EFLT - Gillingham AFC vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread
Posted: Mon Oct 04, 2021 10:44 pm
Gillingham FC vs Ipswich Town
Tuesday 5th October 2021 – 19:00
Preistfield Stadium
Pre-Match Thoughts - Mike
A False Dawn - Where Do We Go From here?
So our mini revival has ended almost as soon as it begun with defeat at Accrington Stanley last Saturday, the Three game mini run which had us all believing things were on the up seems a distant memory already and while we were all drooling over our Six goal mauling of Doncaster Rovers it has to be acknowledged that they were garbage which probably had more to do with the victory than anything we did on the night. It really does feel like a bit of a false dawn again as a mediocre team like Accrington could do such a job on us despite our abundance of riches that we have at our disposal.
The biggest disappointment for me, and it is one that should send shockwaves through every Town fan is the fact that it has been said "we weren't up for it" on the day and "Didn't want it" as much as our hosts, well I am sorry but if that is true then this set of players are not much better than the bunch of tarts Cook had to ditch in the Summer, it is not acceptable and must not be allowed to become a thing again, that is One trend I thought we would have seen the last of. All these players supposedly want to be part of the bright new era, all say they came here to play for Paul Cook, it is largely accepted that they all possess quality, especially at this level so for me it has to be questioned as to why the Manager and his cronies can't get the team motivated ? I hope it is not a case of good old comfortable Ipswich all over again.
I am not going to lie, maybe this is a Tad Knee jerk but I have quite a few doubts about Paul Cook all of a sudden, his desire to go it alone without a seasoned Number Two by his side is starting to look very suspect indeed and it could well be he is One of these managers that excels on a budget when the chips are down but give him a bottomless pit of cash and he finds the blending of a whole new squad too much to handle, that is a very real concern for me. I think he is also totally One dimensional, something that has been aimed at him from several quarters already, his inability to move from his favoured 4-2-3-1 reeks of stubbornness at times and he has showed that when in control of games his tactical limitations don't get us over the line.
I so want Paul Cook to succeed, he is likeable, passionate and infectious but that is starting to cut no ice with many, myself included, I just cannot help but feel that this is yet another false dawn we are facing at Portman Road, failing to achieve Promotion this time around would not necessarily be the end of the world but it is expected that we are up there in the race, not grubbing around for survival in the relegation zone which is basically what we are faced with at this moment in time, let's realise One thing, we are almost a Quarter of the way through this season already and we are floundering, other teams with similar rebuilds to us and much less spending power are doing much better, it has to be questioned why. The whole thing has left me with a general feeling of resignation to more disappointment and underachievement, I was really positive after the Doncaster game but with hindsight I do feel it was a massive false dawn, a freak result if you like, the Accrington result is more like reality, you only have to look at the results against Morecambe, Newport, Burton, Cheltenham, MK Dons, Wimbledon and Bolton to see the real ITFC.
Town's rickety old Tractor now rumbles on to Gillingham in the Tin Pot Trophy which knowing our history will almost certainly mean another defeat in this incredibly disappointing season. I have no clue as to what kind of Line up we will go with and if there will be the normal Ten changes but based on last time against West Ham Kids it made little difference, perhaps we should keep it strong and give them yet another chance to form some kind of cohesive unit, either way another defeat beckons and yet more unrest on the terraces. It is hard to get interested in this cup to be honest but for me it's a Gillingham victory. Oh the Joy.
The Opposition – Gillingham
The local success of a junior football side, Chatham Excelsior F.C., encouraged a group of businessmen to meet with a view to creating a football club which could compete in larger competitions. New Brompton F.C. was formed at the meeting, held on 18 May 1893.
The founders also purchased the plot of land which later became Priestfield Stadium. The new club played its first match on 2 September 1893, losing 1–5 to Woolwich Arsenal's reserve side in front of a crowd of 2,000. New Brompton were among the founder members of the Southern League upon its creation in 1894, and were placed in Division Two. They were named Champions in the first season (1894–95) going on to defeat Swindon Town in a test match to win promotion.
In the seasons that followed, the club struggled in Division One, finishing bottom in the 1907–08 season, avoiding relegation only due to expansion of the league. Whilst the club's league performance was disappointing, the side did manage a famous cup victory over Football League First Division Sunderland and held Manchester City to a draw before losing in the replay. In 1912 the directors passed a resolution to change the club's name to Gillingham F.C., and the team played under this name throughout the 1912–13 season, although the change was not officially ratified by the shareholders until the following year. The team finished bottom of Division One in the 1919–20 season but for a third time avoided relegation, due to the subsequent elevation of all Southern League Division One clubs to form the new Football League Division Three.
In the first season of the newly created Football League Division Three, the 1920–21 season, Gillingham again finished bottom, and in the years to follow there was little improvement on this, the club continually finishing in the lower reaches of the bottom division.
In 1938 the team finished bottom of the Third Division (South) and were required to apply for re-election for the fifth time since joining the league. This bid for re-election failed, with Gillingham returning to the Southern League and Ipswich Town being promoted in their place.
Gillingham quickly established themselves as one of the stronger sides in the league, winning a local double of the Kent League and Kent Senior Cup in the 1945–46 season. In the 1946–47 season the team won both the Southern League Cup and the Southern League championship, during which they recorded a club record 12–1 victory over Gloucester City. The Gills also won the league title in 1948–49.
In 1950, plans were announced to expand the Football League Division Three (South) from 22 to 24 teams and, taking into account their local success in the interim, Gillingham were re-elected to the Football League with a landslide vote.
The team spent eight seasons in Division Three (South) before the restructuring of the league system for the 1958–59 season saw them placed in the newly created Fourth Division. They remained in this division until 1964, when manager Freddie Cox led them to promotion, winning the first championship in the club's history. The team finished the season level on 60 points with Carlisle United, but with a fractionally better goal average (1.967 against 1.948), which was the tightest league title finish in Football League history.
After relegation back to the Fourth Division in 1970–71, the Gills were soon promoted back to the Third Division in the 1973–74 season. After this the club seemed to find its level in Division Three, regularly mounting a challenge for promotion which ultimately fell short each time, never more so than in 1986–87 when they reached the play-offs only to lose in the final to Swindon Town. During this period the club produced future stars Steve Bruce and Tony Cascarino, who was famously bought from non-league Crockenhill in exchange for a set of tracksuits.
In 1987, the Gills hit the headlines when, on consecutive Saturdays, they beat Southend United 8–1 and Chesterfield 10–0, the latter a club record for a Football League match. Just a few months later, however, manager Keith Peacock was controversially sacked, and within 18 months the club had fallen into Division Four. The ensuing spell in the lower division brought little success, and in the 1992–93 Division Three campaign the Gills narrowly avoided relegation to the Football Conference.
Beset with financial problems, the club went into administration in January 1995, and by the end of the 1994–95 season faced the threat of being expelled from the Football League and closed down. In June 1995, however, a London-based businessman, Paul Scally, stepped in and bought the club. He brought in new manager Tony Pulis, who led Gillingham to promotion in his first season, finishing second in the old Division Three (now Football League Two).
In 1999 the Gills made the play-offs but lost in the Division Two play-off final to Manchester City. The Gills were 2–0 up with less than two minutes left only to see City score twice, the equaliser in injury time, and go on to win 3–1 in a penalty shoot-out. Soon after the play-off loss, Pulis was sacked for gross misconduct, and Peter Taylor appointed manager. In the 1999–00 season Gillingham qualified for the play-offs again, where they faced Wigan Athletic in the final at Wembley Stadium. The game finished 1–1 after 90 minutes, but, thanks to goals in extra time from substitutes Steve Butler and Andy Thomson, the Gills won 3–2 and were promoted to Division One for the first time.
Taylor then left to manage Leicester City, and Andy Hessenthaler was appointed as player-manager. He led the club to their best ever league finish of eleventh in the 2002–03 season, but the following season saw the club narrowly avoid relegation on goal difference. Hessenthaler resigned as manager in November 2004, and new boss Stan Ternent was unable to prevent the Gills' relegation to League One.
At the end of the 2007–08 season the club was relegated again, this time to League Two, but an immediate return to the third level was secured via the play-offs after beating Shrewsbury Town.
In the 2009–10 season, however, the Gills slipped into the bottom four on the last day, and were relegated back to League Two, having failed to win a single away game in the league all season. This resulted in manager Mark Stimson having his contract terminated, and Andy Hessenthaler was appointed as manager of the club for the second time. At the start of the 2012–13 season Hessenthaler was replaced by Martin Allen, who led the club to promotion as League Two champions in his first season in charge. However, shortly after winning League Two, Martin Allen was sacked in what many saw as a "surprise sacking" after a poor start to the season.
Peter Taylor returned for a second spell in charge, but following his sacking in December 2014 he was replaced by Justin Edinburgh which saw the Gils finish in 12th place.
The 2015–16 was his first full season in charge, Edinburgh led the Gills to a second-place position at Christmas, after a 3–0 victory against Millwall. Gillingham had also managed to defeat League favourites Sheffield United, with a 4–0 victory on the first day of the season. However, after a run of bad injuries to crucial players, Gillingham slipped to a ninth-place finish in League One, after losing on the last day of the season, against Millwall.
Edinburgh was sacked on 3 January 2017, along with his entire coaching team, with the club placed 17th in League One.
On 21 May 2019, Steve Evans was announced as the new manager of Gillingham and began his role on 1 June 2019.
Last season Gillingham finished one place below Town in 10th place.
The Manager – Steve Evans
Match Referee – Trevor Kettle
GILLINGHAM 0 IPSWICH TOWN 1