Gillingham are back on their travels which gives the manager another chance to build on a key area of importance.
Gareth Ainsworth sees player bonding as a source of strength for his team, and with a trip to Salford this Saturday followed by a midweek game at Chesterfield, there’s plenty of time to get the groundwork in now as he looks ahead to next season.
Ainsworth said: “I remember when I played, I knew a lot about my team-mates and I’d go to the wall for my team-mates because I knew about their family, their friends, their histories.
“If you get those bonds, they are really the things that you want to play for. Sometimes you’re like, ‘I’m in it with you because I know about you’.
“Some of the best bonds aren’t football talk, it’s different talks. On the training pitch, they have to do that, they’re paid to do that. We’re talking about connection, leadership, communication, but when they’re off the pitch, if we can leave the players to bond and get to know each other, I think you get a real good team.
“I’m a big fan of the military sometimes and they really delve deep into each other and what they’re about and mistakes from their teams. That’s life-threatening.
“Mistakes from our team and it’s about not getting three points on a Saturday, but I still want that same connection between the players. I can’t demand it but hopefully it’ll come and it’ll organically get stronger and stronger.
“There’s little things we’ll do which I keep in-house. We have little moments and development days, we call them. It’s not football, it’s different stuff and that bonds the players better, I believe.
“I’ve always believed that will create more success on the pitch.”
Ainsworth’s already observed the team during the trip to Harrogate and back last weekend.
“On the bus, they’re a lively bunch,” he said.
“I’ve been on buses before where you hear a pin drop and it’s not good, it’s trepidation and a little bit of nervousness and not connected.
“On our bus, you can hear the boys laughing and cheering at the back. I haven’t had a defeat yet, so I’m hoping it won’t be that jovial coming home sometimes when we need to reflect.
“But I like them connecting, I like them being happy. I’m all about energy and positivity and if the boys can show that while they’re away together, again, I believe it gives us bigger bonds on the pitch and the fans can be proud of us.
“They’re a good group, they really are.
“I think the modern society with the social media, the mobile phones, the very insular times that you can sit around a table and six people will be sat on a table and nobody is speaking, they’re all looking at their phones. We’re trying to open that up and make them team-mates.
“We don’t want to change them as people, but just make them aware of what’s out there, what they could be and what opportunities come around. We’re constantly working on the culture.
“I’ve come here to change the culture, I’ve come here to change what Gillingham was and has been for a couple of years. It’s not been terrible but it’s not been what they could be. I’m here to hopefully get them that.”
