[ 12 Aug 17 ] GILLS v Bradford Match Thread

[Garawa]

- The Gills are unbeaten in 7 against Bradford (3 wins). The last 2 were draws and were preceded by 3 wins in a row.
- In 7 visits to Priestfield, Bradford have only scored 3 goals (including a winning one) whilst the Gills have scored 10.
- Bradford not only conceded the joint fewest fouls (463) in League 1 last season but won the most (610).
- Bradford have won 9 of their last 12 league games (excluding play-offs) and lost only 6 out of 28 (which came in their last 15 away games).
- The Gills received the most yellow cards last season (107) but Bradford had the fewest (49) and were the only side not to see a red.
- Despite finishing 5th, Bradford were behind for the least amount of time in League 1 last season (587 minutes), an average of 12.8 per game.

15.01 Kick-Off ( 3 - 4 - 1 - 2 )

15.20
GOAL! Gillingham 0-1 Bradford: Poleon
The past 2 seasons the Gills have won 20 and lost 9 of the 41 games they scored first in but Bradford won 39 and lost 4 out of 51

15.46
Poleon somehow curls a soft effort wide from an open goal.

15.50 Half-time: 0-1 (48:00)
Bradford recovered from half time deficits to win 2 and draw 3 over TWO seasons. LAST season @TheGills recovered to win 3 and draw 3

16.07
The second half kicks off.

16.36
Red Card! Conor Wilkinson (Gillingham) is sent off for a reckless challenge.

16.57
Tom Eaves has a goal ruled out for offside.

16.57 FULL-TIME 0-1 (98:02)

Attendance: 5,267 (521)
Position: 18th
Referee: John Busby
Goal Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71NDOxTv1Ws
BBC Match Report: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40834868

[Kent_UckyFriedGills]

It will be good to get to Priestfield for the first time this season on Saturday.We have battled well in the two games so far,but hopefully we will get off the mark on the scoring front and get our first three points.We kept Reading at bay for the majority of the match on Tuesday,so defensively we`re doing well.

[gillsfan1066]

Problem is few teams get promoted with GF 20/ GA 40,lol.

[baronnight]

Our strikers need to earn their keep on Saturday, the defence have been doing their bit in protecting our goal, now the strikers need to share the load by peppering the opposition goal.

[gillsfan1066]

One point from a possible six, played the last 15 minutes of todays game with 10 men,out of the League Cup, not exactly the sort of start I had hoped for in our chase for Championship football next year. Buck up Mr. Pennock and your boys ,to be the best you have to beat the best.

[Rimshot]

Three games no wins is slightly worrying, three games no goals is a real concern. Also take a look at how a half hit shot beats Holy a yard and a half inside the post. This guy is rubbish, goes down like a sack of King Edwards.

[Kent_UckyFriedGills]

I thought we gave it a good go,but at the moment you cannot see us scoring many goals.We had two shots on target which is a concern at home.I think we were set up too defensively for a home game.Once Wagstaff came on with Nash for 5 minutes we looked likely to score,which we did in the last minute but it was ruled out for offside.Bradford looked a well organise side with a bit of quality going forward.Reeves looked the pick of the bunch for me.Their goal looked like it would come as they had a good bit of pressure just before.How Poleon missed his second i`ll never know! A mistake by Ehmer let him through,he rounded Holy only to hit it wide.A big let off.Parker missed from close range for us,and Wright`s header was wide.Going down to 10 men didn`t help.It looked a red card for Wilkinson as it was the intent even though he never touched their player.I don`t see any appeal working.

Another game with no goal,we need to make subs earlier in games,and need one to go in off a player`s backside.Defensively we look strong,but going forward is a concern.Zakuani was my MOTM as he won everything in the air.

[gillsfan1066]

I can not believe you people ,Holy is a GREAT keeper just ask Andy Pillock, (better make it quick, six or seven more losses and he gone) he plays him while we have a keeper sitting in the stands waiting to be sent to what Maidstone on a cheep transfer ?? That will leave Holy as our only "real" keeper, haha, I wonder if maybe Mr Pillock should sit in the stands next match and actually SEE what Holy is like,obviously sitting at field level clouds his view.
Could someone, ANYONE tell me why you would bring on Wagstaff and Nash in the 89th minute, all that did was give Bradford more time to organise themselves, pointless move Pillock,pointless.

[baronnight]

I don't understand why our strikers are so scared to have a shot at goal, Connor had several opportunities and failed to take a shot.
If we could just start scoring things could start looking good, the defence has certainly improved, bar one who needs replacing, even Holy looks better than Nelson in my opinion, for the goal he was unsighted, blocked by the man who should have been out closing down not un-sighting the keeper, but I've already said one defender needs replacing. There are positive signs, we just need develop these sooner rather than later.

[gillsfan1066]

Already five points behind the leaders in the division,sitting in 18th place in the table, does anyone REALLY think that Gillingham have the right manager, what the hell, he took over last season and managed 4 WINS in 24 games , and we gave him a contract, only conclusion I can come to is he must work for peanuts, and Scally likes that. ?

[Garawa]

One defender needs replacing? Looks he has today then with Nugent coming in!

Gillsfan, last season was exceptional in what he had to deal with so we have to draw a line under it. He has started from scratch and is building a side from the ground up. 1 goal conceded in 3 games is very decent but when this happens, it often comes at a cost of scoring - it's happened so many times. Not conceding gives a platform to win games, it WILL come, but for Pennocks tenure it will be how long it takes. He needs to pick a couple of wins very soon and get some goals on the board. We haven't been far away though. How Zakuani missed against Doncaster when the keeper pulled off a point blank save I don't know. Parker and Byrne fired wide against Bradford when it seems easier to slot home and Eaves had the ball in the net having been marginally offside so we aren't that far off but we can't go much longer without getting a few. Especially as they got their scoring eye during pre-season.

[gillsfan1066]

Seems odd that Oxford and Peterborough and and 16 other clubs above us seem to have " worked it out" maybe Peter Taylor and Pillock couldn't get it figured out, OH I forgot PT was off looking after the England under 12's or something ,and Pillock was just happy to get a new contract, guess he spent the summer in Margravitaville.
He had TWENTY FOUR F'ING GAMES under his belt last year TWENTY FOUR and he won FOUR, yeah thats the guy I would have given a new contract to, hahahaha , yeah right,give me a break,another clueless manager that will be gone by Christmas if he can 't figure it out and he won't.
Lets bring back Pillock the players will respect him. Yes Sir he will tell them he played for Norwich and Bournemouth and played a 168 games for Gillingham and he bleeds Gillingham Blue when he cuts his face shaving in the morning, and do you know what the players will say, WHO THE **** CARES.
Most of them were ten years old when he was playing and the had never heard of Gillingham,they were growing up supporting and dreaming of playing for Manchester United, or Liverpool or Spurs
My bet is we don't win a League One game in August, but I sure do hope we do, because if we don't it will be last season all over again, and we might not be as lucky as we were last year.

[Garawa]

The ones you mentioned have done their rebuilding though and are now seeing the reward for it. He couldn't rest or bring in players during the season so we were stuck with what we had. Our re-building was then carried out in the summer with the repair work done so it is NOW when it begins for us. Of course, we can give AP 10-15 games and then sack him only for the new guy to have similar issues to AP and the rebuilding work begins all over again next summer.

[gillsfan1066]

OH stop it, every year you say the same thing, wait wait wait Scally will get it right the manager we have got is the man for the job. When are you going to face the truth Gillingham have done NOTHING in over a hundred years and since we came down from the championship division when was that in 2003, 15 seasons ago SCALLY HAS DONE NOTHING for Gillingham Football Club.
He could have any number of managers come to Gillingham, Rowett, Steve Cotterill, Lovell, Micky Adams , but no we got Pillock because he works for peanuts and will do what ever Scally says.
Year after year the same old same old RUBBISH dished up week in week out, what the hell did we do to deserve this ??