Well, after a fortnight or so of silence and little activity, it seems the Gills are ready to set about the serious business of building their side for the coming season. Gills chairman Paul Scally told the press yesterday that the club will be making TEN signings in the coming weeks – and if you consider Neale Cooper’s comments about having a fully-fit squad, the chances are the club will want to get their chosen targets signed sooner rather than later in order to give the new boss a full pre-season with the entire squad.
There are currently half a dozen out-of-contract pros at the club – and I’d venture to suggest that three or four of them will be at the club next season.
Cooper has already stated that he’d like the skipper to stay – and one would think that Smith would prefer to remain in Kent, where he is settled, rather than upping sticks in search of a final contract. Assuming his contract expectations are realistic, I think Smith will be at the club next season. The manager can’t have failed to be impressed with Mark Saunders’ attitude and commitment to the club – and I think he’ll be offered another year. Saundo has sacrificed his holiday to get 100% fit in time for the start of the season. Cooper’s punishing physical early pre-season plans may not hurt Saundo quite so much, as the midfielder is likely to be in pretty good shape by the time the squad hits the training ground in the next few weeks. Ian Cox is the other certain signing, as I see it. Coxy has the pace, the strength and the class to be one of League One’s top centre halves – and I can see him being a big player for us next season. Unless he opts to move to a Championship club (and there could well be a few interested clubs), I’d expect to see Cox in a Gills shirt next season.
The future of the remaining players is less certain. Nicky Southall looks the most likely departure of the senior pros. We’ve seen quotes from his agent in the press this week, suggesting there are plenty of clubs interested in Trigger. I don’t believe him. Nicky’s form since he returned to the club from Bolton could be described as patchy at best – and his quality on the ball seems to have regressed from his earlier stint at the club. He’ll need to raise his game considerably next season to convince the fans (and the manager) of his worth. I believe he’d benefit from a move elsewhere, as he may find himself lower down the pecking order under Cooper.
Another player in a similar position is Barry Ashby. In truth, League One will probably suit his game far better than the Championship. Ash excels against big target men, but struggles against the smaller, nippier strikers, so the more rough and ready style of League One should prove to Ashby’s liking. Whether Cooper will opt to keep both Ash AND Cox, as well as the under-contract Chris Hope is less certain. We’ve no young centre halves at the club after letting Dean Beckwith go earlier this summer – and that may well be an area Cooper will look to strengthen in the coming weeks. Ashby is a strong character with bundles of experience, but may miss out to accommodate a younger defensive signing. He’s the one ‘on the bubble’. While I believe Southall will leave, with Ashby, I think it could go either way.
Finally, Bertrand Bossu has worked hard since joining the club, but sadly doesn’t seem to have that strength of character and self-confidence needed of a goalkeeper at this level. I’d expect to see him released to pursue his career lower down the footballing ladder.
That’s three or four retained (if it was my decision, only Saunders and Cox would stay, but I’m not the gaffer), which means the club will look to bring in six or seven new faces in the coming weeks. I don’t know about you, but that makes for pretty exciting news. Usually, we could consider ourselves lucky if we made ONE new signing. Now six or seven are likely to arrive at once! But where should we be looking to strengthen?
The most obvious areas are at fullback and up front. As I write this, we have one recognized fullback at the club with first-team experience, Richard Rose. We’ve signed youngster Mark Cornielle on a pro contract, but we desperately need two quality natural fullbacks. One of the reasons for our defensive frailty in recent seasons has been down to the fact we’ve played midfielders or wingbacks as fullbacks – and they’ve often been found wanting defensively. We need to solidify our defence – and with two genuine fullbacks in the side, that will certainly help.
Up front, Darius Henderson has the style and ability to be a big success in League One, but he needs a strike partner. Darren Byfield has shown to be an inconsistent player with, at times, a poor attitude. With the right application, Byfield could be a hit at this level, but I think we need a more consistent option to partner Hendo. With two strong, natural goalscorers up front, we’ll be in a position to do well next season. Goals weren’t too tough to come by last season if you look at the number of players who hit 20+ goals last season. In Henderson we potentially have one player who could score at that rate, but the success of our season will hinge on finding an equally potent strike partner for him.
If you want to score goals, you need to give the strikers service – and that brings me to another important area where we need to strengthen – out wide. We already have Matty Jarvis, who could be a potent weapon for us this season, but we need another player to operate wide on the other flank. Players like Henderson will thrive on crosses, but we’ve played very narrow in recent seasons and it’s stifled our attack. With two genuine wingers in the side, our forward line is capable of firing the goals to put us in the top half dozen. Without them, we’ll look predictable and one-dimensional going forward, as we have been for the past two seasons.
So, Neale Cooper’s shopping list is likely to include two fullbacks, a striker and a wide midfielder. That’s just four players, so perhaps, a young centre half and a creative midfielder may also be in his thoughts. With the next few weeks looking set to be very busy indeed, the rumours will be flying left right and centre. Of course, we’ll bring you all the news on who’s in and who’s out on Gills365.