By Stefan Bennett
It started so well. By the end of September 2024, the Gills were sitting pretty at the top of League Two with six wins and a single draw and a single defeat from our opening eight games. It was the kind of start that we had hoped for and many of us expected with the squad we had on paper.
Just a month later at the end of October and it was a very different story as The Gills had dropped to 11th without a win since, a draw and five defeats. We had seen this the season before. We had a fantastic start which gave us a lot of hope for a successful campaign and hope for promotion but it has just gone from bad to worse and now we are in free fall.
Saturday’s trip to Barrow was a game which many feel has really defined our season. The players just are not performing and since John Coleman came in to steer the ship until the end of the season after Mark Bonner was relieved of his duties, it is even more evident that the problems run deeper than management. This is a crisis, Gillingham Football Club are now in a relegation battle.
The loss at Barrow has become the final straw for many. Being a member of various Gillingham fan groups, the fan base is certainly divided with fingers being pointed in all directions for who we feel is to blame for this mess. The same names of players always pop up in the discussions. Many feel club captain Max Ehmer is a huge part of the problem, with a verbal altercation between Ehmer and some supporters in The Rainham End at the last home game against Grimsby Town not helping the relationship between captain and supporters. However, many supporters have defended Max Ehmer and claimed the comments aimed at him are unfair. My view is that a captain should show desire and leadership on the pitch and unfortunately, I have not seen that from Max Ehmer in a very long time. He is someone who has the fans split.
There are players at the club that came with a good reputation and are arguably on decent wages and have not shown much since they arrived. We are a team that fails to deliver on many of the core basics of a professional football team on a pitch. We struggle to put a run of passes together. A lot of poor decision making. Leaving lots of space on the pitch for opposition players to exploit. Very little to no creativity, which shows when none of our forwards are having much to work with. All of this accumulates into confidences dropping. And in this game, supporters do turn on the players. We brought in some exciting young talents on loan in the January transfer window and although early days for them, it looks like the likes of Agbinone and Morgan are already showing signs that they’re going to struggle in a team that just isn’t working for each other.
To see how divided our fan base is shows that no one can really put their finger on where the problem lies. And as with many, fans turn on each other. I have seen the blame placed on John Coleman. I have seen the blame placed on Max Ehmer. I have seen the blame for this weekend’s defeat at Barrow placed on young Sam Gale. But then you see more and more names being thrown in. One that stands out once again is the recruitment, though this is nothing new as many supporters have been mentioning this for some time and that a change is needed. This is a view that I do share also.
What I do find difficult is seeing the blame aimed at the owners, Brad and Shannon Galinson. Comments that they are out of their depth, that they have made poor decision after poor decision. I feel that is unfair. They’re still fairly new to the English football world. I do think they may have been a little naive and I do believe they have been poorly advised by the wrong people. But I feel their passion and I feel their determination to get this right. I do feel they will, however will that come whilst we are fighting to win promotion back to the Football League from down in the National League? Because that is a real risk and possible reality. It is fine to say it won’t come to that, but at this moment in time, I cannot see where we start winning games from. We can’t score goals, that has been an issue for a while. It can be argued that the level of forwards we have been bringing in just aren’t of the calibre required. This is an issue in which the Galinsons may have to dig deep to get sorted.
With the post-match comments from John Coleman making it clear that he feels the players aren’t putting the effort in like they should, the best case scenario at this point is that we survive relegation this season and clear out the squad in the summer. But it may well be a summer that could prove to be very expensive for the Galinsons because we need better than what we have had. The next manager needs to be the right man. There is little room for error and another season like this cannot happen again.
We are in a crisis. The Sleeping Giant is in a coma.
Stefan Bennett is a Gillingham season-ticket holder in The Rainham End, a fan for more than 30 years and a former club steward.
