Declining Attendances, Relying On Youth And Steve Lovell

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Declining Attendances, Relying On Youth And Steve Lovell

Postby fan_of_mulligan » Sat Sep 08, 2018 10:56 pm

This is going to come across as a list rather then A Match Report, and given that I was infuriated with the manner of the debate this afternoon, I think I will go through my mini check list and see if anyone agree's or disagree's with the viewpoints I will put across.

DECLINING ATTENDANCES

Gillingham's Attendances are declining, In our previous home match against Coventry City, The Attendance was 4,880 and the attendance today was 5,246, However, AFC Wimbledon brought 963 supporters with them, meaning that Gillingham only had 4,100 supporters inside Priestfield Stadium For A Home League Game On A Saturday Afternoon, And Gillingham always got 5,000+ home supporters for A Saturday League Game and The Away Supporters would then top the attendance up to 5,500, or over 6,000 if we're playing a local team who are bringing over A Thousand Supporters To Gillingham.

I think one of the reason's why the support is declining is just how stale things are at Gillingham Football Club, Our Ambition is to remaining In The Third Tier Of English Football and I have no problem with consolidation and looking to build things slowly over a lengthy period of time, but if we're building over a lengthy period of time, what is Gillingham's Football Philosophy, Do we have a clear picture on the football we're looking to play, on the type of player we're looking to sign and how are we going to progress, because just to stand still you need to be looking forward and League One is getting harder and harder every season, Rotherham United, Wigan Athletic and Blackburn Rovers all bounced back into The Championship at the first attempt and Sunderland and Barnsley look very likely that they are going to be there or thereabouts at the end of this season, and the gap between League One and The Championship is getting wider and wider, The Premier League is The Super League Now, And The Championship Is Now The Premier League, But the third and fourth tier's of English Football are still the third and fourth tier's of English Football, and that financial gap is only going to get wider and wider.

Another reason for the declining attendances is that some supporters who might have come and watched Gillingham play are now watching the likes of Ebbsfleet United, Maidstone United, Dover Athletic, Dartford, Chatham Town, Faversham Town, Sittingbourne and Hollands & Blair FC, You can stand and move around the ground in Non League Football, Match Admission Prices are cheaper and more affordable, matches are more local in The County Division's if your looking to go to away games, and buying tickets for Gillingham Home Games has not exactly been easy, The Phone Line is always busy and I am not sure how good or how bad the online ticketing feature is (KFG Can comment on this) But not everyone is comfortable buying online and would instead prefer to buy over the phone.

There are also some of the continued problems, lack of parking spaces around Priestfield Stadium, Supporters who would prefer to stand and watch football being unable to stand, I know Block 4 In The Rainham End see's supporters stand, but having a designated standing section would be a huge benefit, the atmosphere would improve with a unreserved standing section towards the back of The Rainham End, and the atmosphere would then help the players out there on the football pitch.

LACK OF PLAYING BUDGET

Over the summer, Steve Lovell retained many of our first year pro's and second year scholar's, With Tom Hadler, Louie Catherall, Finn O'Mara, Ryan Huckle, Jack Tucker, Aaron Simpson, Ben Chapman, Darren Oldaker, Bradley Stevenson, Navid Nasseri, Henry Woods, Elliott List, Leroy Hlabi and Noel Mbo all being offered contract extensions, When your keeping hold of fourteen young players, your looking to have as much squad depth as possible - because there is No Emergency Loan Window Anymore - But Steve Lovell is clearly working with a limited budget and we're clearly hoping for two or three young players to step up and make it into The First Team and we're hoping to try and develop two or three more players like finding the next Bradley Dack, and if we're giving Fourteen Young Players Professional Contracts, then we're hoping that many of them can make it into The First Team, But there also likely to sign on for cheaper wages, because these players are young and they are looking to develop there career's with The Gills, and unfortunately, we just do not have the resources to sign six or seven proven established League One Players with hundreds of league appearances under there belts.

Over the summer, our signings can be split into two camps, Barry Fuller, Dean Parrett and Callum Reilly are all proven players, where as Josh Rees, Brandon Hanlan and Regan Charles-Cook are all players we have taken a chance on, Connor Ogilvie has also just re-signed on loan, and there is the possibility - and I have no reliable sources and this is only my own personal opinion - But Tottenham might have covered all of Connor Ogilvie's wages while he is on loan at Gillingham Football Club and Connor Ogilvie is essentially like a free signing, But Connor Ogilvie is our only loan signing and Gillingham haven't really used the loan system to our full advantage, perhaps that is because Gillingham were offered young players with no league experience on loan and Gillingham already had plenty of young players on there books with limited league experience.

You could make the case that maybe Steve Lovell could have released four of five of the young players listed above and sign two players of better quality with the wages that we managed to free up, Or we could have signed players that we currently do not have in this squad who would of been beneficial for The Gills (Example: Natural Wide Wingers) But I do think that the playing budget has been cut in the summer and that might explain why Scott Wagstaff and Lee Martin both left The Gills and we retained so many young players, with the hopes that we can develop these young players and see if we can sell them on for a profit.

Now Steve Lovell does know The Charlton Youth Team Very Well, after all, we did sign Regan Charles-Cook and Brandon Hanlan, and maybe Steve Lovell will look at Charlton Athletic's Academy and say to any promising young player - COME TO GILLINGHAM, And you will get game-time, Because I am sure that Charlton Athletic will be pushing for promotion into The Championship, and they have let many young players go over the summer, and if we have got someone in Steve Lovell who has worked with these players previously, he might be able to tempt more young players from Charlton Athletic to sign for Gillingham, I know this comes across as developing other teams players, but good contacts with Youth Team Clubs and enticing young players released by Premier League and Championship Clubs to sign for Gillingham can only be a good thing, especially if we can find another John Egan.
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Re: Declining Attendances, Relying On Youth And Steve Lovell

Postby fan_of_mulligan » Sat Sep 08, 2018 10:57 pm

STEVE LOVELL

This Is Now Steve Lovell's Sternest Test As Gillingham Manager, two wins from two against Accrington Stanley and Burton Albion, But since then, defeats against Walsall, Sunderland, Barnsley, Portsmouth and AFC Wimbledon, with draws against Coventry City and Millwall, I think when we saw the fixture list, Gillingham had a tough start to the season, however, Today's Match Against AFC Wimbledon was the start of a run of league fixtures which would give us a true reflection on what Gillingham will be playing for this season, that's why the defeat is so concerning, Losing to Barnsley, Sunderland and Portsmouth is disappointing, but they will be in the top six this year, But A Home Defeat Against A AFC Wimbledon Side who barely avoided relegation last season shows that we could be in for another difficult season this season.

And Steve Lovell has got to find a system / formation which works, playing Conor Wilkinson, Tom Eaves and Brandon Hanlan up-front left the midfield trio of Callum Reilly, Josh Rees and Mark Byrne with too much running to do, and without Billy Bingham in the side, there was no natural defensive holding midfielder in the starting line up, and then in The Second Half, Luke O'Neill and Elliott List came on to line up as wingers, but we still had one substitute left, why not bring on Noel Mbo or Darren Oldaker and look to go for it for the final ten minutes of the match, OK, If the substitution didn't pay off and Gillingham still lost then fair enough, you tried to make a change and it didn't come off, But Gillingham have got three substitutes and we really need to use them.

Last Season, Gillingham struggled at home, and that is because our midfield four of Jake Hessenthaler, Callum Reilly, Mark Byrne and Lee Martin were not the quickest, But they were solid if not unspectacular, and I think our midfield without the likes of Billy Bingham, Regan Charles-Cook and Dean Parrett is really lacking, and Steve Lovell is perhaps lining up with three strikers because he hasn't got the strongest of depth in midfield, So we either look to sign another midfielder to come in and freshen the team up, or find another way of playing which works, which isn't fantastic, but helps Gillingham to pick up points, all be it, in a unconvincing fashion.

I think it's too early for any talk about sacking Steve Lovell, And I am hoping that Steve Lovell can turn things around and start to win a few more football matches, because a change in manager means fire-fighting against relegation and we go through the same circle, It would be ideal to have a long term managerial appointment, especially when the finances and resources are limited at best, But Steve Lovell needs to start picking up results and picking up results quickly, starting with Rochdale Away On Saturday, Because the defeat to Rochdale saw Ade Pennock get the sack last season, Another Defeat like that one, could well see Steve Lovell share the same fate, and I don't think anyone wants to see that happen.

LACK OF SQUAD DEPTH

Navid Nasseri, Connor Ogilvie, Noel Mbo and Darren Oldaker and Goalkeeper meant that Gillingham had a very inexperienced substitutes bench, Still, we should have used our third and final substitute, even if it didn't come off in the end in-terms of Gillingham Getting A Result, But With Billy Bingham, Dean Parrett, Regan Charles-Cook, Gabriel Zakuani and Josh Parker not in the squad this afternoon, Our lack of squad depth really was highlighted this afternoon, and as much as Steve Lovell kept saying how happy he was with the squad during pre-season, secretly, I think Steve Lovell would like to add 1-2 players to the squad who can add a bit of experience to this Gillingham Side, and looking at the available players on the free agents list, Nigel Reo-Coker, 34, and Jan Kirchhoff, 27, would add some valuable experience to this Gillingham Midfield, And if we're looking to play with natural out and out wingers, then Kazenga Lualua, 27 and Peter Whittingham, 34, are options, all four are ambitious options in-terms of free agents, and most likely beyond our pay-grade - which is another problem in itself - But we cannot keep playing Elliott List, Brandon Hanlan, Josh Parker and Luke O'Neill out-wide because we didn't consider signing a winger in the summer.

I think developing our young players and looking to develop them into decent footballers who could be sold on for transfer fee's which keeps Gillingham Football Club in a more secure position financially is the way to go, But I do think that Steve Lovell was looking to bring in a few more players with more senior first team experience who can help what is a very young squad, The Sell On Fee For John Egan (Which Is £800,000) is likely to go into the clubs coffers and we look to keep ourselves a float, the drop off in attendances will likely see this £800,000 cover the costs of declining attendances and all the while the attendances drop, the playing budget is cut, which means relying on more young players, which means they are going to be inconsistent and need time to develop, and we may well not be able to afford those players that amount of time, because Gillingham are involved in a relegation battle, and we go through to constant circle of hiring a manager for fire-fighting, rather then looking to stick with a manager for the medium to long term, And I do believe that Steve Lovell is the right manager at the helm, But results need to improve quickly, and we have got some very important league fixtures coming up in the next month or so.

HOME FORM

P4 W1 D1 L2 F5 A7 PTS4 - Sunderland scored four of the goals we conceded in one game, But Gillingham have not kept a clean sheet at home, and Gillingham scored three goals at home against Burton Albion, One Against Sunderland and One Against Coventry City, trying to improve on last season's home form looks like it is going to be very difficult, But what is very concerning is that Gillingham were superb away from home, and our away form is P3 W1 D0 L2 PTS3 OK, Barnsley Away was tough and Walsall look like they are going to be this season's surprise package, But we have got some very concerning issue's that need resolving as soon as possible.

What are your thoughts on this ???
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Re: Declining Attendances, Relying On Youth And Steve Lovell

Postby bunburygills » Mon Sep 10, 2018 7:49 am

Good and well thought out article. You obviously know all the players and the local clubs as well, I of course don't, so I can't really put up a discussion there. However, there's obviously something wrong, and there has been for a long time. Perhaps the only answer to getting into the championship and staying there is to find a wealthy and honest owner who is willing to build the new stadium of at least 20,000 seats and building a good enough team to fill the stadium. Even if we got promoted this season, with a 10,400 seat stadium and relying on free transfers, we'd be straight back down again next year. There seems to be rich owners all over the leagues now, why can't Gillingham find one? I would have thought the location would be capable of having a better club than what it's got.
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Re: Declining Attendances, Relying On Youth And Steve Lovell

Postby Garawa » Mon Sep 10, 2018 11:15 am

I don't think Scally helps. He is likely to put many off and can demand what he likes as he owns it lock, stock and barrel. That said, we often hear about investors "willing" to take over but are being being prevented from doing so. If I was one, I'd tell everybody. It wouldn't take long until their were thousands demanding the owner out. Mike Ashley is still there so it doesn't always work but, if Scally is hit in the pocket, he'd be gone in a flash. That says to me, new owners are not on the horizon.

I think we are too close to London. Why take over us when there are more attractive options a little further up the road. Also, I think we are too intermediate. We are not a big club that return millions on an investment but we are also not a small club that can be purchased for peanuts. It makes us an expensive gamble, especially when Kent is getting expensive for most things as the London effect gets worse and the current ground will need expensive maintenance soon. Unless the new ground gets the official go ahead and there is proof that off-the-pitch revenue streams could be large, nobody will touch us.
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Re: Declining Attendances, Relying On Youth And Steve Lovell

Postby gillsfan1066 » Mon Sep 10, 2018 4:19 pm

First of all getting to Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea etc is a hike from Gillingham, costs a fortune and unless your a true supporter you are not going 40 miles by road tube or bus to watch them play. Gillingham from most places in Kent is less than 40 miles, and while I agree that people like to support their home team, Maidstone, Dover etc, I can not help but think that within a few miles of the ground, say a circle to include Sittingbourne, Faversham, Isle of Sheppy as far as Cobham,Gillingham FC should be able to draw a crowd of 6 or 7 thousand, if the PRODUCT was marketed properly.
Take a quid out of every ticket sold each home game,and lets say there are 23 home games with say 5,000 tickets sold,if my maths are correct thats ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN THOUSAND POUNDS EACH SEASON ,that could be given away in prizes at half time .
Give away 3 Suzuki Celeros over the season, they only cost 8,000 quid each, and the draw could be made by a numbering system on the back of the programs,hell you would collect the profit from selling 6 or 7 thousand programs, and don't tell me that people would not go to that when they spend a fortune in the hope of winning the lottery at a 1 in 14 million chance.
Want more women in the stands, have a brides dress day, give away half a dozen wedding dresses or honeymoon vacation package. Get the women on the pitch at half time grasping their programs with there boyfriends by their sides and draw the winning numbers,give those who didn't win a small gift voucher towards the cost of the ring from local jeweler that helps sponsor the thing.
Once every two or three home games give away a vacation in Spain, it can't cost more than a couple of grand including air fare, give away a trip to Disney in Orlando as a major price a couple of times a year, and give away cash every week ,only has to be a hundred or two to say five winners. Have a kids and Dads day once a month give away 25 bikes to the kids, and say a free ticket to the next home game to the Dads.
Come on someone in the marketing dept, get you finger out and make something happen.
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Re: Declining Attendances, Relying On Youth And Steve Lovell

Postby lidbid46 » Mon Sep 10, 2018 10:04 pm

I’m one of those responsible for the declining attendance; since I gave up my season ticket at the beginning of last season I have only been to maybe six games and none this season so far. My love for Gillingham hasn’t dissipated but my love of going to the games certainly has. To be honest, I think the last couple of seasons that I had a season ticket I was only going to games due to habit and a feeling of loyalty. There are many reasons for giving up something that you have been doing without question for years; in my case going alone without my son lost its appeal, getting older definitely made it less comfortable, especially on freezing Tuesday nights in January, and getting involved in other things such as my cricket club and choir gave me choices of things to do. But if the matchday experience had still retained the thrill that it gave me several seasons ago I’m sure I would still be there at kick off times. The truth is, I just became bored by doing the same thing over and over again, without gaining much fun from doing it. Someone posted, probably Gary, that the win ratio for the last few seasons is something like 25%. Now, I have walked back to my car disappointed but exhilarated at the same time after Gills defeats many times when the players have been fantastic but have been beaten by the odd goal or a rubbish ref’s decision, so it’s not just losing that spoiled it for me. It was the way we were playing, time after time, with no obvious passion, organisation or desire. It was the total lack of atmosphere in the RE. It was me singing and yelling, often on my own, and being looked at by other fans as though I was bonkers. It was the moaning and aggression shown towards our own players, management and yes, PS as well that spoiled it for me. I was paying good money to feeeze whilst listening to the same people moaning and bitching for 90 minutes about the club we were all supposed to be there supporting. And I’ve just realised what else has put me off going. Now that everyone has smart phones, most of the people sitting near me spent more of their time looking at their phones discussing the latest Premier League goals as they went in rather than trying to cheer the Gills on. It’s as if even those who are motivated to attend every other Saturday at 3pm can’t really be bothered to give their attention to our team; they’d rather be staring at their phone screens to see what’s happening in the Premier!
I’ve had some great times at Gillingham; amazing league games when we’ve saved ourselves from relegation or pushed for promotion, or when we’ve played Charlton, Norwich, Swansea, etc and given the so called big boys really hard games. I’ve cheered on Smithy and Hessy, Jarvis and Trigger. I’ve sung until I can’t make a sound during cup games and playoff matches and some of the away trips and the Wembley games gave Joe and me some father and son moments that I don’t think we’ll ever forget. But now; I get nothing like that from attending games anymore and until that changes I’ll not regret my decision to give up my season ticket one bit.
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Re: Declining Attendances, Relying On Youth And Steve Lovell

Postby bunburygills » Thu Sep 13, 2018 8:49 am

Some excellent posts there from all. Lidbid, that was some serious soul searching and it all made sense. Doing or supporting any sport has an enormous amount to do with the people you do it with. If you find that you have nothing in common with the people around you, then the shine soon wears off. Age has a huge bearing on this. I'm getting to the stage where I don't particularly want to go out in the evenings if it's too cold or raining. I love the warm barmy evenings but hate getting too cold. When I came over to England about six years ago and watched the Gills in Gillingham and at Port Vale in late November, I couldn't believe how cold it was. I thought then, how long would I keep that up if I ever went back to the UK. I think I've been spoilt over here. So if you go on your own, sit with a load of kids on their Iphones, your team is playing crap and your gonads have shrivelled back inside to get some warmth, I can easily see why you've lost your enthusiasm.
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Re: Declining Attendances, Relying On Youth And Steve Lovell

Postby gillsfan1066 » Thu Sep 13, 2018 8:09 pm

But if we had been playing Manchester United, Chelsea,or away to Manchester Cityor Spurs like Brighton, and Bournemouth are,then I bet shriveled plums would have been nothing but a thing would they ?
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Re: Declining Attendances, Relying On Youth And Steve Lovell

Postby bunburygills » Fri Sep 14, 2018 9:00 am

Absolutely right. Just before I left, I used to stand halfway up the terrace behind the goal at the Gillingham end. I'd freeze, get soaked, be snowed on and on the rare occasion, get sunburnt. I used to roll cigs in them days but I used to roll them at home before coming out because I couldn't feel my fingers during the game. It's only when I met my future wife and she came with me that I got soft and sat in that misshapen stand opposite the main stand.From memory, I think it was six shillings. Not bad to see Kenny Pound, Andy Smillie, David Quirke and all those super stars of yesteryears. It would have to be main stand or nothing now.
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