Gills fans' anger at players

The club badge: How many of our players wear it with pride? Not enough, according to the Gills fans

Indeed, after Colchester scored their fourth goal in their 5-0 mauling of the Gills at Layer Road, the Gills fans made their feelings known. One fan put the entire side up for sale on the online auction site, eBay, and fans flocked to the various Gills message boards to vent their spleens about one of the most gutless performances produced by a Gills side in living memory.

It is almost unheard of for the Gills’ travelling support to abuse their own side, but on Saturday chants of "You're not fit to wear the shirt", "This is embarrassing", and "Sell them all on eBay" rang around Layer Road as the Gills fans turned on the very players they'd travelled from Kent to support.

Gillingham's travelling fans have a reputation for being some of the most vocal, most loyal, travelling supporters in the country, and yet they turned on their own players. I asked some of the fans who were there that day to explain just why this happened. They pulled no punches in their assessment of the team, and their feelings toward certain players.

Gills fan 'Burham' was on the Layer Road terraces on Saturday and he couldn't believe what he experienced.

"They say there's many a true word said in jest and one of the funniest songs sung by our fans was "sell the squad on eBay". Some may say that this sarcasm was over the top, but to anyone there, it would be fully understandable."

"Gillingham FootbaIl Club died that day when, in fairness, around nine players decided not to play as a team."

His view was certainly shared by 'BigRichG', who has been a regular travelling Gills fan for a number of seasons - and he told me the debacle at Colchester was the worst league performance he's ever seen from a Gills side in over a decade.

"We were torn to pieces, the midfield was completely overrun, the defence was pathetic and Byfield was given no service."

'MarkG183' was equally disappointed with the way the team seemed to crumble under the first sign of pressure, as yet again the Gills seemed to throw the towel in once they'd conceded the first goal.

"When we go behind away from home we have a habit of losing concentration and Saturday was no exception. After Colchester's excellent second goal, we just had hands on hips and looked helpless. Our players struggled to find the energy to maintain attacking play and create space. Once again the midfield was virtually non existent - our biggest problem in my opinion."

'Burham' continued, saying, "The club is in total freefall, and relegation is looking a formality as we need four teams in the league to be worse than us - and there aren't. The club currently below us, third from bottom, beat us 3-0! We can’t score for love nor money and the defence has as much mobility as a Subbuteo team."

So where should the finger of blame be pointed? Well, according to the fans I spoke to this week, it's probably easier to single out those who WEREN'T to blame.

Sean Clohessey performed pretty well in the circumstances and looks a decent prospect at right back, while Matty Jarvis and Andy Crofts were also singled out for their effort on the day, but they were the only players who were spared from the fans' wrath in their post-match post-mortem.

"Cox and Johnson were like watching The Muppet Show live, Williams did sod all, Smudge was ineffective and hauled off, Flynn was unconstructive, argumentative and can sod off as far as I'm concerned, Spiller didn't turn up and Byfield had no service. Harris was an absolute shambles when he came on and looked like a pub footballer," said a clearly upset 'BigRichG'.

MarkG183 was similarly bemused, too.

"Danny Spiller playing right midfield just couldn't adapt to the pace of the game. Spiller's marking was poor and he failed to contribute with much effective attacking work either. From what we have all heard, his off-the-field manner leaves little to be desired too and I hope he leaves in January. Tom Williams is on a bad spell of form and his execution was awful for the second game in a row."

"Bullock, Hope, Spiller, Pouton, Hislop and Flynn can all go for me. Smith needs to go back to Walsall too."

On the subject of Paul Smith, his return to the club is one subject that seems to have united the majority of Gills fans. The former Gills skipper left the club in the summer after turning down a new contract, but his move to Walsall clearly hasn't gone well - and he has since returned to Priestfield on loan. But according to the fans, it seems Smudger's dominating performances from centre midfield of years past are now a distant memory, and the general feeling, both from the fans I spoke to and those on the various internet message boards, is that he's not up to the job and shouldn't even be at the club.

"Paul Smith was slow, ineffective and shouldn't have been on the pitch, never mind as captain. We don’t need him at the club and I feel Mark Saunders is a better option, both as captain and player," said 'MarkG183'.

Smith was hauled off early in the second half after an ineffective display ended when the excellent Greg Halford left the clearly-ageing midfielder for dead before lashing the ball into the top corner. The TV footage of the goal showed just how off the pace Smith now is at this level - and as well as being booed off, they were accompanied by shouts of "Rubbish!” and “Send him back to Walsall" - an opinion that seems to be shared by the vast majority of Gills fans online, many of whom have been staunch supporters of Paul Smith in seasons past.

Goalkeeper Tony Bullock was praised in some quarters for his second half performance, which helped keep the score from hitting double figures, but the fans I spoke to were of the opinion that Bullock's erratic goalkeeping certainly wasn't blameless in the manner that Gillingham fell behind in the first place.

According to BigRichG, "Bullock got some praise on the message boards for making a number of good late saves, but when he gifted Colchester the first goal it was all over anyway, so the late saves are irrelevant. He was too slow off his line and then got the angle all wrong for their first goal."

One thing is for sure, the fans have clearly had enough of the players. The overwhelming view, both among the fans I've spoken to and those who contribute the online message boards, is the current crop of players aren't fit to wear the blue short of Gillingham FootbalI Club - and something must be done about it as soon as possible. Many have advocated dropping them completely and replacing them with youth team players until the January window opens, as at least the fans know the youngsters will give their all.

The last word goes to the fans - and the two comments below are a fair representation of the fans' views of one of the worst performances ever produced by a Gillingham side.

"None of this is acceptable to a set of fans that love this club and follow it up and down the country. Almost a third of the crowd on Saturday were Gills fans, and they showed passion and commitment to their club. Did they deserve the humiliation they were given? I don't think so." - 'Burham'

"There was no team spirit, no movement, no tracking back to help each other out, no effort from some players, no confidence, no heart, no imagination, no strength, no guts and no shame." - 'BigRichG'

With two home games coming up in the next week, the players have one almighty debt to pay the club's fans. One thing is certain, they will no longer tolerate players who don't care and don't give 100%. The players owe the fans, and the club, some big performances between now and the New Year.

Only time will tell if the players can win the fans back. A gutsy performance, and a win, against CarIing Cup giantkillers Doncaster Rovers would certainly be a start.