Gillingham FC Forum

12 months ago, everyone was remarking at how strong League 1 was. Sunderland, Portsmouth, Barnsley, Charlton, Peterborough all looked good for promotion whilst other big clubs were involved such as Bradford who, in games with Sunderland, smashed the EFL record not just League 1. 12 weeks ago we were lauding the division for how strong it was as Luton took the title to the final game and relegation involved almost all clubs not involved in a promotion battle!

It's very different now. I did see a team that will run away with it although Sunderland should. Bury are on minus 12 points looking likely to go bust as they have a side but not the money to be able to play matches. Bolton are also on minus 12. They seemingly do have the money to play games but not the players. On Saturday, away at Wycombe, they had 3 contracted players available who had not trained nor played any pre-season games. They fielded 8 debutantes, 2 of which were signed an hour before kick off. In that context, only losing 2-0 was decent although they managed no shots on target and had 3 overall (to Wycombe's 25). They also failed to win a corner but did have a large share of possession. The Gills are due to play both sides in the next 5 league games.

How these clubs can get in such a mess is a mystery. How can a club be allowed to compete in a professional match having not trained or played games all summer? Bury have a team and HAVE played pre-season games so if this doesn't prove it's all about money when players are at risk of serious injury then nothing will.

I think the fact that clubs start with minus 12 points seems crazy, there just about only going one way and thats down. Yes I know some have survived but not broke clubs or clubs with no players.
I can't quiet see how it is fair that that a club can play Bolton in these first few weeks before they have players of any caliber but then other teams have to play them in say November when with luck they have a full team and new owners or what ever . Lets be serious 25 shots by the opposition nil by Bolton is ridiculous.

That is the crazy thing. Far better that the games are postponed and played midweek on an even footing. I'm not sure Bolton have had a shot on target yet let alone scored a goal.

Garawa wrote:That is the crazy thing. Far better that the games are postponed and played midweek on an even footing. I'm not sure Bolton have had a shot on target yet let alone scored a goal.

They went ahead twice against Rochdale in the Carabao Cup , but ended up losing 5-2

The whole Bolton thing is ridiculous, even the thought of Bassini or Bazini or what ever the ex Watford bankrupt Chairman calls himself now, taking over the club is too stupid for words.
How long is the FA going to sit around before they say OK Mr. Bassini put a check for half a million pounds in an escrow account and bring us your tax statement for last year, and a list of your assets etc, and we will help get his deal done.
When I last went to buy a car I wanted to put a few thousand bucks down and then finance it for 36 months, the 20 something smart ass salesman knew more about my finances than me or my accountant did.

I meant in the league Soton. They had managed 2 shots on target but not yet scored. It all looked promising with the takeover until they asked for Tuesday's game to be called off to prevent the young players from being burned out (something I raised a few weeks ago). Games have been played yet this one could not. What then happens when a team has a virus and struggles to field a team or has to play back to back games late in the season? You can't have 1 team getting special treatment over others.

The management team has today resigned so suddenly the future looks bleak again and Bury look like no longer existing in a couple of days time. Very concerning.

Well such is life,if Bolton and Bury go to the wall two other teams will take there place ,now what about the teams that gained points against them, do they get to keep them ??

gillsfan1066 wrote:Well such is life,if Bolton and Bury go to the wall two other teams will take there place ,now what about the teams that gained points against them, do they get to keep them ??

Taking their place can't happen this season Gillsfan , otherwise it impacts on all other divisions . Teams that have gained points against Bolton will lose them ( Bury have yet to play ) , and everyone will play four fewer games . With the loss of revenue . Goodness knows what happens with season tickets , where you've paid to see 23 games but will now only see 21 .

Guessed you meant the league Gary , but was just pointing out that their youngsters had managed to get a couple of goals , though no idea whether Rochdale put out a full strength squad

Rochdale put out ten of the players that played Sunderland the following week for the Bolton game.

Its a minor positive for them but it shows the lack of depth needed to compete at our level and why many U23s in the EFL Trophy have badly struggled. Better is that these players go out on loan as they can, only on rare occurances (Broadhead at Burton for example) compete at an equal level unless they have come through the ranks into the first team.