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Post by hatter_in_macc on Apr 11, 2023 11:41:50 GMT
Next up, another long trip south - and to face, on this occasion (despite their position in the table), seriously in-form hosts on their own patch.
Post it all here...
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Post by autistichatter on Apr 12, 2023 11:27:07 GMT
So what do we know about Gillingham? Well for a start they are not the same side that struggled through the early months of this campaign. They sit 19th with a record of P 41 W 12 D 11 L 18 F 29 A 44 which says either that they have a pretty good defence or that teams reckon score one and you've basically won.
Their H record is P 20 W 10 D 4 L 6 F 17 A 17 which, again, seems to suggest a pretty good defence which is now allied to the potential to get an odd goal or two. Their H record ranks as the 9th best in the division.
The Ws are Rochdale back in August 1-0, Sutton back in Oct 1-0, Hartlepool in Jan 2-0, Crawley 1-0 in Feb, Grimsby 2-1, AFC Wombledon 2-1, Tranmere 2-0, Crewe 2-1, Carlisle 1-0 and Doncaster 1-0. So quite a pick up in results since the new year. The Ds are Walsall 0-0, Swindon 0-0, Stevenage 1-1 and Barrow 1-1, all by the end of October. The Ls are Harrogate 0-2, Mansfield 0-2, Northampton 0-2, Salford City 0-3, Colchester 0-1 and Bratfut 0-2. They also recently drew at EP 0-0 with another display of solid defence, albeit with only 2 shots and no corners.
The pick up in results dates back to the takeover by American Real Estate tycoon Brad Galinson back in December, since when the Gills have signed quite a few players to bolster a side that had scored just 6 league goals and had just 2 wins (Rochdale and Sutton as above) out of 20 games played at that time. The new regime brought in veterans Kenny Jackett as Director of Football and ex-Gill Andy Hessenthaler as Head of Recruitment, whilst retaining existing manager Neil Harris.
The first signing was Striker Tom Nichols from Crawley (29 goals in 109 apps) - who so far has scored 5 for the Gills which ranks
him as top scorer for the club. They also triggered a sell on clause to acquire Timothy Dieng from Exeter City (17 goals in 68 apps). They then added ex Mansfield Town striker Ollie Hawkins (5 goals in 26 apps this season, playing mostly as a CH), made GK Glenn Morris' loan deal from Crawley into a permanent deal, added Mansfield MF George Lapslie (7 goals in 32 apps this season).
Then they added Orient's MF Ethan Coleman and forward Jayden Clarke (6 goals in 26 apps this season) from Dulwich Hamlet, and brought back CH Conor Masterson for a second loan spell from QPR after playing for the Gills 18 times last season. Finally they signed on loan strikers Aiden O'Brien from Shrewsbury and Tristan Abrahams from Eastleigh (4 goals in 27 apps since moving from Carlisle). That's a total of 10 players, the majority being MF or up front.
Since Feb (H and A) they have W 8 D 2 L 5, including Ws over Grimsby, Tranmere, Carlisle and Donny, although the LS were against Mansfield, Bradford, Walsall, Barrow and Northampton, so although they are a stronger side and hard to beat they are not yet the equal of the top sides.
Hmmm, another of those games where an early goal could be crucial, and by no means an easy fixture. Fingers crossed, I reckon a W is on the cards though.
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Post by ceefer on Apr 12, 2023 16:06:21 GMT
I think this will be a difficult game with County winning 0-1. Early goal should settle the nerves. If not, a late goal should decide it.
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Post by autistichatter on Apr 15, 2023 15:18:11 GMT
Unchanged starting XI not a surprise but interesting Half Time substitutions - Hussey on for Byrne and Madden on for Stretton - which looks aggressive to me.
Stretton has got some more minutes which is nice but perhaps Madden's greater experience and nous holds more promise right now in DC's eyes.
Hussey is more interesting though: he seems (on Twitter anyway) to be a pretty good Dead Ball deliverer so maybe DC's thinking is Gillingham (not surprisingly) are looking to get the 0-0, so getting a goal is more likely to come from a set piece situation.
So a good dead-ball deliverer and a fox in the box...... fingers crossed anyway.
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Post by autistichatter on Apr 15, 2023 16:16:26 GMT
Hmmm, so 1-1 in the end. As DC said there will be twists and turns and this was a twist, albeit not entirely unexpected. Kyle Noyle has been an inspired signing and MSH must look to his laurels because it will be interesting to see if DC prefers MSH or KN at RWB. I've talked a fair bit about the squad turnover but lets face it some of the new signings have been terrific value - Wootton, Horsfall, Noyle all now established first teamers, some others yet to really prove themselves - Camps, Evans, Lewis etc but overall some really impactful signings.
The other thing that leaps out to me is the inspirational role that Collar plays. I remember when DC arrived he said something like Collar, a Rusk signing who appeared to be on the outs, needed to ask more of himself. Well he clearly has and what a player and what a goal threat.
One last thing though, County's conversion rate of shots to goals and inconsistency of final ball quality is really frustrating, especially when sides set up to get the 0-0.
Ah well, at least Carlisle drew with Northampton. I see Bradford won and Mansfield seem to be inching back into playoff contention. Still we are roughly where I thought we'd be, pretty sure of playoffs and in with a shout of automatic promotion. Obviously the Orient and Carlisle games will be very important but we also have two lower teams where we should be capable of getting a win - fingers crossed.
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Post by ceefer on Apr 15, 2023 16:22:01 GMT
Phew.... that draw keeps us in the race. Can't afford to slip up against Carlisle on Tuesday.
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Post by autistichatter on Apr 15, 2023 16:43:37 GMT
Yes, check out the separate thread I've done on final run in fixtures - lots of head to heads between the top sides and several teams face 5 fixtures in 20 days so all kinds of things could transpire. A long way to go yet.
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Post by gazz on Apr 15, 2023 17:18:18 GMT
Will Collar is worth his weight in goals - FACT!
What a player that Guy is!
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Post by gazz on Apr 15, 2023 17:19:34 GMT
Yes, check out the separate thread I've done on final run in fixtures - lots of head to heads between the top sides and several teams face 5 fixtures in 20 days so all kinds of things could transpire. A long way to go yet. You're absolutely right, mate, a lot of twists and turns still to come - we're most definitely still in the mix. |
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