FAN’S VIEW 21/22 – NO.32

GILLINGHAM AWAY

The home side’s form

Unlike the last couple of seasons we got away from the starting blocks quite quickly so I never had cause to pay much attention to the bottom of the League One table. I was aware that Doncaster were right down there but had no idea that the Gills were accompanying. I’d realised that the booting out, I mean departure by mutual consent, of Steve Evans meant all was not well, but hadn’t realised the situation for them had got quite so dire.

They’ve picked up just 10 points from a possible 39 at Priestfield and in those 13 games have scored just eight goals.

In the league they lost the first three games they played in October but those defeats were to Wigan, Wycombe and Sunderland and they didn’t get hammered so perhaps their fans weren’t bracing themselves for what was to come, particularly after the next game which was a victory. That though was against Doncaster. Since then it has been five draws and eight losses.

Why on earth does this worry me so? I know it shouldn’t but it does. We’ve got a dreadful record there.

The last of Evans was after Ipswich stuffed them 4-0 in Kent. Steve Lovell in temporary charge has seen his side lose to Burton then Wigan, but only just and in their game last week they kept a clean sheet and got a point. Please, no turning of corners.

GILLINGHAM 2 OXFORD UNITED 7 (Yes, SEVEN)

No two games of football are quite the same but given how many are played year on year by professional teams throughout the country there is obviously a much of a muchness feel about a large number of those. This encounter however was very much on the extremity of any graph trying to capture the norm of football matches. I doubt I’ll see anything like it again in my lifetime.

The bizarre nature of the day began once we arrived in Gillingham, long before we got to the ground.

I have no intention of getting into a debate/argument about how loyal various supporters are and fully acknowledge that at various times in people’s lives money can be a big issue and family trumps following your team, but if the only reason a (supposed) fan doesn’t go to a particular away game is because they deem place x to be a shit hole without any decent pubs, that I do not get. I know from reading social media that some have put Gillingham in that category. No one would argue that it has the cultural appeal of say a York or a Lincoln nor our own fine City, but seek and ye shall find.

The Past and Present, past

I discovered the Past and Present in early 2017. It was the Medway’s first micro pub when it opened for trade in 2015. It was located in Skinner Street just off the bottom end of the High Street. I’ve been there since. I checked the Good Beer Guide and “What Pub” to find it was still in business. We pulled up outside just before midday which was the alleged opening time of the establishment. Now, often these tiny pubs have very small frontages and are quite easy to miss but this was a head scratcher. None of us could locate it. Cafes and other businesses yes but no pub. I checked my phone. Yes, it was still going. Two of us got out and started walking down the street. I missed it but my mate didn’t. “Here it is” and “it’s open”. Which it was and still a few minutes before 12:00. I shook my head to try and bring some reality to the situation. That wasn’t how I remembered it at all. I walked in thinking I’d gone quite mad. The landlady noted my confusion. “We moved from just down the road in 2020”. Phew! The pub is now twice the size it used to be and all of 436ft from its original location according to Google Maps.

The Past and Present, present

On entering there were a few home supporters scattered around. The sort who you can talk to about the burden of supporting a football team and the joys of drinking real ale. They have with 19 games to go totally written off their chances of surviving in L1. I was a bit surprised that their opprobrium was directed at owner Pat Scally much more than the now gone Evans. I picked up the same vibe looking at one of their forums although some were really anti the ex-Leeds manager too. “I think he (Scally) and Evans deserved each other – both are unprincipled and obnoxious in equal measure”.

Scally has owned the club since 1995. It was one of those purchases for a quid to save them from liquidation by taking them out of administration. That pound though buys debt.

As part of the restructuring of the clubs debts Priestfield Developments Ltd bought the ground for just under £10m. Priestfield Developments has a sole owner, Scally of course. For many years he has made no secret of moving the Gills away from their home since 1893 to somewhere else in the Medway region.

Their latest set of accounts, to 31/05/2020, which will include a few games missing due to the first lockdown, shows a loss before tax of only £175k and shareholders’ funds of £890k.  So not in debt at that point then but not investing in the team with the wage bill being approximately £4m.

In the first seven minutes there wasn’t much to choose between the two teams and a reading in isolation of the shots stats – Us 15 with 8 on target, them 14 with 9 on target – might indicate that despite the eventual five goal margin there wasn’t anywhere near such a gap between the team near the top and the one at the bottom.

The truth though was that once we went one up we were on a different level to our opponents altogether for the remainder of this (non-)contest and even then never really had to get out of second gear.

Goal number one looked so easy to create. We had all the space in the world in the Gills half and had them outnumbered 4 to 3. Marcus McGuane fed Mark Sykes and Billy Bodin was given the freedom of Kent as he ran through the middle. With his second touch Sykes found Bodin who controlled, beat the one blue shirt who put up a miniscule bit of resistance leaving him on his arse, and then finished like a good ‘un.

Amazingly 11 minutes later that lead had been tripled.

Down the right again we came. This time it was Sam Long who moved the ball to Sykes with a wicked pass rendering defenders meaningless and give them credit there were more of them on the premises this time. This was all being done at speed and when set up by our no.10, our no.9 didn’t have the opportunity to add to his goal tally as he was hooked to the ground. He has lost penalty taking duties to Cameron Brannagan.

Hands on hips as he readied himself to take the spot kick little did CB know how familiar the next few seconds would become. Coolly along the ground to the keepers left as he went right.

Matty didn’t have to wait long for his goal chance which he duly converted. He rose highest to help a Bodin free-kick on its way.

This was all before we’d even seen 20 minutes of action. There was now a feeling that anything could happen here. Which it did of course but not during the rest of the first half so it was still 3-0 at the break.

Three minutes after the restart and we started banging in the goals again.  Pontus Dahlberg, the Gillingham custodian, may have two full caps for Sweden but he didn’t show much international class in this. Under no pressure he received a back-pass and after he’d beaten a charging in Brannagan with a neat drag back, had perhaps done something to get the depressed home crowd going. But instead of hoofing up field he dawdled, was robbed by Brannagan who had got to his feet in double quick time and then brought our man down.

Penalty number two, same taker, same outcome with another low shot but this time with a bit more power and to Dahlberg’s right as he went left.

Just another seven minutes on and yet more attacking down the right and would you know it, penalty again. Long went round/through/over Jack Tucker. It’s hard to describe but it wasn’t a foul by the lad from Bicester with Turner the wrong side for a defender. A leg tangle equalled Bobby Madley pointing spot-ward for a third time.

Surely a different kick taker this time. But, no. Branagain. Againigan to Dahlberg’s right as he went left.

Some kind of record? For us almost certainly but it has been done before. In fact as recently as 2017 on this very ground when Josh Wright scored three penalties in nine minutes for the Gills.

With all that was happening it was not that easy to keep count. Immediately to my left were a group of guys from Bicester who like the rest of us were well into it as the goals flowed but here was one of them in particular who had good reason to keep close note of the tally. “Comes on the Gills, get one”, he said jokingly. I couldn’t help but overhear what the situation was. He had two quid on Oxford to win 6-1 at 150/1. A crazy bet but it was very much a crazy afternoon.

Wind forward just another seven minutes. Steve Seddon was left one v one with Danny Lloyd and although he managed to get his head to the ball, in no way did that deal with the situation. Jack Stevens blocked the shot but it fell nicely for Lloyd’s account to be opened for the afternoon.

Perhaps I’m a perfectionist but even though we’d got five, to let one in does take the gloss off a little. A pitch invasion by a lone knob-head now seems a given in every game. Perhaps in this instance the Gills supporter, whether with a previous ticket history or not, was just trying to make an ironic statement and was hoping to get a lengthy ban to save having to suffer more afternoons like this one. From what I could see he at no time looked a danger to any of the players or attempted to goad us travellers, not that he had anything to goad with. Nevertheless he should not have left the stands and this is a trend that has to stop.

At 5-1 the cash out offer was £85. I can’t be doing with any of this stuff as I want to concentrate on the football before me. The button wasn’t pressed. “Come on Gills. Get a second”, shouted an unhelpful mate of his. The gambler hung on and resisted the cash out option which others were urging him to take.

No goals for either side came in the next 20 minutes. Perhaps that was how it was to remain. Then in the 83^rd minute penalty number four. Now it was getting sillier than ever. Funnily enough it happened down the right for the umpteenth time. At the time I thought it a little soft but having watched a replay can see that Daniel Phillips’ arm does move towards the ball to stop it getting from Bodin to Sykes.

Many refs would be looking for any reason not to give a second penalty to a team let alone a third or fourth but a penalty is a penalty and fair play to Madley. I could have sworn at one stage I saw him laugh such was the madness of it all.

Same player. Bang. Same outcome.  Dahlberg got nowhere near it. No way was this now not an absolutely unique record in professional football. I’m not having it to not be so.

The holder of the potential £300 was now ecstatic. There were only five minutes plus added time left.

Two minutes later that ecstasy had evaporated into the Kent air. In total control it is hard not to get a tad complacent, but letting in goals still pisses me off a bit even in these circumstances. I want 100% professionalism. 6-1 looks a lot better than 6-2. (Not asking much am I?)

Charlie Kelman got a good head on a free-kick and Stevens did well to pull off a save but the ball looped up giving Robbie McKenzie an easy nod home.

We couldn’t be having them scoring the last goal and giving them the feeblest of moral victories could we? No. And it was about time we proved we could be lethal down the left too.

I thought Luke McNally was tremendous and am quite glad that up to now he has not been given more game time otherwise the vultures may already have been circling during this transfer window (It has not escaped my notice that the recalled Jordan Thorniley played all 90 minutes as Blackpool held Championship front-runners and free-scorers Fulham 1-1 at Craven Cottage. So perhaps it wasn’t largely about trying to prize CB away).

It was McNally’s pass that set sub Ryan Williams tearing away down the flank. The Aussie doesn’t hang about. Running half the length of the pitch before a blue shirted defence could be mustered, he cut the ball back across the penalty area where another sub, Sam Winnall, intelligently dummied, allowing a very un-marked Anthony Forde, who was also brought on, to slide home.

I’m not going to scour the archives to see if this score was a record. It wasn’t our biggest away winning margin in the league. We were only five better than Gillingham. We won 6-0 at Sincil Bank in 2019 on another unforgettable away day. We’ve scored more away in Cup competitions but I’d guess this was our first away win the Football League where we’d clocked up seven.

And even if this wasn’t a record those penalties were.

650 Oxford fans can say they were there to witness it live. And that my friends is why it is always worth following your team. You never know what is going to happen. Stay at home through choice and you might just miss out big time.

On the other hand staying at home can be the best option when your team is on the receiving end of barking mad results. Bolton 6 Sunderland 0. At one time only a few weeks back the Black Cats were one of those teams many had almost nailed on for top three. Now we’re five points behind them with a game in hand.

The home side’s form

Yes, they were bad. Very bad. But I will say this about them. Never once did they throw the towel in however limited they were. Never once did they resort to violent foul play. For that I kind of admire them although I doubt their supporters feel the same. Perhaps they are utterly lost without Evans around having had his methods yelled and beaten into them over the last two or three years.

Out of the window

Dan Agyei is now a Crewe Alex player and good luck to him except on 22 Feb when we visit Gresty Road. I think we did well to get a fee whatever the undisclosed amount was. I don’t think he developed one bit whilst with us and for me never showed what it took to be a regular L1 understudy let alone a starter.

Joel Cooper is another to have gone but only on loan to Port Vale. None of us fans have seen much of him but what I have seen wasn’t telling me he is what we need. Vale must see something in him as Crewe in Dan, so again good luck. The team from Burslem are just above mid-table in L2 with realistic play-off hopes although their form of late has deteriorated. He came on in the last minute on Saturday against the team propping up all 92.

Fingers crossed for nothing of real note.

In through the window

No one announced yet. We know what the talk is and we know how an ACL injury can impact a player. We know in the past we’ve signed some gems along with crocks.

Fingers crossed for something of real note.