Gillingham manager John Coleman hopes Tuesday night’s upturn in performance is the beginning of better times ahead.
The Gills boss was heavily critical of his side after a 3-0 defeat at Barrow last Saturday but the players responded in the right way, going to league leaders Walsall in the week and picking up a point after a 1-1 draw.
Robbie McKenzie equalised for the Gills after the hosts took a fortunate lead early in the second half.
Coleman knew there was a danger his harsh words could have had a negative impact on the team, but trusted his judgement and got the right response.
He’s now hoping they can get the win everyone craves when Gillingham host Crewe Alexandra this Saturday.
Coleman said: “You have to take that chance but you have to believe what you’re doing is right. You have to do it your way and not be somebody else. I’ll never be somebody else.
“I’ve got where I am today by being honest, by saying it as it is, not trying to sugarcoat things.
“If things are bad, I’ll say they’re bad. If things are good, I’ll say they’re good. I’ll never get too high and I’ll never get too low.
“I bounced into work on Monday morning and I’ll bounce into work this week as well.
“That was a step in the right direction but there’s still a lot of hard work to be done.
“We can’t just stop it at that. We’ve got to ramp it up even further on Saturday and we’ve got to continue doing that.
“We still haven’t won a game since I’ve been here and that’s very, very disappointing from my perspective. I want to win games of football. I’ve been doing it all my life and I’m not going to stop at this age.”
The Gills are without a win in 10 matches and Coleman has overseen three draws – all away from home – and three defeats since taking charge.
Coleman was also critical of himself after last weekend’s loss.
He said: “The players have come in for a bit of stick this week and off me on Saturday but I’ve got the prerogative to do that. The first person I look at is myself.
“I criticised myself after the game on Saturday as well. It wasn’t just a case of, ‘oh, it’s all their fault’. I take lots of the blame because I’m the manager of the football club.
“I’m here to lead them. I’m here to motivate them. I felt I’d failed in my duty last week and so they had to be told.
“I don’t mind sharing it with anyone. People say you keep that in the dressing room. Sometimes you can’t keep that in the dressing room and sometimes you’ve got to own up to your own failings.
“I’ve never, ever shirked away from that. I know what I can do well. I know what’s made myself and Jimmy (Bell, assistant) a good management team over 28 years.
“I know what I can do well and I know what those players can do well.
“They responded in the right manner. Not just from what I said to them, but from what other people have been saying on social media as well.
“The result [on Tuesday] was immaterial. I know where we are and I would never take that for granted, with our position in the league, but I needed to see a response. They needed to feel a response from themselves so that was more of a feelgood factor for our players.
“It’s a clean slate for everybody and we have to move forward as a unit. We’ve got to get everybody pulling in the right direction in the football club. That’s what makes successful football clubs and hopefully we will now get that.”
