Gillingham manager John Coleman says it’s time the players started to repay the fans.
Coleman’s had an extra week to work with the players before his first game in charge after last weekend’s match with Fleetwood Town was called off because of a frozen pitch.
Doncaster Rovers are the visitors this Saturday (12.30pm) and Coleman hopes the supporters can start to see a difference.
He said: “It was frustrating last week, everyone was geared up for it, and I think the fans were as well. I just hope they’ll retain the enthusiasm.
“We’ve had a little bit longer to work with the players. It gives you time to think, to digest things.
“I’m a bit like a caged animal. I want to get out there and I hope the players are like that as well.
“Things aren’t going to happen overnight but I think the fans deserve to see some shift in the mentality of the players.
“I’m not having a go at the previous management here, or the ones before them, but I think the players have got a duty to start standing up for themselves, standing up and being counted and repay the fans back what they deserve.
“Money’s tight, people are choosing to spend the money to see us. It is an entertainment business. The least they deserve is to see people running around and showing passion and desire.
“Hopefully we can show signs of an improvement and I’d like to see us attack more and score more goals and make more chances.
“It’s everything I want to see is a fan, although I’m not a fan, obviously. But deep down I am. I want to be enthralled, I want us to excite them and I want them to excite us.
“I can’t wait for Saturday to come.”
Coleman’s enjoyed being back training a side for the first time since he left Accrington in March last year.
He said: “When you’ve done it for so long, it seems to be like riding a bike, you know, you get back on it quite quickly.
“I found that with training this week, picking up things, watching things, stepping in now and again to make my point, looking at games, trying to analyse where we can do better, where we’re doing well, so it’s not all doom and gloom.
“We’ve got 23 games to really try and set our mark, our identity onto how we want to play.
“I need to see progress. I need to see a style of football that excites me, that enthralls me and that is high energy. If players aren’t prepared to do that, they won’t be playing.”
