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The confidence factor

Last updated : 07 October 2008 By PNGill
Football is a team game and football players are very prone to varying confidence levels. In my estimation the Gills have never recovered from that 7 - 0 pasting that they got from Shrewsbury - it left them with their collective confidence completely shot, In the circumstances, what team wouldn't be affected!

I was very surprised that, barring injuries and suspensions, MS persevered with the same team of under-acheivers since that Shrewsbury debacle. I read WelshGill' appraisal of the players at Exeter on Saturday, on the Gills Connect website, and it is obvious that there is a low-esteem problem. It is so naive not to recognise this. In my estimation there are some particularly low-esteem players that need a rest if only for their own good. On paper, we have one of the largest squads in this division, and the cover is there for a purpose - not just in case of injuries. In the old days we had a reserve team that was playing nearly as many games as the first team, and there was a constant trickle of players between one and the other.

All successful teams are made up of a blend of youth and experience. When the team is down/ despondent/ low in esteem it needs at least one player, usually it is the older head to stop, take stock, clap his hands and shout encouragement to the rest of the team and then lead from the front. Remember Hess! I don't see anyone in the current team capable of motivating his team-mates through the bad times. The captain should be the prime leader on the pitch - but like many other writers I am sadly disappointed with our current captain.

So it is up to us the Gillingham supporters to be the proverbial twelfth man. We all remember what the 'Kop' meant to Liverpool, what the 'Stretford End' meant to M.U. I know that it's not the same since the abolition of terracing but I was warmed to notice some chaps standing up, holding their arms out and singing at the very back of the Rainham End towards the end of the Grimsby game. Chicken and egg question - what comes first. We need the excitement on the pitch to motivate the crowd, they need the crowd to motivate the players. But I have seen times when the Rainham End have virtually sucked the ball into the net with their collective enrthusiasm. So we all need, the team needs, Gillingham Football Club needs constant, blatant, blind, enthusiastic verbal support from the Rainham End and all sides of the ground. Let's do our bit to make Priestfield rock - so that it can become a rock for the Gills.

An Introduction: A New Member: PNJGill.

Allow me to introduce myself as I will be joining the community from this week. I have supported The Gills since 1964, the last years of Freddie Cox's era. Those were the days when we held records for unbeaten runs - of 1 - 0 wins. I remember when the run ended 0 -1 at home to Exeter City when a long punt freakishly bounced over the otherwise great John Simpson in the Gillingham goal.

Since then, I, along with many of you, have seen the Gills through many dire seasons, up and down - some better bits and then upto the heady Championship days. Something unthinkable in the Ashurst/ Summers days.  I have been a ST holder for many years, in the past, but now live in Brockdish, on the Norfolk/ Suffolk border so only manage a few home games and the occasional away encounter.

I have been monitoring Gills365 for some time so are familiar with some of you. I believe that there are already some members in the Norwich area?
My concern of the current regime is that although we have seen it all before i.e. Basil Haywood (1966 - 71) came in from a non-league club, Bedford Town; and then brought in half of the Bedford team. The present team seems to be lacking any goal scoring ability.