PhilK66
Vital 1st Team Regular
Lambert, Robinson, Warnock, Bowyer, all possible bedfellows
Evans and Raynor
- Thread starter Rob_b100
- Start date
alex_farrells_left_peg
Vital Squad Member
I like Jones, O'Connor and Ollie Lee and would welcome any of them them with open arms were they to join on a permanent contract. Cundy and Slattery have also proved their worth but I would like to add that most of these players belong to the second draft of the year, There were very slim pickings in the first one, Robertson being the exception.
chris who
Vital Champions League
The problem with loans is that they by definition are not seen as players that will get into the team they are contracted too.So unless we are getting them from top clubs they are generally average at best.The top teams are so far away from league one that a lot of players it seems find in hard to adjust. It is time that the premier league put a ceiling on the number of players a club can have .As for Evans and Raynor they have it appears done enough to stay .But Scally might not see it like that Football is a entertainment and Frankly I can't see Evans every bringing in bigger crowds. We don't know what Evans will want in terms of wages and budget that in itself could be beyond Scally.Unlike other managers we have had I can't see Evans simply excepting what is offered.
You'll upset Mozzer
:-)
alex_farrells_left_peg
Vital Squad Member
I'm not really sure there is another manager (willing to accept our wage structure and finances) who could bring in bigger crowds. Let's face it - we are a small club, we do not really play attractive football and even though the Medway area (plus the surrounding towns) is sufficiently populated to at least warrant 8-10k attendances, we only just managed to get that many in when we were in the second tier. Gillingham FC only has a loyal group of 4-5k die-hard supporters they can count on the rest are fickle anoraks who only come out when we have a game at Wembley. Unfortunately the halcyon day's of the 60's and 70's when the crowds were much larger have been consigned to history and, as someone else said, that could well be due to the closure of the dockyard.
Last edited:
markinkent
Vital Football Hero
I think only success i.e. a promotion run would see crowds increase significantly and that's not really likely anytime soon.
interesting to see whether crowds fall away next year. Are we all gagging to get back or has good will been lost ?
Talking to a Charlton fan on Monday (any excuse to call him) and he said their season tickets have turned into I follow credits so they can use it for home AND away or just home and any balance will be refunded at the end of the season.
That seemed pretty good in comparison to our "taboo" approach.
interesting to see whether crowds fall away next year. Are we all gagging to get back or has good will been lost ?
Talking to a Charlton fan on Monday (any excuse to call him) and he said their season tickets have turned into I follow credits so they can use it for home AND away or just home and any balance will be refunded at the end of the season.
That seemed pretty good in comparison to our "taboo" approach.
RotherhitheGill
Vital 1st Team Regular
It's funny but when I hear the younger lads at work talking about football (usually Premier league) I'm astonished about the level of knowledge they have, not just about their team but all others (in the Premier) as well. Ask them if they actually go to a game - not a chance 
Anyone have any idea what attendances are like now (for all 4 divisions) compared to say 40 years ago?
Anyone have any idea what attendances are like now (for all 4 divisions) compared to say 40 years ago?
alex_farrells_left_peg
Vital Squad Member
It's funny but when I hear the younger lads at work talking about football (usually Premier league) I'm astonished about the level of knowledge they have, not just about their team but all others (in the Premier) as well. Ask them if they actually go to a game - not a chance
Anyone have any idea what attendances are like now (for all 4 divisions) compared to say 40 years ago?
alex_farrells_left_peg
Vital Squad Member
Is that not like comparing eggs to turnips @RotherhitheGill. Most of the stadia back then (especially in the top two divisions) were a lot smaller, mainly because the punters used to turn up, buy a programme and hot-dog, watch the game and leave/go to the pub afterwards.
Nowadays people want to be entertained... lunch before and dinner after the match and a lot of grounds have been massively upgraded to provide these services. Even we attempted to do likewise albeit on a slightly smaller scale (thankfully not a complete flop) because teams need the extra revenue.
The mind boggles how some of the top prem. teams manage when they have 40+ players on the books, almost all of them earning at least 100k/week with a whole gaggle more earning obscene salaries of 400k plus (ala Ozil).
Even in the championship there are still players on those sorts of wages, although the parachute payments must cover a lot the costs. The money two or three championship players on 10k/week cost would probably cover all of our wages - it is that disproportionate.
I still find it amazing that we can still soldier on with our 4.5k average, not that I'm complaining mind....the last three times I drove down to Priestfield (with either my wife or a mate) I was able to sit in the very same seats and reacquaint myself with the ST holders.
Nowadays people want to be entertained... lunch before and dinner after the match and a lot of grounds have been massively upgraded to provide these services. Even we attempted to do likewise albeit on a slightly smaller scale (thankfully not a complete flop) because teams need the extra revenue.
The mind boggles how some of the top prem. teams manage when they have 40+ players on the books, almost all of them earning at least 100k/week with a whole gaggle more earning obscene salaries of 400k plus (ala Ozil).
Even in the championship there are still players on those sorts of wages, although the parachute payments must cover a lot the costs. The money two or three championship players on 10k/week cost would probably cover all of our wages - it is that disproportionate.
I still find it amazing that we can still soldier on with our 4.5k average, not that I'm complaining mind....the last three times I drove down to Priestfield (with either my wife or a mate) I was able to sit in the very same seats and reacquaint myself with the ST holders.
Last edited:
Seriously???
Do you remember the calibre of manager we had before BFSE?
Happy to see a return to former players as managers? I hear Hess is furloughed!
Rob_b100
Vital 1st Team Regular
Ha, when I read on the board earlier in the week that Dover had furloughed him I was gonna post something tongue in cheek about him returning.
Let’s be honest, we all loved him as a player, and even managing we all desperately wanted him to succeed. But no one in their right mind would surely want him, Lovell, Taylor or indeed any of the old guard back.
I gotta say reading comments recently I thought wanting Evans to stay I would be in the minority, however this thread has at least shown that most agree he is an improvement on the last few managers we have had.
wxgill
Vital 1st Team Regular
I say this because:
IF the budget is not going up then you need better recruitment or a better manager for the same or less money.
I think SE's recruitment has been average or less so why stick with that?
The only way to stick with SE is with an increased budget and even then his recruitment may still be suspect.
markinkent
Vital Football Hero
Dempsey, Graham and Lee are very good signings.
Jackson, Maghoma less so.
I think his ability to attract the better signings is what sets him apart from the last three.
Dempsey could make us a few quid If he's on a longer contract than a year
Rob_b100
Vital 1st Team Regular
Fully agree with this. Even down to the two arsenal fringe players, I’m not sure our previous managers could pull the strings to get those sort of players. I actually liked Zech Medley and was disappointed to see him return.
There is a revolving door policy regarding the loans, but better that than sign players on a two or three year contract who end up not good enough and taking a wage yet will never be good enough for the first team. At least a loan can be sent back if not good enough.
Who do you think would be able to attract better players with the same budget?
I’m not a fan of BFSE’s touch line and historical conduct, but credit where credit’s due: he has done a remarkable job. I for one, am happy to be looking up the table rather than worrying about whether 46 points or 48 points will be enough to finish outside the relegation places.
Who else in our recent history has developed so many players in a short time. By my count there is:
Ogilvie
Tucker
Walsh
Woods (to a lesser extent)?
And who else in our recent history has been able to attract the likes of:
Bonham
Graham
O’Connor
Slattery
Lee
Samuel
Dempsey
Roberts
Jones
Pringle
O’Keefe?
Sure - there’ll always be a good number of shite players but compare that with the talent that Pennock and Lovell attracted!
wxgill
Vital 1st Team Regular
I think it's too early to talk about Slattery. When i saw Pringle i nearly spat my coffee out. I didn't rate him at all.
Part of this whole conundrum is our perception of what we want our team to be versus the reality of what we are.
That reality is based on the cash the club has and whether Scally or anybody else wants to invest. That appears to be a no.
So we have to accept we are a middle of the division team at best. That's a shame as with investment we could be a play-off / promotion team. That's not going to happen without investment. So unless we sell out every home game or Scally empties his pockets it's not going to be.
bathnightattheminogu
Vital Reserves Team
“Empty his pockets”?
Why do people believe that Scally is some mega rich multi millionaire with a huge pot of gold that he is hoarding?
His only income is his business and his business is Gillingham Football Club.
I would love it if we could find some serious investment but not one of these rich foreign owners that treat the club as a plaything and discard it when they are bored.
Anyone feel that we have had this discussion before?
Why do people believe that Scally is some mega rich multi millionaire with a huge pot of gold that he is hoarding?
His only income is his business and his business is Gillingham Football Club.
I would love it if we could find some serious investment but not one of these rich foreign owners that treat the club as a plaything and discard it when they are bored.
Anyone feel that we have had this discussion before?
Captainreblue
Vital 1st Team Regular
The problem is SE has always throughout his management career had a scattergun approach to signings. If you sign enough players you're bound to get enough that come off but to be able to do that you have to have contacts in the game.
Agree with Trashy that I don't think any of our previous few managers would have had the contacts or ability to attract the players SE has.
Pringle was one if those signings that could have worked out but he just didn't seem to get a run and had some off field stuff going on whilst here. Don't think he was as shite as you infer, you don't get to play 100+ games in the Championship if you're shite.
Spending every penny we have carefully is crucial and I'm a bit surprised PS has gone along with the rotating door policy that SE brings as much as he has, because it must be costing the club money, even if it's only small amounts, it all costs.
Could we get a manager who could have attracted better players and done better than SE has, possibly, IMO though there's a much much bigger possibility that if we hadn't had SE over the last couple of years we'd be alot further down the table and in a far worse place as a club than we are now, and I didnt like or want SE here.
Last edited:
We’d all prefer a settled side and for BFSE to get all acquisitions/loans right.
But when he does make the inevitable mistake in the transfer/loan market, he is pretty swift to move them on. Hodgson, Cisse both come to mind. I think, in the past, we’d have retained those players on the books until the ends of their contracts.
Vambogills
Vital Football Hero
Let's not forget that Steve Lovell with his 'old player' tag and inferior contacts book earned Gills a 13th place in L1 and himself a manager of the month award for a 12 out of 12 points January 18.
We currently sit 15th.
We currently sit 15th.
