Gillingham have made good use of their substitutes to impact games in the early weeks of the season – something boss Mark Bonner highlighted this week.
Bonner agrees that substitutes – or game-changers as some managers like to refer to them – are having a bigger impact on games nowadays.
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As pointed out by Bonner this week in his pre-match press conference, seven of their nine league goals have been scored by players called into action from off the bench.
It’s an area where Bonner feels the better teams hold the ace cards.
The Gills manager, whose side face Notts County today, said: “We’ve started games relatively well in the main. Seven of our nine goals have come from substitutes, so we’re finishing games and their impact’s been excellent. We need to continue that.
“I think games are longer. There was a 100-minute game at the weekend (when the Gills beat Tranmere).
“Ball-in-play time’s higher with the introduction of multi-ball. Five subs has made a difference. You see more subs at half-time than ever because it gives you your fourth opportunity to make subs.
“Concussion subs allows you to make even more if you use them.
“There’s just more subs than ever and certainly when you’re in stronger teams, you’ve got more players that you can put on the pitch to make a difference.”
Jayden Clarke and Marcus Wyllie came off the bench last weekend for the Gills, adding fresh energy and ideas, the pair combining twice to finish Tranmere off with two late goals.
George Lapslie came off the bench to score the winner at Morecambe.
Bonner continued: “I think teams are really well-coached. I think the access to statistics, data, analysis is more than it’s ever been. Going into games, teams have good plans to go against each other.
“Usually, from half-past four until ten to five is the most important 20 minutes of the week because it’s when most games are won or lost.
“By then, most game plans are out the window because changes have been made. That is the most important 20 minutes of the week, really.
“Therefore, the impact that those players can have is absolutely huge.
“Some of our games we have had players come on and chased a game and helped us win one and some have helped us hold on and hold games out. We’ll need both of those situations.
“Those that start the game have got to start strong and get us in a good position. Those that finish the game have to be ready and do their job properly.
“I think it shows the strength of the squad that our subs are having such an impact because in some occasions we can make changes that others can’t and haven’t got the strength to do.”
It’s an on-going battle throughout the 90-plus minutes that Bonner enjoys, making changes and tweaks to try and outmanoeuvre the opposition, because Saturday afternoons are rarely straightforward.
He said: “Of course, yeah, we want to score first, be 3-0 up at half-time and win 5-0 every week. Well, slap yourself around the face because that’s not the real world.
“Games are really hard, really low scoring and winning games is really, really difficult.
“We want to score more goals than we’ve scored so far, but we’ve done all right. We want to concede less chances and goals than we have so far, but we’ve done all right.
“We want more possession than we’ve had so far, but we’ve done all right.
“We are in this sort of relentless pursuit of points and progress at the same time.
“We’ve chopped and changed the team all season. Picking up points when we’re learning and changing teams all the time is absolutely brilliant. Hopefully at some point during the season we get a bit of a settled formula and we can become the dream team that everyone wants to be.
“But in the end, it doesn’t really matter how you do it, you’ve just got to do it.
“Time will tell whether we get there or not and learning and development isn’t linear, it doesn’t go from good to great, it’s usually up and down and good and bad and a bit of a rollercoaster.
“I’ve probably said this a few times, most people in football are on the rollercoaster, and I have to make sure I’m watching it.”
