Striker Sam Vokes made his much-anticipated debut for Gillingham on Tuesday night but his on-field role isn’t the only way he’s impacting the team.
The former Wales international is going to play a big part for manager Gareth Ainsworth this season, whether he’s playing, or not.
At 35, Vokes showed his game intelligence by helping the Gills play keep-ball to see out a 4-1 win over Chesterfield and he’s also been offering his input behind the scenes.
“Sam Vokes is a quality player,” said Gills manager Gareth Ainsworth.
“To have him at Gillingham is a real coup for us and I think he showed some quality.
“What the fans don’t see is Sam sitting down at half-time talking to my right-back about the opposition and what he could do better, or talking to Josh Andrews after the game and going through his clips and saying, ‘I would have done this here.’
“I think Josh Andrews will become an enormous player for this football club and have a great career but I think Sam Vokes is that mentor as well as that good player, and we’ve brought him in for that.”
Vokes broke his arm at the end of last season while playing for Wycombe but Ainsworth wasn’t concerned that the big striker would be missing pre-season.
The 35-year-old kept up his core fitness after joining the Gills in the summer and took to the field as a substitute against Chesterfield on Tuesday night, replacing Andrews who had run himself out of energy.
“He had some good touches,” commented the Gills boss.
“I think he’s going to get some goals, but again, we’ve got to be very careful with him because he’s getting on a bit.
“I’m sure Sam will admit as well, he’s probably not up for 90 minutes every week, but we’ll do it right. My sports science team will manage him well.”
A lack of leaders has hindered the Gills for some time.
Back when Neil Harris was manager, he spoke about the lack of leadership just before he was sacked. His successors encountered the same issues.
Now the Gills seem to have finally tackled the problem, with Bradley Dack also offering himself up as a leader of men.
“There’s a couple of them,” said the Gills boss.
“Bradley’s making that transition. He loves the game, he loves this football club, and we’ve had plenty of chats about how his role will look.
“I pulled him aside on Monday and said, ‘Look, this (game) isn’t one for you, you’re not going to start this one and he was like, ‘yeah, it’s your decision’.
“But to have him on at the end to be part of it was fantastic.
“Him, Sam Vokes, the two older heads in the group there, and then obviously Glenn Morris just casually gets on with his job all the time.
“We’re trying to develop this leadership group, this team that will drag the rest of the dressing room with them. That’s how I work, that’s how I want to do it, and I’ve always done it like that. To have those two is great.”
