Six Questions we asked a Gillingham fan

Did you miss me? ‘Six Questions we asked a … fan’ makes a return for the high profile fixture away at Gillingham.

I’ve spent many hours searching for a Gills fan to talk to this week, hence the lateness of this article. But luckily for me Matt from the ‘Gills In The Blood TV’ got in contact to give me the lowdown on what’s going on in Kent under Lincolnshire’s favourite man.

1) How would you rate the Gills’ start to the season? Strong points and weak points.

I think we are probably a clinical striker away from being a really competitive League 1 outfit.

Overall I think the squad is better than in the previous couple of campaigns, but goals win you games and at the moment we are probably taking too many chances to convert.

Defensively we’ve been decent enough on the whole, the only real disasters being Oxford away and Rotherham at home. For a new group put together in the summer the two words I still think sum us up are promising and frustrating.

2) How has Steve Evans fared since taking the helm?

He’s clearly not won us as many games as he and us as fans would’ve wished for at the start of the campaign, but aside from the two games already mentioned I think he’s made us a lot more competitive in matches than we’ve been over recent seasons.

Those are the only two league games we’ve lost by more than one goal, which indicates to me that we are much more resolute than in previous years.

His wish for a proven striker in the summer never came to fruition though, and at the moment that – along with some of his bigger names signings not getting going as we’d have hoped – is perhaps hindering him and us slightly.

3) Have you noticed a different style of play since the departure of former star man Tom Eaves in the summer?

At times we’ve played some really good stuff, knocking it about quickly and incisively and getting ourselves into some really good areas.

As I’ve already said though, unfortunately some players who came in with good pedigree have not been quite at it, and that coupled with the lack of a front man who can score out of nothing is still holding us back a little.

We aren’t a million miles away in my opinion, we can change up how we play depending on different opposition and game situations, but sometimes I still feel we revert a little too quickly to long ball when things aren’t going our way.

4)What are your thoughts on Lincoln City?

As I mentioned in our match preview video, I think you are certainly a team that is currently in transition.

You enjoyed enormous success in under the Cowley brothers, but with them leaving and Michael Appleton coming in it was always going to take a while for him to put his stamp on things and the players to get used to a new set of ideas and methods.

I think with the squad at his disposal you’ll be absolutely fine this season, but in terms of challenging at the top I think all the changes will make that very difficult.

5)Who are the danger men that Imps fans should look out for?

If Mark Marshall can replicate his performance from in the week then he could prove difficult to keep quiet, and with a goal in the same game hopefully Alex Jakubiak – our current top scorer – can also cause your backline some problems with his pace and trickery. Further back Connor Ogilvie has been generally very solid at centre half, and in goal Jack Bonham has got better and better as the campaign has gone on.

6) How can you see the game panning out? Score prediction?

I think the respective league positions indicate it will be a tight affair and I cannot see either side running away with it. I am going to go for a hard fought 2-1 win for the Gills.

Once again, thanks to Matt from GITBTV for taking the time to talk to us. For any opposition thoughts post this afternoon’s game, or maybe you just want to try and learn a bit more about Gillingham, you can find them on YouTube as well as other podcasting services.