[ 12 Dec 16 ] Bolton v GILLS Match Thread

[Garawa]

- This is only the 16th meeting between the sides and the first for over 13 years. Bolton have won 7 whilst the Gills have won 6.
- The Gills last league tie with Bolton was an away trip in March 2001. Goals from Marlon King and Nicky Southall earned a 3-3 draw.
- Bolton's 12 goals conceded is the lowest in League 1 and 2nd lowest of all 72 EFL clubs. Only 9 clubs have conceded more than the Gills 32
- Bolton have only lost 1 of their last 12 home league fixtures (0-2 by Oxford) and have won 7 of them, 4 in the last 4 games.
- Bolton have won 8 of their last 9 league matches and conceded just 2 goals in the process. The other match in that run saw a 1-0 defeat.
- The Gills are win-less in the last 7 meetings with Bolton (5 defeats) and last saw victory against them in May 1987.
- The Gills have scored more goals away in the league than Bolton have scored at home however the hosts have conceded 20 fewer goals, the fewest amount in the division.
- In Bolton's 20 league games, 14 instances saw a clean sheet (9 - the most in the division) or a blank sheet (5). There have been just 4 in Gills games (1 clean sheet).
- Bolton's 3-2 FA Cup win was only the 2nd time they had scored 3 or more goals in any of their last 46 games (1 in 39 league games). The Gills managed it 7 times in 46.

8.01 Kick-Off [ 4 - 3 - 3 ]

8.15
GOAL! Bolton 1-0 Gillingham: Madine
Bolton have been ahead in the league the most of any side (796 minutes) and are unbeaten when taking the lead (10 wins, 2 draws).

8.29
GOAL! Bolton 2-0 Gillingham: Vela

8.40
Bolton have a goal ruled out for offside.

8.47
Half-time 2-0 (46:01)
Bolton have won 9 and lost 0 of the league games they led at the break whilst the Gills have won 1 and lost 3.

9.03
The second half kicks off.

9.23
GOAL! Bolton 3-0 Gillingham: Madine

9.37
GOAL! Bolton 4-0 Gillingham: Ameobi

9.52
FULL-TIME 4-0 (95:07)

Position: 17th
Attendance: 13,861 (223)
Referee: Scott Duncan

[gillsfan1066]

I get so excited when I see us playing teams like BOLTON WANDERERS, seems almost like a Cup Final, which cup I don't know but after all it was only like five or six years ago Bolton were in the top flight so I am going to pretend that there still there just to make a cold snowy Monday more exciting.
As for the final score if we came away with a point I would be very happy, a win would make me say what a great manager J, J, JE, JE, JED ,..... Glasgow is, (dam thats hard to say) , but as I believe were more likely to get thumped than win I will save singing my praises of this great manager until 9.45 pm your time Monday night.
GGGGOOOO GILLS.

[lidbid46]

Looks really tough on paper so exactly the kind of game where Gills go and win!

[Kent_UckyFriedGills]

A very tough game,and it`s live on TV.I hope the performance is there and we can nick a point up there.I will be watching on a Sky one day pass this evening.

[gillsfan1066]

Spineless squad managed by a guy who was in the running to be " Manager of the Month " ,hahaha , great combination, ............bunch of pukes.

[bunburygills]

It was on here live at around 3am so I recorded it and watch it at lunchtime. I thought their playing style was better than the last two games I've seen them play in but they were beaten by a far superior team. A well organised team with a very potent attack. When they went forward they always looked dangerous whereas when we went forward it mostly ended with a weak shot or header straight into the goalies hands. We had a fair amount of possession but only in our own third or out on the wings, not where it counted. I thought Thomas was very strong and held the ball up well. His distribution was pretty good too, which makes me wonder why he's not playing up front at CF and laying the ball for the likes of Cody to run on to. There didn't look as though there were any really bad players, just players that didn't look really good. I think our position in the league tells the whole story really. That's where we deserve to be. I still haven't seen a win on tv yet.

[Rimshot]

Just proof that we are not very good.

There are a lot of fans who like Ehmer and he's got some footballing skills but he is a complete stranger to the notion of marking. The big guys, JET and Nouble, should never be played in the same side. Each drifts in and out of the game looking for the chance to do something individual and outstanding. You can have one but not both in my view.

Konchesky is a busted flush. He always relied on pace and aggression to compensate for lack of skills, now he only has the latter.

GOING NOWHERE !!

[gillsfan1066]

GOING NOWHERE, GOING NOWHERE....., you listen here young man, were heading for a 12th, 13th, 14th, place finish in the Third Division, under a manager who was almost " Manager of the Month " for October, and were looking good at having another run at winning the KENT CUP , what more do you want ??

[Kent_UckyFriedGills]

I think you have to hold your hands up at times and admit when a side is better.We didn`t help ourselves for their goals we didn`t play to the whistle,then gave Madine a free header in our box.They had quality on the ball,but my only complaint would be we made it easy for them to score.Ameobi`s belter was really well taken,but we didn`t close him down before.Even without the defensive side being poor,I think Bolton were a class above us last night.Clough,Madine,and Vela were a handful all night.I do agree with the commentators that we didn`t play that bad,on another night we would have got something somewhere.We did keep the ball well,and had a few neat moves.Our best chances were Hessy`s looping header that went just wide,and a Cody shot that was also just wide.MOTM was Nelson for 3 or 4 decent saves to stop it being 5 or 6.I think most of us had wrote this game off,but we need a result v MK Dons before some more tough games over Christmas.

[CadburyMan]

You are pretty accurate in your summation Ken_Tucky. What I don't understand is if other teams can close down when they don't have the ball; can move into space after playing the ball then why can't we.

When I was involved in junior football we had a couple of things we always tried; when you lose the ball get back and defend our own half and we had a simple mnemonic when we had the ball. -- CLPM

CONTROL
LOOK
PASS
MOVE

Its not really that difficult. -- is it????

[bunburygills]

I agree with all the comments and that Bolton had better players. However, look at the premier league where Leicester went 4 up against a better team, Man. City. What about Bournemouth with a team bought for 4 million pounds beating multi million pound Liverpool. I could go on and on. What I'm getting at is that you have to play to the strength of the players you've got. This of course comes down to the most important person at the club, the manager. I know I'm talking without having been at the games, but I just don't see Edinburgh as the answer. We need to find the next bright young thing and hang on to him for a couple of years. How about trying out a newly retired Premier League player who's just finished his tickets and still has contacts with the top clubs. Maybe pick up some of their under 21's who can't make the grade at that level. Worth a try.

[gillsfan1066]

Something I have been a proponent of for years, were an hour away from West Ham, Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea, Fulham, Watford, Palace, QPR, OK an hour might be a stretch, but surely Scally could not have pissed off all those owners in the past, could he ??
I look at teams like West Ham Utd, they have THIRTY TWO PLAYERS in their 1st team quad, reserve teams , under 23 teams , and I assume the other 7 teams I have mentioned have at least 30 + players in each First Team Squad ??
I can not help but think if your 23 and your not playing in the First Team or at least in the reserves then your chances of making it "big time" are getting pretty thin on the ground, but your chances of being a real good GFC player must look pretty good, or am I just seeing this all wrong ??

[Garawa]

Are you saying Gillsfan that we should be getting in players from the likes of West Ham? Firstly we can only get them if they are released. Secondly we can't bring anyone in on loan now until the window opens again and when it closes, that's it. Thirdly Scally is good friends with the West Ham owners who lean't us Pask and he was rubbish so isn't being played! Considering how rubbish our defence is that's saying something!

[gillsfan1066]

London's Premier League teams must have 20 players each that have been with them for several years playing reserve and under 23 footie, I would think most of those players would give their left nut to get out and play first team footie for a team like Gillingham. I am sure the team would be happy for us to pay the players salary, I am sure there not on million dollar a year salarys , so why can't we bring three or four of them in each time the transfer window opens ??
I read all about our wonderful academy, who playing for the Gills NOW came up through that system, and I don't count Hessy Jnr in the mix ??
Every time I bother to read other First Division teams game reports there seems to be a goal scored by some " on loan player " , have they all got a better scouting system than we have ??
I was reading about players that come to England from Ireland and go to Manchester United , Manchester City , Arsenals Academys and then after a couple of years are released and go and end up playing for some Irish Premier Team where the highest paid player earns 40,000 a year, and the average pay is less than 20,000 a year, and they play in front of 3 or 4 thousand fans on a good day, are you telling me that the team we put on the grass each week could not sign one or two of these guys that spent two or three years at Manchester or Chelsea learning their trade , I bet they would be better than what we have got now ??

[bunburygills]

This is twice in one week that 1066 and I have agreed on something.This is a worrying trend, but I think what we say makes absolute sense.