Fans Forum

[Garawa]

Some interesting statements made at this evenings forum, most notably Rene Mulensteen WAS at the Faversham game advising potential investors, that Justin Edinburgh is taking us to court for unfair dismissal, Emmanuel-Thomas is still being paid by the club and that Scally expressed his concerns about results dropping off in November and Jed said he'd fix it. Here are some tweets from the evening.

Scally on Edinburgh: "Justin Edinburgh's conduct to Ady was appalling. Justin lost his job for what he wasn't doing. He wasn't doing his job properly in my view."
PS reveals he called JE in on November 8 to discuss statistics and our points per game was about 1.1 and declining. Said he was worried. Addressed a number of issues, said if we were to continue we will be relegated. "Statistics do not lie, between November 8 and January 3 nothing changed. That was the problem. I don't think the team were fit enough."
Scally on Edinburgh court case: "Justin has brought a 'ridiculous' claim against the club. Both him and David Kerslake 'very smug' about things. Was in court yesterday for employment tribunial, case adjouned until Novemebr 30th .
Scally to Northampton CEO: "PS - "Great bloke, most hardworking bloke I've ever worked with" "Think I might have made a mistake sacking him." I gave Justin a glowing reference days after sacking him. Northampton appointed him days later, and I saved loads of money.
Scally on investment: "I have been working with different investment groups, some in the middle east and we are an attractive proposition. Every week I have a meeting with either a new group or the same group that have come back. On Friday I had an American group here. My responsibility is not to take the first buck that comes along. Investors want to enhance who we are. It's hard work, nothing definite but in advanced talks."
Scally on safe-standing: "I am not against safe standing, it isn't appropriate for Priestfield but there is a place for it in appropriate place in new stadium."
Scally on new stadium: "New stadium project to cost between £270 and £300 million."
Scally on Priestfield: "We don't have any bank debt or loans. We own the stadium freehold."
Scally on Centreplate case: ""Nothing goes into any particular case. The court case is already three quarters won. They have already conceded liability. They have offered £900,000. We win the case, the costs will come back. It's possible the court case will get settled in the next few days. It's a question of how much they owe. We rejected £900,000. Club could receive up to £2.2 million. They do not have a case, there is pride at stake."
Scally on scouting: "We are developing a good relationship with Lille and Amiens in France. Saw a player called Kamara, AP didn't fancy him and went for 5.2m!"
Withington on fitness: "Players are now working harder, we monitor them using GPS which tells us much they run, sprint etc. Tested well in pre-season. Physical development takes time. Players in much better place, the stats tell us that and your eyes will tell you that too. Tested players at start of season and yesterday for fitness. Scores through the roof yesterday. They're now doing better work for a longer period of time. You'll see leaner and fitter players. Fitness work isn't done for the sake of it. Players will be leaner, keener and energy levels will be a lot more improved."
Pennock on last season: "I didn't think some of the young players were ready last season. All of our new signings have made an impression. It was a difficult time last season, we were fighting relegation and the younger players weren't ready. People can say what they want but we are fighters and winners and we will prove a few people wrong."
Day on differences this season: "Players didn't work hard enough last season. When we came in the gaffer changed the regime and some didn't want to work hard. We had players who had awful attitudes. Now you will see the attitudes that you expect."
Pennock on the fan's forum: "It was my idea, I wanted this (event) tonight. You deserve to know - within reason - what's going on as we appreciate your love, support etc."

[CadburyMan]

Common theme - Court Cases

[Rimshot]

Scally, same old, same old. Nothing is ever his fault, all our ex managers are disreputable, investors on the brink of signing up, new ground and stadium plans imminent. Really?

[gillsfan1066]

Tweets, tweets, Mr. Lidbit what the hell are tweets, something like Sherbet Lemons and Smarties ???

[fan_of_mulligan]

I did get to ask My Question At The Very End which was - Should Gillingham Have A Reserve Team ??? - because our young players were hyped up a lot on Tuesday Night, There is such a huge gap between Youth Team Football and First Team Football that maybe we need A Reserve Team to bridge the gap, the answer back I got was that we would need to carry a much larger squad to cope with the demands of First Team and Reserve Team Football, that sending our players out on loan is the better solution financially.

The biggest thing I took away from The Fans Forum On Tuesday Night was that Gillingham need to do these more often, there productive and very informative, and give Supporters a chance to get questions answered face to face.

I also wasn't expecting Paul Scally to be so open about the on-going court case with Centre-Plate, I was expecting any answers to Centre-Plate to be along the lines of "The Court Case Is On-Going and we have to keep this confidential until we know the outcome in November" - Hopefully, Gillingham can win The £2,200,000 that is owed to us from Centre-Plate, as this money would greatly ease any financial problems that Gillingham Football Club have got.

Scunthorpe United's Owner is The Seventh Richest Person in England, which is why Scunthorpe United can afford to go 145% over there financial turnover, because there owner is contributing a large sum of money towards player wages, Championship Clubs often chase the dream to get into The Premier League, but if you look at the financial differences between The Championship and League One, you can see why clubs spend huge sums of money to try and get into The Second Tier.