by fan_of_mulligan » Fri Feb 15, 2019 11:34 am
SECOND HALF:
Fouls and free kicks slowed the pace of the game down with Barnsley looking to ensure that the come-back isn't on, and some of the decision making from Referee Trevor Kettle was infuriating to say the least, But after Fifty Three Minutes, Steve Lovell made his first substitution of the match as Elliott List came on to replace Billy King, And I am not going to judge Billy King on making his full debut for Gillingham against A Barnsley Side who are flying high in League One and expected to gain promotion back into The Championship at the first attempt, but there are sterner tests to come where we will hopefully see better performances from Billy King and the rest of our loan signings.
And after that substitution, Jacob Brown's header from an dangerous in-swinging cross down the right side of the pitch fails to hit the target and 2-0 keeps Gillingham in with a slim chance of getting something out of the game, But if we are to get anything out of the game, then chances need to be taken whenever they came our way, and a disappointing cross from a free kick from Graham Burke in a promising position on the pitch doesn't hurt matters for The Gills, But Barnsley really should have extended the score-line further in there favour, as Max Ehmer blocks Cauley Woodrow's shot on goal inside Gillingham's Penalty Area with a brilliantly timed block and Tomas Holy dives on to the loose ball, However, Barnsley should have scored from the second goal-scoring opportunity just a few minutes later on in the match, and it was only thanks to a combined effort from Max Ehmer, Barry Fuller and Tomas Holy that prevented Barnsley from making sure that the game was well and truly won, Cameron McGeehan and Cauley Woodrow manage to intercept the ball from Mark Byrne between the two of them, and Cauley Woodrow clips the ball down the line towards Dimitri Cavare, who keeps the ball in play and Dimitri Cavare manages to thread the ball through to Kieffer Moore, who passes the ball square to Mamadou Thiam inside Gillingham's Penalty Area, And Mamadou Thiam see's his first effort on goal blocked by Barry Fuller, the follow up effort on goal is saved by Tomas Holy, and Cameron McGeehan see's his effort on goal cleared off the line by Max Ehmer, And Gillingham are trying there very best to keep the score-line down, even though defensively, Gillingham have been all over the place - and that is because this all came from an attack that broke down as Graham Burke had little passing options available to him and Connor Ogilvie's pass to Mark Byrne was intercepted, I think Gillingham were down to ten men while this attack was in place, because Dean Parrett had to come on for Josh Rees, who was unable to continue because of injury.
Barnsley continue to dominate as Mamadou Thiam tries his luck with an effort on goal which fails to hit the target by some considerable distance, Tomas Holy also has to save an effort on goal from Kieffer Moore which is hit on target from twenty yards out, and in-between those two attempts on goal, Mark Byrne's Effort on goal is looped up into the air and goes out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick which unfortunately doesn't result in a goal-scoring opportunity for Gillingham, Tomas Holy then has to tip Alex Mowatt's long range effort over the crossbar as we reach The Seventieth Minute Of The Match, But it is from the resulting corner kick where Barnsley make the points safe and score the third goal of the match, Mamadou Thiam whips in an dangerous in-swinging cross towards the near post, Liam Lindsay headers the ball towards the far post and Cauley Woodrow has sealed the win for Barnsley with an excellent finish at the far post - I think there was always a slim chance at 2-0, but once the score-line was extended to 3-0, then it was game over, Barnsley then substitute Cauley Woodrow, and coming on in his place was Mike-Steven Bähre, Who is on loan from German Bundesliga Side Hannover 96, And while Barnsley have got a very impressive squad which should gain promotion back into The Championship at the first attempt, Gillingham have been terrible, and our performance levels have not been acceptable.
It is now damage limitation for The Gills with Barry Fuller making an important clearance - And I thought that Barry Fuller deserved credit for his performance against Barnsley, along with Tomas Holy, And I have given our loan signings the benefit of the doubt as well - Gabriel Zakuani and Max Ehmer both make important blocks to divert the ball out of play for corner kicks as Gillingham are looking to keep the score-line down, And Tomas Holy manages to gather a dangerous in-swinging cross from the second corner kick, Steve Lovell then makes his third and final substitution as Regan Charles-Cook comes on to replace Connor Ogilvie, We were not short of midfielder options on the bench, But maybe Leonardo Da Silva Lopez could have come on to make his home debut for The Gills.
But Gillingham did at least score a consolation goal, it was actually a good passing move between Tom Eaves, Regan Charles-Cook and Graham Burke, And Dimitri Cavare takes out Graham Burke and Gillingham have been awarded a free kick down The Medway Stand / Rainham End Of The Pitch, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Dean Parrett has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross and Barnsley can only get the ball partially clear to the edge of there penalty area, Ans Elliott List takes a touch to control the ball before smashing the ball into the bottom right corner of the net, And there is nothing Adam Davies can do about that, Is the come-back on, unlikely, But let's at least go down fighting Gills and give Barnsley something to think about defensively.
And straight from the kick off, there was that horrible collision between Gabriel Zakuani and Kieffer Moore, and there was a eight minute delay while both players received treatment, Gabriel Zakuani was unable to continue and Gillingham went down to ten men and Gabriel Zakuani is now out injured until the end of the season, which is a devastating blow, Kieffer Moore needed to be taken straight to Hospital and Barnsley used there third and final substitution as Jordan Green comes on to replace Kieffer Moore, Who I wish the speediest of recoveries because that injury looked a bad one, I cannot believe that Barry Fuller and Gabriel Zakuani were booked because of that head to head collision though.
Mamadou Thiam fails to hit the target with an dangerous cross / shot towards the far right post, But could Gillingham have pulled another goal back and set up another grand-stand finish, Because Graham Burke is fouled in the same position where Gillingham scored the consolation goal, But this time, Dean Parrett's cross was disappointing and Adam Davies makes a routine save, Gillingham are then trying to give it a go in the closing stages and Brandon Hanlan is fouled and Referee Trevor Kettle doesn't award Gillingham A Free Kick, But Barnsley do manage to win themselves a free kick which leads to there fourth goal being scored deep into stoppage time, Mamadou Thiam is fouled down close to the byline towards The Brian Moore Stand / Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Mamadou Thiam pass the ball short to Mike Bahre, who works his way into a shooting position before seeing his shot on goal saved by Tomas Holy, And Jacob Brown smashes the ball into the back of the net via the under-side of the crossbar for 4-1, and there were some half-hearted appeals for hand-ball from Gillingham prior to that effort on goal hitting the back of the net, and while the numerical advantage played a part for the fourth goal, going down to ten men because of injury did not affect the out-come of this match.
And that was the last bit of action before the full time whistle, Gillingham deserved to lose, and had Barnsley out-classed Gillingham and scored four good goals and we could just put our hands up and say that Gillingham gave everything, But Barnsley are on another level, then fair enough, but we cannot say that because the performance from Gillingham was poor, Man Of The Match is a struggle and Gillingham now have fifteen matches remaining to retain our League One Status for another season, I also have to say that this was the worst performance we have seen from Tom Eaves In A Gillingham Shirt, Because I was very disappointed with Tom Eaves performance, I think there are many players who played against Barnsley who deserved to be dropped just so that these players get a kick up the back-side for the remaining matches of The 2018 / 2019 Season, because I think Gillingham need at least seven wins to make sure that we avoid the drop, which is easier said then done.
FULL TIME: GILLINGHAM 1-4 BARNSLEY
OTHER COMMENTS.
Also, I don't like to say this because I am always someone who is a strong believer in long term managerial appointments if you want to achieve a level of success or consistently, What Gareth Ainsworth has managed to achieve at Wycombe Wanderers has been incredible, and while John Coleman and Keith Hill are in there second spells at Accrington Stanley and Rochdale respectively, both manager's have done fantastic jobs at Accrington Stanley and Rochdale with limited resources, But I do think that the conversation has started on Steve Lovell's Managerial Future At Gillingham Football Club and regardless if Gillingham are in League One or League Two Next Season, Do Gillingham make a managerial change in the summer ??? What Steve Lovell has managed to achieve on limited resources himself at Gillingham Football Club has to be commended, but with the recent signings of Ricky Holmes, Leonardo Da Silva Lopez, Billy King, Graham Burke and Tahvon Campbell, we have got to say that Paul Scally has backed Steve Lovell in the transfer market and there is perhaps more pressure, more expectation and more accountability on Steve Lovell now, because he has been backed in the transfer market, and there is real pressure on Steve Lovell to keep Gillingham Football Club In League One - And I really do hope that Steve Lovell can keep Gillingham Football Club In League One - But survival might not be enough to keep Steve Lovell in the managerial position at Gillingham Football Club, And I do think that we will have serious conversations about Steve Lovell's Managerial Future At Gillingham In The Summer.
And that is a real shame, because we all want Steve Lovell to succeed at Gillingham Football Club, And Steve Lovell himself has mentioned many times how long he has had to wait before the managerial position became available and there is no doubt that Steve Lovell genuinely cares about Gillingham Football Club and he wants to succeed as manager, There is also the bigger picture that Gillingham have been in A League One Relegation Dog-Fight for every season we have been in League One with the exception of The 2015 / 2016 Season where Gillingham were challenging for promotion and our form tailed off at the end of that season, 20th in 2016 / 2017, Last Season 17th, and this season, currently 21st, Gillingham are surviving, not thriving in League One, and how do we make the necessary changes to turn 20th, 17th and 21st, into 13th, 12th and 11th placed finishes in League One, or potentially push for promotion into The Championship ???
Another thing I am going to add is the attendance and attendances in general, the attendance for Saturday's match against Barnsley was 4,791, and Barnsley brought 786 supporters with them to Priestfield Stadium, I think Gillingham have lost 1,000 regular Season Ticket Holders, and that could well be down to many contributing factors, price being the obvious one that stands out, But Gillingham's Home Form over the past few season's hasn't been great and the atmosphere for home games has been mixed to say the least, And when I went to The Chairman's Meeting With Paul Scally, Many of us there did suggest slashing Season Ticket Prices in half on the basis that we double the gate, But the counter argument Paul Scally put forward was what happened if the club slashed season ticket prices in half and the gate isn't doubled and those who had paid for there Season Tickets had to pay up a top up fee because we didn't reach our target of say 5,000 Season Ticket Holders For Example ???
I was disappointing with Mark Byrne and Josh Rees in Central Midfield and the lack of protection they add to the back four / back five when they play in the middle of midfield and I think both central midfielders may well find that there positions in the starting line up is under threat, Josh Rees gets the benefit of the doubt because he has been scoring goals recently and made the step up from The Conference National To League One, But Mark Byrne has really struggled this season, and with Dean Parrett, Callum Reilly, Darren Oldaker, Leonardo Da Silva Sanchez, Billy Bingham and Regan Charles-Cook to call upon, there are far more options in the centre of midfield to call upon, although one of these players mentioned may well have to play in defence with Gabriel Zakuani now out injured.
Gillingham have been conceding goals at home on a regular basis, and here are some of the score-lines that reflect this.....
Gillingham 1-4 Barnsley
Gillingham 0-3 Walsall
Gillingham 1-3 Doncaster Rovers
Gillingham 1-3 Luton Town
Gillingham 2-4 Peterborough United
Gillingham 1-4 Sunderland
That's Six Home Matches, Zero Points, Scored Six Conceded Twenty One and we're talking about a minus fifteen goal difference from these six home matches, And goal difference could well be the difference between Gillingham staying up and going down this season, and I think our away form is going to be key to our survival hopes, But what is also going to be crucial are the home games against Oxford United, Bristol Rovers, Shrewsbury Town, Plymouth Argyle and the away trips to AFC Wimbledon and Bradford City, those six matches are going to be vital for The Gills, But back to back wins against Scunthorpe United and Sunderland (unlikely I know) in the next two league games could completely change Gillingham's Season in our favour.
And finally, Since Gillingham's Promotion Back Into League One and from The 2013 / 2014 Season, Gillingham have had Martin Allen, Peter Taylor, Justin Edinburgh, Ade Pennock and Steve Lovell as Permanent Manager's, We have also had The Gang Of Four Of Andy Hessenthaler, Mark Patterson, Darren Hare and Steve Lovell in temporary charge, And Peter Taylor was interim manager before Steve Lovell took over as caretaker manager before being permanently appointed as Gillingham Manager, As I mentioned above, The 2015 / 2016 Season is the only season where Gillingham have not sacked a manager, and if Steve Lovell see's out the rest of this season, then this season will be the second season in six where Gillingham do not make a managerial change, but what happens in the summer could well be a completely different story.