With the current supporter unrest that has been widely reported I thought I would share my views on the current situation at Gillingham FC.
The current situation at the club has been coming for a while as most fans will agree with. There are many aspects that can point to the apparent downfall of the football club including relegation, ITV Digital and also the inability to clear the dead wood from the current squad.
The Chairman, as it has been widely reported, has cited ITV Digital as one of the main reasons for the financial situation at the football club. Whilst this is one reason why the club is where it is, any fan will point to the fact that many other clubs are coping much better with the collapse of ITV Digital and ask the question - why are we struggling?
One answer appears to point to the apparent overspend by many millions on the Medway Stand which is widely reported to take up most of the club’s overdraft facility. My personal feeling is that whilst the conferencing facilities were a good idea it has ultimately been to the detriment of the current playing squad.
In my opinion, the focus should have been on carrying on the initial investment we saw under Tony Pulis in the playing squad. We saw players such as Asaba and Bob Taylor come in and fire us up the leagues - and since their departures we have really failed to find a striker who can perform week in week out for a full season.
The players just seem to go through the motions on the pitch and this has certainly angered many fans who pay good money to watch inept performances. The fans have stood by and watched the team deteriorate over the last season and a half and have clearly had enough and this is seen in the team being put up for sale on eBay. Whilst it has gathered the club some much needed publicity it has been for all the wrong reasons.
Many fans, myself included, are backing Ronnie Jepson and his plans for a clearout of the playing squad in January and hope that he can instil the never say die attitude that has been lost from the Gillingham team over the last few seasons.
We can not blame him for the recent result away at Colchester United as he has inherited a squad that he quite clearly wants to change and we can not judge the man until he has the squad he wants to work with. I think the key period for judging Ronnie Jepson’s performance as manager will be between January and the end of the season.