Experienced manager John Coleman admits even he’s in uncharted territory as he tries to keep Gillingham out of relegation trouble.
The Gills suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Fleetwood on Tuesday night to extend their winless run to 13 games. They host second-from-bottom Morecambe this Saturday in a game they daren’t lose.
Defeat on Saturday would see the gap to the drop zone close to just six points.
“We’re putting ourselves into a relegation fight that we should be nowhere near,” admitted Coleman.
“I’ve got to take responsibility because I organise the team. I have to take the blame and the players have got to shoulder the responsibility.
“I’m seeing a lot of effort, but I’m seeing stupid things occur. Things that shouldn’t happen on a football pitch but are happening on a regular basis. That’s up to me to stop it.
“I’m thinking, ‘Where’s my next win coming from?’
“There has been an increase in tempo, an increase in effort. I think we played some really good football [on Tuesday night]. We played some good passing moves that got us in [on goal] but you’re judged on the results.
“It’s no point improving the style of football and improving the endeavour if the quantifiable currency in football of winning games or scoring goals is not there. You then have to take the rap for it. I’ve got to take the blame for it.
“I’ve never had any of my teams do this. So I’m scratching my head myself.”
Gillingham had some big chances on Tuesday but only managed to score once. The club’s been beset by scoring issues for several seasons.
“The chances that we miss, it’s just not good enough,” added Coleman.
“We have to go with these players again. This is the squad we’ve got until the end of the season. We’ve got to try and value them and keep working hard with them and encouraging them.
“It’s difficult because sometimes you want to be hard on them but you don’t want to send them under.
“I think they need support. They’re definitely going to need the crowd support on Saturday, that’s for sure.”
The Gills – who started the season geared towards a promotion charge – have been on a downward spiral since the end of September. They head into the weekend sitting 19th in the table.
In the last five months the team have managed just three wins and in that time on only one occasion have they managed to score more than one goal in a game.
Coleman’s taken charge of nine games after replacing axed boss Mark Bonner, with five draws and four losses.
He said: “We’ve got to fight and anybody who knows me knows I’ll fight. I’ll back my players as well. I’ll throw myself under the bus for any one of my players.
“We’re all in it together. I know there’s a winning team in there. I’ve just got to coax it out of them as best I can. That might be by tough love. That might be by putting an arm around them. I know they’re a winning team.
“There’s really, really good players there. We’ve just got to make the most of them on Saturday and make it our day, believe it’s going to be our day. If we work hard enough I think we’ll get what we deserve.
“I just think that they’ve lost the habit of winning and they’ve lost the feeling of how it feels to win.
“I’ve been doing this the best part of my life, 45 per cent of my life. I’ve been winning games. This is totally alien to me.
“For my own sanity, I’ve got to get back winning, let alone for the position in the club itself.
“We’re all in this together. I’ve got to organise this team to win a game of football. Mark my words, I will.”
