile supporters, and 7,000 of those are our supporters who should be encouraging the effort and commitment of these youngsters. As for bringing back MA I thank him for only the second championship of my years of support, but, there is a reason that he has never settled at any club.
grumpygit Fans do NOT 'blame' the players - especially the younger ones - They, at least, have tried. I am not alone in my current criticism of Wilkinson, and as for Eaves - ( although I understand the provocation he receives ). we simply cannot afford to have a player suspended for 3 or 4 games every time he has played 5 or 6 matches and picked up cards like confetti ! ......................... anyway, The fans have, rightly turned on Mr.Scally - for all the reasons ( and probably more ), that I have outlined. I think that Mr.Scally has long since lost the ability to make correct, let alone shrewd decisions relating to the business and running of GFC. It is possible that his personal life, health and other issues have diverted his attention - and his business skills have suffered ( along with all things at Gillingham ). I can sympathise - with a certain amount of empathy - and therefore, I understand that there are more important things in life than football -- but -- Mr. Scally's mistakes and failings affect all Gills fans - many people - not just himself ! And whilst focusing on Mr.Scally's failings - let's not forget a couple of things - to me - it appears that Mr.Scally is becoming more arrogant towards the fans - so he shouldn't be surprised when fans get upset at the demise on the pitch. Closely related to the feelings of contempt that some fans feel from Mr.Scally is the incredible number of freebies he gives to basically uninterested people - whilst at the same time, you, I and every other paying idiot, forks out very good money -to get a crap return ----- and, over more than 20 years, Mr. Scally has taken ££ Millions ---WITHOUT investing a penny of his own money. I have recently said that I would rather see our club run without a misery inducing chairman, than one that is bleeding me and you dry with his 'consultancy fees.' - THAT IS WHY FANS HAVE TURNED ON SCALLY. I personally feel Mr,Scally should leave - primarily for the sake of his health. The stress must be quite incredible - and surely must play on his mind in the light of his recent major health scare - but is he unable to humble himself to stop being greedy for more of our money ? -- Mr. Scally - money doesn't buy you happiness - and you certainly cannot take it to your grave ! Quit before you drop - and before you make Gills drop out of business.
Always, whilst the fans might not be blaming the players, they unfortunately are the ones who are out there when the fans kick off. On a lighter note......the god that is Tony Pulis had reached the dizzy height of 21st in league 2 at the beginning of January 1997, he wasn't sacked at the time and we finished the season in 12th place. A remarkable achievement you might think, but, having spent over £1m on players such as Hess, Butters, Akinbiyi, I think that the likes of Taylor or Ade would happily except half that figure to improve the team.
Health wise this club will be the death of Scally, he's already had the warnings - if it was me id be saying time to stick my feet up, life is too short. I'm just not seeing what he's getting out of it anymore than a load of grief. Yeah, i know he has his dreams, but I'm old enough and wise enough to say Mr Chairman it's not going to happen, and even if it did you will saddle yourself with a massive money guzzling elephant! I saw it at Dover in the FA Cup and we are seeing it again after Portsmouth, Mr Scally is it really worth all the abuse.
Whilst I'm not happy with the current situation, just like grumpygit I wouldn't ever call for our chairman to leave. He made the wrong decision in keeping Pennock and some criticism of him is justified for that reason, however I don't see how trying to push the club owner out will achieve anything positive. There are rumours that the club was offered to the MEMS CEO and there are also rumours that the MEMS CEO offered a cut price to buy the club. Either way we could do a lot worse, only have to look at clubs like Leeds, Coventry, Blackpool or Leyton Orient to show that we have to be careful what we wish for. If Mr Scally were to walk away now, would we really be better off? As for the never investing a penny into the club, wouldn't the loan from Three Directors Ltd where he invested his own money count? I also wonder where all of the money came from to buy players like Smith, Ashby, Hope, Hessenthaler, Taylor & Asaba in the first couple of years of Mr Scally's tenure? As I said, I don't disagree with some of the criticism aimed at the chairman, he reappointed Pennock and allowed Pennock to go and obtain the players he chose. What I don't agree with is the chanting during games, especially when our players' confidence levels are as low as they are nor do I agree that it will resolve all of our problems.
Well said. And the problem as with all media including local media, it is reported as though those out voices are the majority voice, they are not and even if they were there are plenty of aging supporters on here who would disagree with the out voice.
Pegleg - please forgive me - (for personal reasons), I am in a very philosophical mood today - I haven't got any interest in expanding on my previous statements................thank goodness for that I hear you (all) say.
I have tried to be as fair as possible to Scally over the years. Never really trusted him, was always scheming with people (Tradesman) amongest others. On the whole has done a good job over the 20 years and i enjoyed the ride to the championship which i thought would never come. But now is the time to put the club up for sale. Not saying sell it yet but make it available for someone else to take over if they have real funds. He has tried very hard to relocate the club but their has never been the right investers for this. We also have a lot of supporters who are only interrested when we play the bigger teams so have a very small real fan base. This season Scally has spent nothing but still thinks we would challage at the top end.
I think you will find that we were in league 2 when signing those players, it is referred to as league 1 now so perhaps I should have said league division 3 to avoid confusion, either way Pulis spent a fortune and still struggled.
I have heard and read much about the boring football we are playing, the last time we looked exciting was under Hess. Bring back Hess.
Disagree Grumpy. September 2015 until January 2016 was fantastic. Everything after that however not so much lol.
Seats for performance of the season Gillingham 0-0 Rotherham United On Tuesday 21st February 2012, Gillingham welcomed Rotherham United to Priestfield for their League Two fixture. The Gills had to play three home games in the space of eight days. Which followed on from five consecutive league defeats or six competitive defeats including the FA Cup, so it was no surprise that night I took to my normal seat in the stadium to be surrounded by many an empty one! Yes, it is disheartening when you only see 3,248 seats filled but that is what happens when you have too many games in such a short period of time possibly combined with a previous poor run of results. Even more faithful were the Rotherham 57 travelling fans. What a game it was, Andy Hessenthaler going with Jack Evans, Simon King, Connor Essam and Danny Jackman in defence. Simon King was at the heart of the defence leading the young players such as Jack Evans who was awarded man of the match, deservedly so as he puts in an astounding performance, as he and the rest of the team put in long quality passes that kept Rotherham on the defensive and even had a brilliant attempt on goal himself from about 30 yards out. It was a pleasure to watch in the first half as the Gills continued to push forward towards the Brian Moore Stand and the Rotherham goal, with Tomlin somehow unable to find the target. Although he did have the Gillingham fans out of their seats for what appeared could only be a certain goal that somehow did not find its way across the line and in to the back of the net. The Gills Argentine goal keeper kept pumping the ball forward with some astounding kicks the length of the field. Normally I hate it when goal keepers do that but he was doing it with such precision, putting Rotherham even with their height under constant pressure. There was a nervy moment around the 37th minute, when Gazza managed to block a Rotherham goal bound shot, only to see arms raised as the ball was bundled across the goal line at the Rainham End but relief soon followed when the ref indicated handball and awarded Gillingham a free kick and showed Lewis Grabban a yellow card. Half time it was 0-0 but you went away for half time refreshments asking yourself why we were not one or two goals up. It was such an inspiring performance, that even on a February night I was looking forward to the second half. However, in the second half Rotherham appeared to come more in to the game, with the Gills being on the receiving end of some pressure and near misses from the Millers. New signing Oliver Lee came on for Curtis Weston in the second half but it did not have any impact on the game which finished 0-0. Some fans might not have been able to make the game tonight with such a heavy fixture programme, due to costs, being a mid week game, work commitments, some may simply be voting with their feet. Myself, I am glad I was able to turn up tonight and despite no goals and only one point, I was duly rewarded with one of the best if not the best performance this season. ^^^^ I'd rather have all those names than half the crap we got now.
Ahh the old minefield of talking about an old division that has since been re-branded. Let's get this straight: League One = "The old division 2" = "The very old / original division 3" = The 3rd tier of the Football League Hmmm actually that's still quite confusing. Let's just give up and refer to League One level as "the good league" and League Two as "the bad league" - that will work fine for every year apart from 2000-05
