Saturday - take a win

[The Cat Man]

we were average, lets be honest, Hess was right ugly win, Burtin should and could have been ahead at half time if it wasn`t for Cronin. I admit I was the first to knock him for the goal he let in at the end of the Bradford game, but well done - he played bloody well on Sat, not perfect but definitely better than most of the team

Fuller - did a job, not a great performance, had a few early problems but was totally in charge after the break

Lawrence - sound as ever

Gowling - always has been a good athlete, has put in two top class performances back to back - as a youngster was on West Broms books- you are not there if you are a bad player, gives real competition for the middle of defence and allows Bentley to play in midfield

Palmer - great cross for the goal, apart from that totally average - oh and awful second half corner

Bentley - ran around a lot ,made a few tackles - probably our best midfielder but that isnt saying much

J Payne - worst game in a Gills short, first half poor, second half ok - cant be a star every week, we have to be careful how we use him

Spiller - worked hard, didnt do that much right or wrong

Weston - some nice touches, ran out of steam, he`ll be back

Akinfenwa - great touches, good battle with Moore, wish he was more mobile

Mcdonald - missed a sitter in the first half ,great header in the second - he then came alive, talk about a confidence player - hopefully he now tears Southend apart

Inkango - run at people , u r such a natural athlete, held the ball up well - didn`t lose it - he could be one hell of a find

Overall - ok, better than that as we won, tempo in second period was excellent. First twenty mins were really poor allowing them to dictate.

The Cat Man... keep the same team and bring on the shrimpers

[harryheadbutt]

Fuller - Got a knock early on but looked fairly comfortable
Lawrence - As above
Gowling - Continues to look a bit Shaky to me but has the pace to get back and get himself out of trouble...Lacks communication with Cronin at times
Palmer - Not in his favourd position and dreadfully exposed as he had nobody playing infront of him...Set peices were pretty good, should take corners from both sides
Benno - As above
J Payne - Thought he was out best midfielder by a mile once again...Worked his socks off
Weston - was lost for many parts of the game, great volleyt just wide in first half
Spiller - Cannot play on the left.....and didn't....Created a large hole for Burton to exploit in first half. Not blaming the player, we simply had no width.
Bayo- As above
Cody Mac - Great header for goal and as above this injected some life into him, as he began to run into the channels off the last man.
Inkango - Needs to start tomorrow night.....very comfortable with the ball and could become a crowd favourite very quickly i feel.
S Payne - Did ok....pace to burn, a few goals coming on as sub would do him the world of good

Same team other than Bruce in for Spills or Benno

[Greyfox]

Cronin. Oh dear, looked very shaky to me. The defence were as nervous about him as he was. He just doesn't give out a commanding presence. . Not a good keeper compared to the greats in the past. Gillingham have always had capable keepers.

Fuller. Not a good game, he seems to have lost the spark as Captain from last season. Must improve.

Palmer. poor first half, better second half.

Bentley, worked his socks off, you can't ask for more than that.

Lawrence. Good again, thank goodness we have him playing in the back four.

Gowling, always a disaster just round the corner, he's one of those players who makes at least one mistake every game. Needs other players to be switched on around him to mop up all the time. Hopefully it's a blip, but I wouldn't bet on it.

J Payne. Can't always be man of the match. needs a bit of help at times. Other players are too keen on watching him, rather than dealing with the situation themselves.

Spiller and Weston, Just about ok. Weston still not fit.

Akinfenwa. difficult afternoon against some tough defenders.
otherwise did alright.

Mcdonald. Looking stronger every game. good goal and lets hope the first of many.

Inkango. First impression was very good.

[jaybo]

from many fans i keep hearing "worked his socks off, cant ask for more than that" This is exactly what hessenthaler is all about however, i do not entirely agree.

There comes a point where effort has to be taken over with quality. Everybody puts effort into their job and i try 100% at everything i do but if you're not good at doing what you do, there is no point you being there.

Therefore, this may seem directed at bently but its not that i dont think he is a good player, and i am an admirer of his effort but for a league 2 team hoping for promotion, playing at home, i would go for inkango to start tomorrow and play wider and more attacking. i feel that this would benefit the whole team more and although bentley would put in 100% effort if he played, i dont think his legs would enable him to play upto the right standard.

This is very harsh but i thought i would voice my opinion on how you can ask for more than 100& effort. Effort but no end product? is wasted effort?

UTG!! nothing but a win tomorrrow, play attacking hessy, quick tempo football and we will win the game. Although, i am a massive fan of akinfenwa, i think we over ely on him. lets start playing more football instead of playing the ball up to him all the time. get cody in behind the defense and get wingers in behind the defense. we miss barcham greatly and with bentley and spiller on the wings, at times it was like we were not making progress up the pitch. we must turn league 2 defenses because most of them are very slow. a couple of times, burtons striker was caught offside but behind our defense. yes, this worked, but if you keep on trying, it will one time come off, we should do this more often because once we are in behind, they wont catch up

UP THE GILLS
Jaybo

[wayne86]

Jaybo, I completely agree.

Bentley has been a good servant to the Gills, but to be honest with you I wouldn't have him in the first team anymore. We have plenty of youth in the side that imo are better than Bentley.
He is a good sqaud player and I'm sure a great influence on the younger members of the squad, but I don't see him as anything more than that.

UTG!