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FOM BLOG: ATTENDANCES, PLAYING BUDGET, LACK OF SQUAD DEPTH, AND STEVE LOVELL

This is going to come across as a list rather then A Match Report, and given that I was infuriated with the manner of the defeat on Saturday afternoon, I think I will go through my mini check list and see if anyone agree's or disagree's with the viewpoints I will put across. DECLINING ATTENDANCES Gillingham's Attendances are declining, In our previous home match against Coventry City, The Attendance was 4,880 and the attendance today was 5,246, However, AFC Wimbledon brought 963 supporters with them, meaning that Gillingham only had 4,100 supporters inside Priestfield Stadium For A Home League Game On A Saturday Afternoon, And Gillingham always got 5,000+ home supporters for A Saturday League Game and The Away Supporters would then top the attendance up to 5,500, or over 6,000 if we're playing a local team who are bringing over A Thousand Supporters To Gillingham. I think one of the reason's why the support is declining is just how stale things are at Gillingham Football Club, Our Ambition is to remaining In The Third Tier Of English Football and I have no problem with consolidation and looking to build things slowly over a lengthy period of time, but if we're building over a lengthy period of time, what is Gillingham's Football Philosophy, Do we have a clear picture on the football we're looking to play, on the type of player we're looking to sign and how are we going to progress, because just to stand still you need to be looking forward and League One is getting harder and harder every season, Rotherham United, Wigan Athletic and Blackburn Rovers all bounced back into The Championship at the first attempt and Sunderland and Barnsley look very likely that they are going to be there or thereabouts at the end of this season, and the gap between League One and The Championship is getting wider and wider, The Premier League is The Super League Now, And The Championship Is Now The Premier League, But the third and fourth tier's of English Football are still the third and fourth tier's of English Football, and that financial gap is only going to get wider and wider. Another reason for the declining attendances is that some supporters who might have come and watched Gillingham play are now watching the likes of Ebbsfleet United, Maidstone United, Dover Athletic, Dartford, Chatham Town, Faversham Town, Sittingbourne and Hollands & Blair FC, You can stand and move around the ground in Non League Football, Match Admission Prices are cheaper and more affordable, matches are more local in The County Division's if your looking to go to away games, and buying tickets for Gillingham Home Games has not exactly been easy, The Phone Line is always busy and I am not sure how good or how bad the online ticketing feature is (KFG Can comment on this) But not everyone is comfortable buying online and would instead prefer to buy over the phone. There are also some of the continued problems, lack of parking spaces around Priestfield Stadium, Supporters who would prefer to stand and watch football being unable to stand, I know Block 4 In The Rainham End see's supporters stand, but having a designated standing section would be a huge benefit, the atmosphere would improve with a unreserved standing section towards the back of The Rainham End, and the atmosphere would then help the players out there on the football pitch. LACK OF PLAYING BUDGET Over the summer, Steve Lovell retained many of our first year pro's and second year scholar's, With Tom Hadler, Louie Catherall, Finn O'Mara, Ryan Huckle, Jack Tucker, Aaron Simpson, Ben Chapman, Darren Oldaker, Bradley Stevenson, Navid Nasseri, Henry Woods, Elliott List, Leroy Hlabi and Noel Mbo all being offered contract extensions, When your keeping hold of fourteen young players, your looking to have as much squad depth as possible - because there is No Emergency Loan Window Anymore - But Steve Lovell is clearly working with a limited budget and we're clearly hoping for two or three young players to step up and make it into The First Team and we're hoping to try and develop two or three more players like finding the next Bradley Dack, and if we're giving Fourteen Young Players Professional Contracts, then we're hoping that many of them can make it into The First Team, But there also likely to sign on for cheaper wages, because these players are young and they are looking to develop there career's with The Gills, and unfortunately, we just do not have the resources to sign six or seven proven established League One Players with hundreds of league appearances under there belts. Over the summer, our signings can be split into two camps, Barry Fuller, Dean Parrett and Callum Reilly are all proven players, where as Josh Rees, Brandon Hanlan and Regan Charles-Cook are all players we have taken a chance on, Connor Ogilvie has also just re-signed on loan, and there is the possibility - and I have no reliable sources and this is only my own personal opinion - But Tottenham might have covered all of Connor Ogilvie's wages while he is on loan at Gillingham Football Club and Connor Ogilvie is essentially like a free signing, But Connor Ogilvie is our only loan signing and Gillingham haven't really used the loan system to our full advantage, perhaps that is because Gillingham were offered young players with no league experience on loan and Gillingham already had plenty of young players on there books with limited league experience. You could make the case that maybe Steve Lovell could have released four of five of the young players listed above and sign two players of better quality with the wages that we managed to free up, Or we could have signed players that we currently do not have in this squad who would of been beneficial for The Gills (Example: Natural Wide Wingers) But I do think that the playing budget has been cut in the summer and that might explain why Scott Wagstaff and Lee Martin both left The Gills and we retained so many young players, with the hopes that we can develop these young players and see if we can sell them on for a profit. Now Steve Lovell does know The Charlton Youth Team Very Well, after all, we did sign Regan Charles-Cook and Brandon Hanlan, and maybe Steve Lovell will look at Charlton Athletic's Academy and say to any promising young player - COME TO GILLINGHAM, And you will get game-time, Because I am sure that Charlton Athletic will be pushing for promotion into The Championship, and they have let many young players go over the summer, and if we have got someone in Steve Lovell who has worked with these players previously, he might be able to tempt more young players from Charlton Athletic to sign for Gillingham, I know this comes across as developing other teams players, but good contacts with Youth Team Clubs and enticing young players released by Premier League and Championship Clubs to sign for Gillingham can only be a good thing, especially if we can find another John Egan. STEVE LOVELL This Is Now Steve Lovell's Sternest Test As Gillingham Manager, two wins from two against Accrington Stanley and Burton Albion, But since then, defeats against Walsall, Sunderland, Barnsley, Portsmouth and AFC Wimbledon, with draws against Coventry City and Millwall, I think when we saw the fixture list, Gillingham had a tough start to the season, however, Today's Match Against AFC Wimbledon was the start of a run of league fixtures which would give us a true reflection on what Gillingham will be playing for this season, that's why the defeat is so concerning, Losing to Barnsley, Sunderland and Portsmouth is disappointing, but they will be in the top six this year, But A Home Defeat Against A AFC Wimbledon Side who barely avoided relegation last season shows that we could be in for another difficult season this season. And Steve Lovell has got to find a system / formation which works, playing Conor Wilkinson, Tom Eaves and Brandon Hanlan up-front left the midfield trio of Callum Reilly, Josh Rees and Mark Byrne with too much running to do, and without Billy Bingham in the side, there was no natural defensive holding midfielder in the starting line up, and then in The Second Half, Luke O'Neill and Elliott List came on to line up as wingers, but we still had one substitute left, why not bring on Noel Mbo or Darren Oldaker and look to go for it for the final ten minutes of the match, OK, If the substitution didn't pay off and Gillingham still lost then fair enough, you tried to make a change and it didn't come off, But Gillingham have got three substitutes and we really need to use them. Last Season, Gillingham struggled at home, and that is because our midfield four of Jake Hessenthaler, Callum Reilly, Mark Byrne and Lee Martin were not the quickest, But they were solid if not unspectacular, and I think our midfield without the likes of Billy Bingham, Regan Charles-Cook and Dean Parrett is really lacking, and Steve Lovell is perhaps lining up with three strikers because he hasn't got the strongest of depth in midfield, So we either look to sign another midfielder to come in and freshen the team up, or find another way of playing which works, which isn't fantastic, but helps Gillingham to pick up points, all be it, in a unconvincing fashion. I think it's too early for any talk about sacking Steve Lovell, And I am hoping that Steve Lovell can turn things around and start to win a few more football matches, because a change in manager means fire-fighting against relegation and we go through the same circle, It would be ideal to have a long term managerial appointment, especially when the finances and resources are limited at best, But Steve Lovell needs to start picking up results and picking up results quickly, starting with Rochdale Away On Saturday, Because the defeat to Rochdale saw Ade Pennock get the sack last season, Another Defeat like that one, could well see Steve Lovell share the same fate, and I don't think anyone wants to see that happen. LACK OF SQUAD DEPTH Navid Nasseri, Connor Ogilvie, Noel Mbo and Darren Oldaker and Goalkeeper meant that Gillingham had a very inexperienced substitutes bench, Still, we should have used our third and final substitute, even if it didn't come off in the end in-terms of Gillingham Getting A Result, But With Billy Bingham, Dean Parrett, Regan Charles-Cook, Gabriel Zakuani and Josh Parker not in the squad this afternoon, Our lack of squad depth really was highlighted this afternoon, and as much as Steve Lovell kept saying how happy he was with the squad during pre-season, secretly, I think Steve Lovell would like to add 1-2 players to the squad who can add a bit of experience to this Gillingham Side, and looking at the available players on the free agents list, Nigel Reo-Coker, 34, and Jan Kirchhoff, 27, would add some valuable experience to this Gillingham Midfield, And if we're looking to play with natural out and out wingers, then Kazenga Lualua, 27 and Peter Whittingham, 34, are options, all four are ambitious options in-terms of free agents, and most likely beyond our pay-grade - which is another problem in itself - But we cannot keep playing Elliott List, Brandon Hanlan, Josh Parker and Luke O'Neill out-wide because we didn't consider signing a winger in the summer. I think developing our young players and looking to develop them into decent footballers who could be sold on for transfer fee's which keeps Gillingham Football Club in a more secure position financially is the way to go, But I do think that Steve Lovell was looking to bring in a few more players with more senior first team experience who can help what is a very young squad, The Sell On Fee For John Egan (Which Is £800,000) is likely to go into the clubs coffers and we look to keep ourselves a float, the drop off in attendances will likely see this £800,000 cover the costs of declining attendances and all the while the attendances drop, the playing budget is cut, which means relying on more young players, which means they are going to be inconsistent and need time to develop, and we may well not be able to afford those players that amount of time, because Gillingham are involved in a relegation battle, and we go through to constant circle of hiring a manager for fire-fighting, rather then looking to stick with a manager for the medium to long term, And I do believe that Steve Lovell is the right manager at the helm, But results need to improve quickly, and we have got some very important league fixtures coming up in the next month or so. HOME FORM P4 W1 D1 L2 F5 A7 PTS4 - Sunderland scored four of the goals we conceded in one game, But Gillingham have not kept a clean sheet at home, and Gillingham scored three goals at home against Burton Albion, One Against Sunderland and One Against Coventry City, trying to improve on last season's home form looks like it is going to be very difficult, But what is very concerning is that Gillingham were superb away from home, and our away form is P3 W1 D0 L2 PTS3 OK, Barnsley Away was tough and Walsall look like they are going to be this season's surprise package, But we have got some very concerning issue's that need resolving as soon as possible. What are your thoughts on this ???

#Gillingham #Football #SteveLovell #LeagueOne

FOM BLOG: STEVE LOVELL FOCUSES ON RETAINING YOUTH

Hello Everyone, I hope everyone has had an enjoyable summer, England participating in The 2018 World Cup In Russia certainly helps cure the boredom for us football fanatics where three months of the off season and no football matches to go to on A Saturday means that football withdrawal symptoms start to kick in for football supporters who love there ritual of following the team they support up and down the country on A Saturday Night or A Tuesday Evening, Transfer Rumours and Speculation, who your club sign’s, sells or manages to keep hold off becomes increasingly important as manager’s start to shape there squads for The 2018 / 2019 Season, and with The Permanent Transfer Window slamming shut before The Premier League and Football League Season Starts, there is perhaps less time available for manager’s to bring in the necessary reinforcements in time for August The Fourth - However, Football League Clubs still have until the end of August to make minor adjustments to there squads, Because The Loan Window is still open for an additional month.

However, In this blog, I am not focusing on the players Gillingham have signed or hope to sign before The Transfer Window Slams Shut, Instead I am turning my attentions to the several promising young players who Gillingham have managed to retain for The 2018 / 2019 Season, Because Steve Lovell has offered many First Year Professional’s and Second Year Scholar’s either one or two year contracts, for the most part, one year contracts have been offered and accepted, and below are the list of players who have signed on the dotted line.

https://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/news/2018/june/hadler-extension/

Twenty One Year Old Goalkeeper Tom Hadler has signed A One Year Deal.

https://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/news/2018/june/finn-signs/

Nineteen Year Old Defender Finn O’Mara has signed A One Year Contract Extension.

https://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/news/2018/may/nasseri-extension/

Twenty One Year Old Attacking Midfielder Navid Nasseri has signed A One Year Deal.

https://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/news/2018/july/oldaker-new-deal/

Nineteen Year Old Attacking Midfielder Darren Oldaker has signed A One Year Contract Extension.

https://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/news/2018/may/list-signs-new-deal/

Twenty One Year Old Winger / Striker Elliott List has signed A Two Year Deal.

https://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/news/2018/may/mbo-signs/

Nineteen Year Old Striker Noel Mbo has signed A One Year Contract Extension.

https://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/news/2018/january/pro-deals/

Centre Back’s Jack Tucker and Ryan Huckle have signed A Two Year Deal and One Year Deal Respectively, While Midfielder Henry Woods has signed A One Year Deal, the above article mentions that Jack Tucker has signed A One Year Deal, However, https://www.kentlive.news/sport/football/football-news/proud-mum-thanks-gillingham-fc-1096944 - this article suggests that Jack Tucker has signed A Two Year Deal.

We’re also waiting on official confirmation that Goalkeeper Louie Catherall, Seventeen, Left Back Aaron Simpson, Eighteen, Defensive Midfielder Ben Chapman, Nineteen, Attacking Midfielder Bradley Stevenson, Nineteen, and Striker Leroy Hlabi, Seventeen, all sign contract extensions with Gillingham Football Club, Now if all five players sign on the dotted line, and Gillingham Football Club have confirmed that this is a formality and we should get an official announcement over the next week or two, then those five mentioned above along with Tom Hadler, Finn O’Mara, Navid Nasseri, Darren Oldaker, Elliott List, Noel Mbo, Jack Tucker, Ryan Huckle and Henry Woods means that Gillingham will have fourteen youngsters under contract for next season for the most part, while Elliott List and Jack Tucker have both agreed two year contracts.

https://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/news/2018/july/trio-deals/ - Gillingham confirmed on Monday that Aaron Simpson, Ben Chapman and Bradley Stevenson had in-fact signed one year contract extensions with the club until the summer of 2019.

It is very important that Gillingham kept this core of promising young players together and let’s see what this group of young players can do for Gillingham Football Club throughout The 2018 / 2019 Season, many of our young players have had loan spells during The 2017 / 2018 Season almost like this was a pathway for there development to try and earn themselves a professional contract for this coming season, Tom Hadler (Gloucester City) Finn O’Mara (Folkestone Invicta) Aaron Simpson (Margate), Ben Chapman (Faversham Town), Darren Oldaker (Hythe Town) and Noel Mbo (Kingstonian) have all gone out on loan at different levels of Non League Football to try and gain some valuable experience of playing competitive first team football, before coming back to Gillingham Football Club stronger for that experience, and those who have gone out on loan have clearly done enough for themselves to deserve A One Year Contract Extension for the up and coming season.

Steve Lovell is giving youth a chance, and you can perhaps make the case that maybe Steve Lovell has been forced to go down this route because Gillingham do not have the resources to sign several players between the ages of Twenty Six and Thirty Two who have the quality, experience, nous and know how to be a success in League One, But it is also worth taking into consideration that once the transfer window slams shut, other then free agents, your relying on the squad you have assembled throughout the summer transfer window, there is no Emergency Loan System, and it was obviously very disappointing when The Emergency Loan System was permanently closed, but one of the positives to take out of this decision, is that football clubs are focusing more on developing there own players, and there offering more young players contracts, because you need the additional squad depth to cover for injuries and suspensions, and then there is the winning factor, supporters love to see players progress through the youth system and make there way into the senior first team squad.

But as well as the winning factor, you have got the financial and reputation factor to take into consideration as well, If your developing a player who not only progresses all the way through the age groups and make it into the first team, but they become a successful player in the first team, then eventually clubs in the higher division’s will eventually make a offer that is too good to turn down, an example I will use is Bradley Dack’s sale to Blackburn Rovers for £750,000, which increased to £1,200,000 and there is a sale on fee, however, if your a club that consistently develops young players and your consistently developing players who are sold on for profit, your club then gains a reputation for one of the leading clubs for developing players, and maybe this will entice more promising youngsters who are more willing to join your clubs academy who might not have joined previously if your club had a low reputation for developing young players.

Gillingham have certainly developed promising young players who have been sold for transfer fee’s, Bradley Dack is one player I have already mentioned above, But Jack Payne and Luke Rooney are two additional players who have come through the ranks at Gillingham Football Club before earning there big money moves to Peterborough United and Swindon Town respectively, while the likes of John Egan and Luke Norris have both been released by higher division clubs in Sunderland and Brentford respectively, both John Egan and Luke Norris signed for Gillingham before John Egan earned himself a big money move to Brentford, while Luke Norris was transferred to Swindon Town.

Last Season, Tom Hadler was fourth choice goalkeeper behind Tomas Holy, Steve Arnold and Stuart Nelson and Tom Hadler has had to go out on loan and play for Gloucester City before getting his opportunity to make his full debut for Gillingham against Blackpool and Tom Hadler goes into The 2018 / 2019 Season as Gillingham’s Understudy Goalkeeper to Tomas Holy, Finn O’Mara made his debut for Gillingham against Blackburn Rovers as a substitute, coming on to replace Mark Byrne in The Fifty Ninth Minute in Gillingham’s 1-0 away defeat at Ewood Park, and Finn O’Mara then started for Gillingham against Portsmouth which was live on SKY and the young defender played twice for Gillingham In The Football League Trophy against Colchester United and Reading’s U21’s respectively, But it was while Finn O’Mara was at Folkestone Invicta where he was getting valuable experience playing competitive first team football in The Ryman Premier Division, and The Folkestone Invicta Supporters I spoke to back in February were singing Finn O’Mara’s Praises, And with Ben Nugent moving on, there is the highly likely possibility that Finn O’Mara will be Gillingham’s Fourth Choice Centre Back Next Season.

Ben Chapman played ten times for Faversham Town while out on loan last season, I am sure we all remember when Ben Chapman put in that fantastic performance against Ipswich Town in pre-season last year, Ben Chapman made two substitute appearances for Gillingham against Reading and Colchester United in The League Cup and Football League Trophy Respectively before making his only starting appearance for Gillingham against Reading’s U21’s in Gillingham’s Final Group Game, The challenge for all of our young players who have been offered contracts is to see if they can make more appearances for Gillingham’s First Team throughout The 2018 / 2019 Season.

Aaron Simpson started two of Gillingham’s three group games in The Football League Trophy - and came on as substitute against Southend United in the opening group game - The Nineteen Year Old Left Back was third choice behind Connor Ogilvie and Bradley Garmston last season, But with Connor Ogilvie returning to Tottenham, Aaron Simpson goes into this season as Gillingham’s Understudy Left Back, and with Bradley Garmston having a stop / start campaign for Gillingham Football Club Last Season, there is the likelihood that Aaron Simpson will get more game-time for Gillingham Football Club throughout The 2018 / 2019 Season - But I am also hoping that Bradley Garmston gets back to his best and that Bradley Garmston has an injury free campaign this season.

I would say that Darren Oldaker is Gillingham’s highly rated youth prospect, The Nineteen Year Old Attacking Midfielder made eight appearances for Gillingham last season, scoring twice against Reading’s U21’s in that crazy 7-5 win for The Gills, and Darren Oldaker also came on as substitute for Gillingham against Charlton Athletic at The Valley and put in a very assured performance in midfield as Gillingham held out for a 2-1 away win, and what a win that was for The Gills, towards the end of The 2017 / 2018 Season, Darren Oldaker signed for Hythe Town on loan, where he was scoring goals on a consistent basis, and that loan spell for the young midfielder should stand him in good stead for the up and coming season.

League One is a fantastic division for young players to showcase there ability, get the necessary experience of playing competitive first team football on a week in, week out basis and you only have to look at The England Squad In The 2018 World Cup to see there are young players who gained experience in The English Lower Leagues, Jordan Pickford (Carlisle United) Harry Maguire (Sheffield United) Dele Alli (MK Dons) and of course, Jamie Vardy, who was playing for Fleetwood Town In The Conference National back in 2012.

In Steve Lovell, Gillingham have got a manager who will give young players a chance, and it is up to this core of young players to show what they can, A Core of young players that I am genuinely excited about, because this group of youngsters looks very promising and I do believe that one or two of these promising youngsters can not only force there way into Gillingham’s First Team, but ensure that they keep themselves in Gillingham’s First Team as well, Which players force there way into the first team, only time will tell, But I think we as supporters can be very enthusiastic about this core of young players, because Steve Lovell has given them an opportunity and this group of young players are going to grab that opportunity with both hands.

#Gillingham #SteveLovell #Football

FOM BLOG: Adrian Pennock, Steve Lovell and Jamie Day Appointed At Gillingham

With The Expected Announcement officially confirmed around 7PM on The Fourth Of January that Adrian Pennock had been appointed as “Gillingham’s Head Coach” and Steve Lovell and Jamie Day have joined Gillingham as First Team Coaches, I thought it would be an sensible idea to write down my thoughts and opinions on there appointment, an appointment which was made just over twenty four hours after Justin Edinburgh had been relieved of his managerial duties, and a appointment which made me put My FOM BLOG for The Oxford United Game into the rubbish bin, Justin Edinburgh wasn’t the only person to leave Gillingham Football Club on Tuesday Morning, as Assistant Manager David Kerslake, and First Team Coach Wayne Hatswell also moved on, and Adrian Pennock was favourite for The Gillingham Job on SKY Bet very quickly prior to his appointment.

I had initially denied The Rumour of Adrian Pennock coming to Gillingham, but once I heard this Interview with Paul Scally on BBC Radio Kent - https://twitter.com/BBCKentSport/status/816562979688878080 - and more specifically, other alternatives and a team of coaches, it started to become clearer throughout the day that Gillingham weren’t going to appoint a manager, but rather a team of coaches, this lead to plenty of speculation with Nicky Southall, Stan Ternent, and Ian Hendon all being mentioned, coaches who all have had previous roles with Gillingham in the past, and of course, Dennis Wise was mentioned as well, but mostly it was staff who had previous connections with Gillingham who were being linked to the job, whether that is because we were re-defining The Managerial Role to A Head Coach Role, or Manager’s didn’t want to take The Gillingham Job in the middle of the season, I couldn’t say for sure.

Then, around 7PM, We Heard The Official Announcement that Adrian Pennock had been appointed as “Gillingham’s Head Coach” and Steve Lovell and Jamie Day have joined Gillingham as First Team Coaches, we as supporters could finally react to the news, I think it is fair to say that the reaction to this announcement wasn’t encouraging, and I will admit that I have, and still have, many reservations and concerns regarding this appointment, but I will be there at Boundary Park supporting Gillingham away against Oldham Athletic, hoping that The Gills can pick up three points in a match we have to win, as Oldham Athletic are bottom of League One with nineteen points from twenty four matches.

I liked the idea of A Head Coach working with A Team Of Coaches, the idea was intriguing, very interesting and with the right personal, I thought this would not only be a inspired managerial appointment, but also a unique appointment as well, rather then replacing one manager and his coaching staff, with another manager and his coaching staff, I had my own question marks over the personal we have brought in to go with the change of managerial structure.

Adrian Pennock was a real fans favourite at Gillingham Football Club, as A Player, Adrian Pennock made 168 appearances in a Gillingham Shirt, before injuries led to Adrian Pennock retiring from the professional game, a spell with Gravesend & Northfleet followed, which saw Adrian Pennock combine playing and coaching duties before starting his first managerial position with Welling United, before moving to Stoke City as First Team Coach and then promoted to Assistant Manager under Tony Pulis’s reign at The Britannia Stadium, in 2013, Adrian Pennock was appointed as Forest Green Rovers Manager, initially securing a top ten finish in The Conference National before securing back to back playoff position finishes, Fifth in 2014 / 2015, and Second in 2015 / 2016, however, after the The 2015 / 2016 season ended, Adrian Pennock was sacked, and there is this very interesting article which explained why Adrian Pennock had to go here: http://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/forest-green-rovers-opinion-ady-pennock/story-29189337-detail/story.html - which is well worth a read.

However, Adrian Pennock has No Football League Managerial Experience, he may well have coached underneath Tony Pulis at Stoke City in The Premier League, and had stints as Manager with Welling United and Forest Green Rovers, but one of the first things I saw on Social Media, and the first thing on the tick list for Gillingham’s Incoming Manager was A Proven Track Record in League One, which is why Kenny Jackett and Steve Cotterill were constantly being mentioned, as they have achieved success in this division, all be it with clubs with large resources, but nonetheless, they had The CV’s and the experience required to be inspiring managerial appointments, Adrian Pennock may well be A Fans Favourite, and a exceptional coach, but that lack of experience in League One, having just seen Justin Edinburgh relieved of his managerial duties at Gillingham is very concerning.

But while I have question marks regarding Adrian Pennock’s Appointment as Head Coach, Steve Lovell returning to Gillingham Football Club is fantastic news, as Steve Lovell was part of The Gang Of Four prior to Justin Edinburgh’s Appointment which steadied the ship after Peter Taylor had left the club, and Steve Lovell is a highly respected coach, and the players were gutted when Steve Lovell left the club in the summer and it is great to see him back again - http://bromleyfc.boards.net/thread/664/gillingham-sack-edinburgh?page=2 - Bromley Supporters speak very highly of Steve Lovell’s work at Bromley as Assistant Manager, and I don’t think Steve Lovell should have left Gillingham in the first place, so I am delighted that Steve Lovell has returned to Gillingham.

At Thirty Seven, Jamie Day is the youngest of the three coaching appointments and the least experienced, a difficult time at Ebbsfleet United sandwiched two spells with Welling United, the first as Player / Manager, and in his second spell, Jamie Day was doing a very good job at Welling United, a job he could have had for a long long time, but you cannot blame Jamie Day for making the jump into The Football League, as Jamie Day may well regret not taking the chance if he looked back and regretted not taking a coaching role at Gillingham, as the chance to move into The Football League From Non League Football doesn’t come around often.

I don’t think this managerial trio is the end of the coaching appointments, because I think there will be a experienced coach who will come in to work alongside Adrian Pennock, Steve Lovell and Jamie Day, I think we will find out later this week, or the start of next week, if there will be a experienced coach brought into the football club to work with our new coaching staff, but I do think that someone will come in to provide Adrian Pennock, Steve Lovell and Jamie Day with bit of knowledge and know how.

But that person won’t be Andy Hessenthaler, who will be given The Director Of Football Development Role Job - A Role that Andy Hessenthaler succeeded in during The 2012 / 2013 season, and a role that suits Andy Hessenthaler perfectly, as his passion for the club saw Gillingham convince Deon Burton, Myles Weston, Adam Barrett and Stuart Nelson to sign for the club, and if Andy Hessenthaler can get players with Proven League One Experience to sign for Gillingham in The January Transfer Window, then one or two marquee signings could given us as supporters some inspiration, to make up for the lack of enthusiasm for our current managerial appointments.

Andy Hessenthaler being given The Director Of Football Development Role hasn’t been officially confirmed, but we can expect a announcement over the coming day’s, all in all, this appointment is no-where near who Gillingham Supporters wanted to see, or expected to see appointed as our New Manager, there were calls for A Experienced Manager to come in with a proven track record in League One, and unless a experienced coach is added to this trio, then there is a lack of Football League Experience amongst Adrian Pennock, Steve Lovell and Jamie Day, and that is obviously our main concern, however, the fact that this is only a deal until the end of the season also suggests that this could be a stop gap appointment before Paul Scally either makes another change, or, this is a incentive for Adrian Pennock, Steve Lovell and Jamie Day to impress over the remainder of The 2016 / 2017 season to extend there stay at Priestfield Stadium.

Now for the positives, all three have worked in Non League Football, and considering that Gillingham have missed out on Alfie May at Hythe Town and Harry Smith at Folkestone Invicta, Jamie Day and Steve Lovell will be able to recommend players they have worked with at Welling United and Bromley respectively to sign for Gillingham, and if all three are still at the club in the summer, we may well see Gillingham go back to arranging pre-season friendlies in The Kent Non League Scene, having played Braintree Town and Billericay Town in Essex in the summer, friendlies which were difficult to get to on A Tuesday and Wednesday Night.

I was very disappointed with our Summer’s List of Pre-Season Friendlies, Brainteee Town, Billericay Town, Dartford, Barnet and Leyton Orient, Dartford was The Only Kent Non League Ground we went to in pre-season, and many supporters were disappointed with the lack of friendlies - just five games before the season started - the small attendances confirmed the lack of interest in these matches, so I do hope we arrange many matches against Kent Non League Sides in the summer.

But regardless of our opinions on The New Gillingham Management Trio, Paul Scally deserves a lot of credit for making a quick and decisive appointment, it is a huge regret that Justin Edinburgh has been relieved of his managerial duties at Gillingham, because everyone wanted to see Justin Edinburgh turn things around and to see Gillingham climb the table, but the manner of the defeat against Oxford United, the bizarre 3.5.2 system, the fact that Oxford United could have won by more goals, and when you throw in Justin Edinburgh’s comments about Gillingham having the fifth lowest budget in League One when Paul Scally has said time and again that this is our most expensive squad in our entire history, then there was only going to be one out-come, a out-come which resulted in Justin Edinburgh losing his job as Gillingham Manager.

In This Post - http://gillinghamdebate.freeforums.org/january-fixtures-big-month-for-gillingham-t2324.html - I said that January was a big month to define our season, Looking at these five fixtures, Sheffield United away is by far our most difficult league fixture, but it is the matches against Oxford United, Oldham Athletic, AFC Wimbledon and Shrewsbury Town which will tell us if Gillingham are going to mount a playoff push if we get a very good points return from these matches, we will consolidate a solid mid-table position, or, we're nervously looking over our shoulder after a bad run of results, and The 1-0 home defeat against Oxford United is a horrible way to start 2017 for The Gills.

January is also a big month when it comes to incoming and outgoing players in The January Transfer Window, unlike in previous season’s, there is No Emergency Loan System out-side The Transfer Window, which possibly explains why a quick and swift appointment was needed, not only does this appointment of Adrian Pennock, Steve Lovell and Jamie Day give all three coaches time to bring in the players they want to bring in, but they can work with the entire squad for a whole week before our up and coming league game against Oldham Athletic, and it is time that The Trio will need, as Gillingham will have three league games in eight days, with A Tuesday Night Home Fixture against AFC Wimbledon sandwiched in-between two long away trips to Oldham Athletic and Sheffield United.

It my final paragraph, I will look to end this article on a high, perhaps other manager’s would have seen The Role as Gillingham Manager as another job and a job that pays the bills, but because Adrian Pennock and Steve Lovell have connections with Gillingham Football Club, and Jamie Day making the jump from Welling United into The Football League, these three are going to work extremely hard to be successful at Gillingham, as all three live locally, they know the area, they know all about Gillingham Football Club and they will do all they can to push Gillingham as high up The League One Table as possible, I am not exactly enthralled by this appointment and the lack of Football League Experience does concern me, but I am hoping that this appointment turns out to be an unlikely success story and we will see Gillingham put in better performances and get the results that we didn’t see from Justin Edinburgh’s Gillingham Side at the end of his reign as Gillingham Manager.