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Harry Waldock stars as Gills rout The Pirates | Gillingham 3-0 Bristol Rovers · Blood, Sweat & Gills

• Simon Head: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Blood, Sweat and Jills. I am Simon Head from Jills 365. He is Matt from Jills in the Blood TV, and we are both very happy chappies right now. It is. What is the date? It is the 21st of September. We are fourth in League 2. And yeah, the league table is a liar because we haven't had 10, 12 games yet. But you can't deny the momentum. You cannot deny the momentum, and you cannot deny the smiles that are on the pair of our faces. After a really entertaining, fun, all round positive display, nothing bad to say. That's the show. Thanks very much for listening, everybody. No, Matt, seriously. ⁓ it's how nice is it to actually go into work on a Monday and anybody who knows you knows you're a Jills fan. I'm sure you get asked every time you go into work about the result and all the rest of it. And how nice is it to go in and not say, Yeah, we were we were dross again, guys. No. We're actually quite good. We were very good, to be fair. We were yeah, really good. And ⁓ yeah, it's a shame this only goes out as an audio because like you say, grinning like Cheshire Cats, the pharaohs, which is which is great. And ⁓ it's becoming the norm, which in itself makes me feel a little bit uncomfortable. But ⁓ no, we keep saying it. I think we're gonna have to shed the cautiously from the cautiously optimistic tagline because that I've said it already, I said it on the voice notes podcast, I've said it on my own show. That wasn't just a performance and a win Saturday, that was a dismantling. We systematically took apart a good side second half. And I know the second two goals came late, but we'd had chances before then. And and three for me flattered Bristol Rovers. We absolutely battered ⁓ into submission. Yeah. I and yes, as you say, three was not a generous score line for us. Robbie McKenzie should absolutely be putting us one nil up before half time. Their goalkeeper was it ⁓ Brad Brad Young, is it his name? Brad Young. Great save. ⁓ for that that was about five minutes for half time. He denied Ronan Hale. Superb first time volley. ⁓ keeper got down well, blocked it well with his feet. The header from McKenzie was I mean, how he missed the target was criminal, but we'll we'll gloss over that because the second half was outstanding and Harry Waldock gave a really good interview on Jill's TV, which I've actually written a piece on it. ⁓ today, which will go live probably by the time you ⁓ you guys listen to this, where he absolutely nails it. Like he was involved in last year's squad and he's obviously heavily involved in this year's squad. And he basically compared the two in one statement. And he he basically said, The team of last year when we went a goal up, we never felt like there was any sense of security. It's different now. We're scoring and now we're going for two, we're going for three. And that in a nutshell is the difference in the mentality of this team. And To not just win games by the odd goal and score and hang on, which used to be almost like the mantra last season. Just try and score and hang on for a for a win. ⁓ we're now scoring and looking to put the put the game to bed with a second and a third. And the three wins we've had in a row have all been by more than one goal. It's been it's been such a sea change in the way that we play. And it's, you know, testament to the fact that we've got this new squad. And the mentality of the coaching staff really seems to be shining through now. Absolutely. And I I said on social media over the weekend, we're not just we're not just nicking points and nicking games. We're we're winning games and we're winning points deservedly. We only had go back a few weeks and and we said about when we were still talking about the first win before it had come and we said it felt more sustainable, the performances felt like they had more longevity to ⁓ but until you get that first win, we're now getting the rewards of them performances and Yeah, we're blowing teams away. Good sides as well. Trammere were unbeaten before we played then. Bristol Rovers were ⁓ were second before we played. I I think I looked the other day's side, we've played four or five of the current top twelve. And you take out that fourteen minutes again against Warsaw, and I don't want to keep harping back to it, but how well did we learn from it? Yeah, it's it's been it's been interesting. Like the curve has just sort of gradually gotten steeper. As as you've gone up. We had the we had a good strong team performance on opening day, but we let ourselves down in the last few minutes. But after that, we steadied the shit with three consecutive draws against good opposition. And now we've won three on the spin. The question now is what happens next. ⁓ I did a I did an opinion piece for the site today where I'm not dropping the cautiously yet. I'm very close to, but We've been here before. We've been here many times before. At this stage of the season. Maybe we wait till November the first. We'll wait till November the first before we remove it. I think we've got six games coming up in October, which is a busy month. Let's see where we are after October. I think when we get to the beginning of November, if we are still trending upwards, if we win more than we lose, if we you know, if if if we're still blind, if we're still unbeaten by the end of October, then then you know, that's a real feather in the cap. But because we've had this sort of fast start and then the wheels come off just but just as the clocks go back, I'm just trying to ta tamper my own enthusiasm down. Just just just a smidge. Because as I say, we have been here before, but it does feel different. It is no denying that it feels different. It is a different set of players. It's a different approach to the games, that the way we're playing is different. The mentality feels different. But This is football and football has a habit of biting you in the rear end just when you think everything's going hunky dory. So we'll see how it goes. But I mean, it's hard to find much to criticise these days, right? There was I cannot think of a negative from Saturday afternoon. And and we've been here with the Rochdale game. The negative was obviously Zeke Bierrow and Will Goodwin going off. ⁓ I can't remember if we had one against Tramir. Was there an injury in that game? I guess the only one and we're really, really having to sort of search for it was was Eli King went down clutching the back of his leg, but hopefully it was just cramped. Because like you say, this team's built different and this team it's a cliche, but really is empty in the tag for Gareth Ainsworth and for us fans and and we've seen that players are literally running themselves into the ground to the point they can give no more. But yeah, it it's fun to watch like Saturday for instance The cross from Nick Freeman for the second goal, the finish from Sheldon Kendall first time is absolutely superb. Wasn't until I watched the highlights back on on Jill's TV and you realise what the build up is absolutely sensational for that goal. Ollie Wright, we're 1-0 up, game's still in the balance. Bristol Rovers have got good players at the end of the day. Puts it down, plays it to the halfway line. James Brofley goes round his man. Quick ball into Michael Luxton. Michael Luxton's only been on the pitch a few minutes, doesn't even think. First time clip round the corner gets Brofi into Moore's face, ball out wide for Freeman. And then the rest is is absolutely delicious. The cross is brilliant. The finish is even better. Like to catch that on the I think he catches it on the volley. And to find that corner where the keeper was stood is a phenomenal piece of skill from a young man who's barely played for us. And and I really hope he gets a start against Cambridge on Tuesday and gets us a more of a glimpse of what he can offer because I think he could be a real player. Maybe from the bench. For the rest of the season. And again, we know with these youngsters they're going to be peaks and troughs, and we're going to have to bear with them at times. But like you said, we've been bitten on the backside so many times. So at the same time as we're not trying to get too ahead of ourselves, we have to enjoy afternoons like that because we thoroughly dominated a good side second half. And the best thing for me, Sai, and you've already alluded to it 2 0 up, 3 0 up, people are still chasing lost causes. Look at Silla. Charging down young at 2-0, I think it was. You look at I think Gareth McCleary comes one, blocks across. Will Goodwin comes, I think, takes one in the the Misters, then blocks it again. And you could just go, ⁓ no, that can go into our box and we'll let centre halves deal with that. Not a bit of it. Still chasing down lost causes to get the third goal. I know there's been a question mark over whether it's a foul. I genuinely I wasn't sure. I thought he just rolled his man. the most blatant foul imaginable. But the difference is there. Last season we do what the Bristol Rovers players do, we stop and we wait for a referee to tell us what's going on. Not at all this year. Will Goodwin goes right, I'm gonna get up. Sheldon Kendall's on his bike, gets a bit of luck with the finish coming back off the keeper. But it's night and day compared to where we were, even at this stage last season when we were unbeaten at the beginning of last season. Performances are just so different. It's almost ridiculous. Yeah, and you know, you talked about the second goal there, which was a great build up and you sort of alluded to the build up to the third goal. I can tell you categorically, it was like an ice hockey style body check by Will Goodwin. If you want the clearest view of it, Jules have put out a they're they'd like a hard camera set up at the back of the reinamend. They've put out a video clip of all it's one clip with all three of the goals. And the ball sort of goes out of shot at points when the ball's really wide and close to the goal. But you see the challenge from Goodwin where and I will I obviously saw it from completely the opposite side because I'm in block C of the Midway stand. So I'm looking at it sort of face on. And Goodwin, the the the ball's heading straight for the head of the centre half. Goodwin looks up, sees the ball, looks up, looks at the centre half and thinks, right. And just nails him. Just absolutely nails him. Body check. Everyone in the ground stops except for two people, the referee and Will Goodwin. And as soon as ⁓ Sheldon Kendall saw that Goodwin was was running, he was on his bike as well. And you actually that hard camera shot that's on the the social clip, it's embedded in one of our stories as well. But go to the the ⁓ the Jills FC on X and I think it might be on the Instagram as well. It's all there and it's absolutely clear as day because ⁓ Reese from German Gills. said him said on on on our group chat, he I don't know, it looked like he just rolled his man. I'm no, trust me, he flattened him. And then you actually see the clip and you'll you'll watch it bang the old Blimey, yeah he did. He absolutely nailed him. So yeah, absolutely unbelievably not given as a foul. But But then again, how many teams have done that to over so over us over the last few years and it's and and we've gone, ⁓ we're too soft, we've gone to ground too early. We've stopped playing. How nice is it us to see us doing the other side of the game and being the ones that are, you know, just You know, you're making the referee make a decision and he hasn't, and you've earned a bit of luck. So I've got no issue with it. If he's swinging arms in faces, then obviously we're gonna say no, there's no need for that. But after years of being the nail, it's nice to be the hammer once or twice, right? And ⁓ Absolutely, yeah. And and and that one thing I will pick you up on, you said that the the Gillingham team of last year would have would have stopped. I don't think the Gillingham team of last year would even have made the challenge that Will Goodwin made. So I think, you know, that that 'cause Will Goodwin was like a distant second favourite to win that ball. So much so that he didn't. Right. And then like he he he got away with one. But what he did, he he he he put himself in there to make something happen. And something happened. ⁓ and you know, no no doubt about it. And ⁓ also credit to Steve Evans, by the way, in his postmatch interview. I always expect him to just use that as some sort of some sort of cr crutch to lean on. But he didn't. He criticised his team. He basically said the third goal was just something that happens. I'm not going to go into that. You know, he didn't make a big deal of it. He was more critici he was more critical of his players rather than the officiating. But yeah, it was an absolutely clear foul. But when you get given opportunities like that, you've still got to do something. And there was still a lot of work to do before the ball ended up in the back of the net and and you know the two players involved Goodwin and And Sheldon Kendall did superbly. ⁓ but yeah, just a really, really good all round team performance. ⁓ epitomized, I think, by Harry Waldock, who when I saw that he was playing in an advanced position, because he actually played in that role last week against Tramere, but we didn't really see the best of him because he had a stomach bug and he he was clearly affected by it and he ended up being subbed off in the end. But Harry Waldock was absolutely outstanding. I do player ratings on the site. And I've it's been it's been a long time since I used to do player ratings all the time years and years ago on different sites that I wrote for. So I'm still getting into the into the ⁓ the rhythm of it a little bit. But I gave Harry Waldock a nine point five in this game. I thought there were I mean, other than a goal, I don't really think what else he could have contributed to that game. He did absolutely everything. And the moment of the game for me from him, there was a long ball. I think it was Barmer there, number four. ⁓ looked like he had the freedom of Priestfield to to sort of head the ball down or do what he wanted with it. And Waldock just ran about twenty five yards and beat him to it, nipped in front of him, went all the way down the touchline and I think he ended up having a shot and the keeper made a very good save to tip it round the post. But that moment there where again a player who was a distant second favourite to win the ball just puts his puts his all into it and gets his just rewards and very nearly gets a goal out of it. But Waldock, nineteen years old, would normally be expec expected to be picking splinters on the bench ⁓ at this stage in the season. He's been thrust into the team and he is undroppable at this point, I would argue. Same as Logan Dobbs. I think they're both undropable right now. Yeah, I see something on my Facebook forum and it said, ⁓ like we've got all these players coming back. It's really exciting. And people were like, ⁓ Gordon's the only one that comes back into the team at the moment. A couple said Alborus and I'm thinking, how? How does anyone get back into this team at the moment? As good as Liam Gordon was for half an hour against Walsall, there is absolutely no justification in dropping any of the centre halves at moment. Like I said earlier, we can see you three goals in five hundred and forty minutes of football since the opening day. You simply cannot break up that back three at the moment. You simply cannot break up that midfield partnership or that triangle up top, depending on where Harry Waldock plays, because I think he's equally as good playing as almost like a a number eight or as a as a as a roving number ten. I said on my review Soy, at points he was the highest player on the pitch. At other times he was the deepest player on the pitch. And sometimes you can get a man of the match because you can say, ⁓ they've got a 90% pass completion. They've scored two goals and all their stats stack up. You didn't need any of that to decide that Harry Waldock was comfortably man of the match at the weekend. And there were loads of other bloody good performances as well, let me add. He just was literally Everywhere. He must have covered every single blade of that. I think he ran 10 kilometres. I think he had the highest amount of sprints in a Jill shirt across the 90. ⁓ I think he'd have had another assist if Hales Volley had gone in first half. I'm sure it was him that clipped it to the back stick. The one where he burst over the halfway line, I think he just couldn't quite make up his mind whether to shoot or cross and sort of did neither, which was a shame because yeah. You're one goal away from probably being a ten out of ten. I thought I was generous with match racings. I didn't go as high as nine point five. I think the highest I've had this season was a Brofi nine at Rochdown. I think I gave Harry eight and a half. But in terms of just watching him for 82 minutes or whatever it was, he was absolutely phenomenal from start to finish. He was. Yeah, the ratings thing, I've got I've got to get a handle on this because you've got to be consistent game to game, right? So it's like A seven out of ten on one game should be consistent with a seven out of ten on another game. So And then it's whether you add on do you add on a bit for an assist, do you add on a bit more for a goal? That's the thing as well. I always try to do a base rating and then I tend to add on half a rating for a goal. Obviously if you hat trick, you're getting a ten anyway, but it sort of sorts itself out. But yeah. But I think even without the assist, he was a massive candidate for being best player on the pitch anyway. Just such was the nature of that all action performance. He was ridiculous. And like you say, he's nineteen. And how well, incidentally, to him and Logan Dobbs talk as well. They even sound like they've been doing this for donkeys years. Yeah, they really do. I mean, you know, you've got to you've got to applaud Brian Ball and the guys who are who are nurturing these young players on the way up because they're clearly very well grounded. You know, they don't seem to be a lot of ego about these lads at all. ⁓ they've stepped in and they're obviously got the temperament for it, you know, like To to be called up from the youth team into the first team squad is a big jump. To then be given substitute appearances is another leap. To then be thrown in as a first team starter, which Dobbs was when ⁓ Liam Gordon was effectively ruled out, he ended up being being a first team starter. And then when Zayn Albarus got got his knock, that's when Waldock became a first team regular as well. And then as well when Eli King came in to play deeper. Harry Waldock's then had to change his role and go higher up the pitch. And, like you've said, Trammere, we didn't see the best of him. We know why. And again, we're we're we're drifting to w away from cautious here. I cannot remember for a long time a performance by Gillingham individual, certainly from a nineteen year old who's played, what, ten first team league games, that was as good as that from Waldock on Saturday. He was just ridiculous. ⁓ I I I I'm almost speechless and that takes a lot for me. He was ridiculously good. It's lovely, isn't it? It really is. I mean It is so nice. It is so nice. You think back through the years of like I I remember the days when we had ⁓ Jim Corbett and there was a lot of you know, there was a lot of hype around Jim Corbett. He only played a few games and then he was off to Blackburn Rovers for half a million quid. But there was a lot of hype around him. There was a lot of hype around a certain young Bradley Dack. There was a lot of hype around A certain young Matthew Jarvis, you know. ⁓ we had ⁓ we had Jack Tucker coming through, you know, we obviously more recently Sam Gale and now we've got two of them in the first team and there are more coming. Sully Booth, seventeen years of age last season comes on, shows he's got a temperament for the game as well. And I I keep thinking back, was it Fulham in the in the ⁓ the trophy last year? Fulham's under twenty ones we played? And they had all their under 21s out there. We put our kids out there and we played them off the park. Absolutely played them off the park. And at that point you think, blame me, it's not just one or two. We've got a we've got a group of them. And they're all coming through together. And this is really exciting. And it's why this squad under Ainsworth, yeah, he's made a lot of transfers. He's had to. He's had to get rid of a load. He's had to sign a load. But surely even he couldn't have imagined. The extra reinforcements that he's now got at his disposal as a result of what's coming through the academy system. And credit to him for trusting the young lads and putting them in. And not just saying, Well, you've done a job for me this week, Harry, but you know, pulling rank and all the rest of it, the senior lads coming straight back in. They I don't think you can do that. I don't think you can do that. You know, I think in an ideal world, you would want Liam Gordon in your back four, but you can't I don't I don't think you can just turf one of the existing three out. Because what does that tell the rest of the squad? It doesn't it's not the right message from a squad morale standpoint necessarily. ⁓ you know, you maybe bring him on as a sub a few times just to ease him in and then you can do it on performance then. but it's it's what a problem to have. You know, it's gonna come a point where he's gonna have to keep, you know, he's you know, people are gonna have to have a very grown up attitude to not playing. And I you'd like to think The younger players, I think, will probably have a better attitude towards it, but those younger players might deserve to be in the team. So it's going to be very interesting how some of our more senior players, who would normally expect to be in the starting eleven, how they react if it gets to the stage where Gareth says, I'm really sorry, mate, but there's not a shirt for you this week. Because everybody's fit and this de these guys have done nothing wrong. We don't want to up upset the Apple cart. That's arguably the biggest challenge that Ainsworth's got. Coming into the next couple of months as he gets more players fit. Absolutely. Yeah, totally agree. And two cliches. Age is just a number, and if you're good enough, you're old enough. And and that's where we're at with Logan Dobbs. That's where we're at with Harry Waldock. Saw Sully Booth last season in a very poor side. Was the shining light at Barnet, scored a goal, set up our second, albeit we were six one down at the time, but he was the only one that day that kept going to the very end and he he put a lot of his senior teammates to shame. And it is exciting. Michael Luxton's been going under the radar, but he came on, had an impact Saturday in that little cameo he's involved in one of the goals. What you say, last this time last year it was Cruz Bezant, I think, was the next big thing. We've got Louis Dayell. There there's others, it's it's Damian Theodore's almost been forgotten about. It's exciting. It really, really is. And like I say, and fingers crossed, we get to see a few of ⁓ Tuesday night against Cambridge and they can all go, I'm here as well, if you need me. And it's brilliant because If this was this time last year, Saiyan Bradley Dak was injured, we'd be trying to rush him back because we couldn't create a chance, we couldn't score a goal. We have got to do nothing of the sort this year. We do not have to rush Dakie back, we do not have to rush Armani Little back. We do not have to rush Liam Gordon back because we've got players stepping up and going above and beyond what any of us expected at the moment, and long may that continue. And like you say, it's gonna be a problem for Gareth. That's why he's paid to pick a team, and we sit here on a Monday evening and just talk about it amongst ourselves. Yeah. I think the th I think the next thing to to watch for. Obviously we've we've seen how the team reacted to losing that opening day game and obviously the way that we lost it, there were a lot of positives that could be taken into the sort of the film room afterwards and say, look, this all went really well and it's just this bit that went that the that went wrong. And they've carried that through and all the rest of it. The I think the thing that I'll be looking out for especially is How we respond when we do lose next. Because it's, you know, we're not going to go unbeaten. We're not Arsenal, right? We're not going to just go through and and just win every game or go unbeaten for the rest of the season. This is a really competitive league. We will lose games and we might lose by a couple some weeks. Hopefully we won't get absolutely pasted like we did so frequently last year. I feel like we probably won't, but we will lose games and there'll be some games where we come come out of it going, Well, we weren't we just weren't in that game. And it's how we react. On two on two fronts. It'll be how we react as a team and how we'll react as a fan base, I think, will be very, very interesting to watch. ⁓ because I feel like if things go wrong and we have a bad performance or we just get beat, what we don't want is a ⁓ here we go again. Do you know what I mean? I think we've done enough, we've seen enough now to know that this is a different team. So I just hope that the fan base sticks with it. as as the form dips off, which it naturally will. ⁓ and I'd be interested to see just how the team reacts when they do lose one. Can they bounce back and steady the ship again as well as they did after Warsaw? Because at the moment everything's trended in the right direction. And when everything's going well, it's easy to be brave on the ball. It's easy to push forward. It's easy to attack. Doing that when you're under duress and maybe you lost last week or maybe you lost the last two games. That's when That's going to be the real test for us. And hopefully we have to wait a long time before we lose two in a row. But it could happen in the next two games. You just do not know in this league. So that's what I'm I'm not gonna say I'm looking forward to it because I don't want it to happen, but it will it's it's an inevitability, right? But that's what I'm gonna be looking out for. That's the next check in the box for let's find out a little bit more about what this team's made of, you know? Yeah, like you say, mentality is is something that's been talked about with this football club for Well, certainly since we dropped down into this division. Probably part of the relegation season as well, because we were a football team that got used to losing. ⁓ but yeah, that'll be the acid test. It could come Saturday. York are ridiculous at home. I think they've won twelve on the bounce. But going there now, you'd fancy us to get something. ⁓ whether we do or we don't is is a different question. But like you say, I don't see us going there and getting absolutely rolled over like we probably would have done last season. on numerous occasions. ⁓ Yeah, and then it'd be interesting to see how Gareth treats the younger players as well as a by product of that. Because again, for them it's all well and good. You c you can play with bravery, like you say, and you can look decent in a side that's winning well and it's it's being backed up and it's got the the safety net of two or goal leads and three goal leads and four one leads and that type of thing. Be how they react when the weather gets a bit colder and the pitches get a bit trickier and There's a horrible Tuesday night game somewhere, whether that's at home or away, that's nil nil and you really have to dig in. Then we'll probably learn a bit more about the kids. We'll learn a bit more about us as a collective. And and we'll learn just where Gareth sees them in terms of first teamers for the whole season. 'Cause I've held my hands up, I said and I've said to you, I start the season, if we want to be a top half side, then your Harry Waldox and your Logan Dobbs and your Cruz Bezance and all that should be out on loan. Because we'd signed a lot of first team ready players. But like you've said, two of them now are pretty much undroppable just because they've been that good. But yeah, a time will come when the questions won't be so positive and the answers won't be so positive. And that's like you say, as much as we don't want to see it, it'll certainly be a case of of when we find out more about this group and more about Gareth and his ability to to turn it round, because it's fair to say over the last few seasons. One defeat unfortunately usually brings three, four and five very quickly. And before you know it, your season's sliding towards nothing. And and that's what we don't want this season. Yeah, I mean it doesn't matter what sport you watch. If you look at any successful team or any successful athlete and you talk to them about their journey that they've been on, the moments that define their careers or the moments that define their their path to success are always the losses. Always the losses because it's how you react to that. And they're always a learning moment and a chance to improve. If things are going fine, you don't change much. It's when things go wrong that you that you change things, you know? And you go back to a to a sort of a link to your other job, which is is combat sport. It's not always about how many times you get punched, it's about how many times you keep having the ability to get back up and keep walking towards that fist. It is a like like I I do interviews and write interview questions for for UFC fighters every week. And it's always about sort of how they how they rebound from defeats. Because in boxing you get protected records and everyone's like thirty and ⁓ and all the rest of it. You don't get that in the sport that I write about very often because the best fight the best a lot more regularly and there's so many ways to win and lose that inevitably you're going to get found out in some aspect of the of the sport. It's impossible to be brilliant at everything. So you're gonna get found out. In football, it's kind of similar. You'll you'll either be look at Bristol Rovers, right? Excellent at home, very good going forward, but from the game From the highlights that I'd seen of them this season, I knew that we could get at them defensively. And that's exactly how it played out on the day. That they've they've looked a little bit open at the back away from home. ⁓ they don't defend particularly well and individually they could be got at. ⁓ and we got at them and we won 3-0. And at home, they could absolutely steamroller people. You know, it's just weird how different environments and different, you know, the pe the way different teams play. It just opens up different opportunities for people. So but yeah, everything's defined by how you react to when you lose, because losing is an inevitability in this sport. So we'll see how it pans out. One question I wanted to ask you this week, because we sit in different parts of the ground, right? I'm in block C in the Melbourne stand, you're in the Rainemend. We experience watching football very differently. I'm kind of off to the side, I'm kind of just sort of off past the D towards the halfway line. in the sort of the town end half of the pitch, you're behind the goal just to the side, right? So we see the game very differently. Talk to me about Ollie Wright, because as someone who watches a lot of the football from behind the goal, you get a much better perspective of just what an influence a good goalkeeper has on a on a defense and on a team. And even in a game where they might only have to make two or three routine saves or a couple of claims from a high ball, which was pretty much what Oli Wright had to do on Saturday. Talk to me about the overall influence and the difference that he brings to our defence just by being there and being Ollie Wright as opposed to without dissing any past goalkeepers we've had, but just as as a comparison, because he looks like a massive upgrade in that position. He just looks massive. Full stop, which I think helps as well, yes. And ⁓ yeah, big fan of Glenn ⁓ last season. Won couple of player of the year awards with us. I thought Jake Turner got. a lot of undue stick. But Ollie Wright, there's just something about him. And again, it's easy to sit here and talk about it now because we're winning football matches and we're keeping clean sheets. And again we'll find out more about Ollie Wright. Maybe in games where we're one nil down and and it's not going our way. But in terms of everything I've seen and and also this is a player that that missed f all of pre season as well. He's come in and he's looked a million dollars. ⁓ Chesterfield Was probably the game where he was most extended, I think. He had to make three or four good saves in that game, particularly first half to keep it at one-nil. Otherwise, I think that end's very different. But like you say, so aside from that, it's mainly been falling on stuff that's been straight at him, and that's credit to those in front of him. Or just coming and punching and claiming cross-there was one punch in front of us Saturday, and I think it travelled about 40 yards. And I just looked at Buzz and thought, Yeah, we've got a good one here. And there was a one a bit earlier as well where he sort of got I think he got sort of man handled, but he still managed to be strong enough to get something on it, and then Anderson Smith helped him out to complete the clearance. I I think I'd trust him to tuck the kids in. He's just that reliable. Yeah. He's ⁓ I can't think in the games that I've seen, I can't think of a moment where he's come for the ball and not got something on it. You know, he's Normally you see some goalkeepers, especially at this level where the decision maker maybe. Right. But but I'm I'm really happy to think for one, like we're having to think for negatives about Saturday's performance. I think there was one second half against Rochdown where he came he might have got a brushed fingertip to it, but I don't think he got as much as he wanted. Mm. But one out of half a dozen appearances says all you need to know about his quality. Yeah. And was also getting the the bonus now of the clean sheet ratio is is is quickly improving as well, which is brilliant to say. You know, a word as well for someone who's had plenty of plaudits already this season, but he's gonna get some more now. James Brophy, who seems to be on a one man a one man mission to win player of the year, goal of the season, top goal scorer, all in one go because and he's doing it while being asked to do a job for the team in multiple different positions as well, you know Well, he made me look stupid, didn't he? 'Cause I said on the voice notes podcast, my only concern was at half time that was James Broken who had been shunted one and he wasn't having as much of an impact as if he would centrally. So he went, Right, I'll give you ten minutes and I'm gonna make you look like a right idiot and I thought, I don't care. I'll look like an idiot if you're gonna smack him in from twenty yards every week, I really don't mind. It's but he's he's he's such a smart, intelligent footballer. And the fact that he can do that, you know, you can ask him to 'cause every time you think, ⁓ he's gonna be played wing back, the immediate thought is ⁓ no, we're gonna lose something because having him in that in that ten role alongside Ronan, because him and Ronan kind of both play a ten role behind whoever the lead the lead man is, whether it's Goodwin or Silla. ⁓ and it's kind of worked that sort of triumvirate up front. And you think, ⁓ we're losing him from there. I don't know. I mean, Harry Waldock in that position looked pretty good to me. I think, you know, I I would almost go as far as to say Harry Waldock in that position looked even better than Harry Waldock as an eight. So what a what what you know, it's it's just, it's just everything's coming up roses at the moment. And I know this is not going to last, right? I'm not delusional. In fact, I had to write that in my piece this week. I am an optimist, but I am not an idiot, right? I'm not delusional. ⁓ but it's just I don't know for anybody who listens to this that maybe hasn't watched Gillingham when we've been good before. 'Cause there might be a few. It's been a while since we were good, like legitimately good. ⁓ you know, it's it's such a it's such a pleasure to see a good side and it's been so long since we've had one that when one turns up or even shows a glimmer of being good, it's very easy to get giddy and think, ⁓ look at this, this is amazing. But we're seeing it consistently. But when you've got someone like Brofi who is so influential as a ten, being moved out to wing back, on paper, that decision doesn't make sense. But we've got other people who can slot in and Brofi has c contributed two outstanding goals from that position, both with his weaker foot. and ⁓ yeah, I mean what what what a boy he is, you know, and we got him for free. I know you you tweeted after the the Rochdale game, you know, thank thanks thank you know ⁓ case of champagne to Cambridge United for ⁓ letting him go. But yeah, no, it's I I I can't think of a better sign in in League Two. Certainly not a b ⁓ a better value one than James Brophy, based on what we've seen so far. ⁓ Eli King's waving at you. Yeah, he hasn't had that many games yet. He hasn't had that many games yet. But yes, he's doing he's he's not he's not But how good is it to have two? Like you say, one's a game changer, a match winner, and the other one's just full on game controller, just sits in that centre circle, doesn't move too far out of that area. And just keeps us moving all the time, and it's great to watch. A question for you, similar to what you've asked me about Ollie Wright. The James Brophy goal, because there was a few sort of murmurings when it went in. Was it the keeper's fault? Had it gone through bodies? Did it take a deflection? I didn't think it took a deflection. How far in the corner was it? Because I've not found any angles that are sort of conclusive yet. Was it a case of young maybe couldn't see? I don't think it was right in the corner, but I wouldn't say it was Right down the middle of the goal from my seat even. No, it's about a yard, yard and a half inside the post. Again, that that video clip I referred to earlier from behind the goal, shows it perfectly. It it answers all those questions. Was it deflected? No. Was it swerved around a load of players? Yes. Did the goalkeeper see it? Absolutely not. No, he was completely unsighted. And I think he only really meant sort of went to move to it while the when the ball was virtually level with him anyway. He had no chance. The keeper had no chance. I actually thought, even though they lost 3-0, their goalkeeper actually played quite well. I gave him man of the match for them. Number one because the rest of them were so bad. But it could have been five or six without him. Yeah, he had a he had a really solid game and made some very good saves. Very unlucky with our third goal as well. Made a just a great instinctive save to to stop Kendall. And he just got unlucky the ball dropped straight at Kendall's feet and he could tap it in. But but no, yeah, that that first goal was it was just one of those where it it just swerved it. How it didn't hit anybody is a miracle because it didn't, you know, if it touches anyone, it probably goes off for a goal ⁓ for a goal kick or a corner. But he swerved it round a load of people, the keeper didn't see it, brilliantly struck shot with his weaker foot. It was just one of those you know, again, I was right behind it from where I was sat. But yeah, watch that video from ⁓ from behind the goal. And actually it's it's it's a it's a great video for all three goals because you get to see all the build up as well and the movement and Particularly the second goal, the way we just spread the ball across the pitch and ⁓ the movement in the box as well by by by Kendall and Goodwin as well. Goodwin ran right across the face of Kendall before the ball got to him, which pulled a defender out and just gave him a pocket to shoot through. ⁓ so yeah, really, really a really good video to watch from a a player movement standpoint as well. But yeah, great hit from Brofi. ⁓ what's that three for the season for him? three for the season. Half of the pitch and the other two from outside the box. Yeah, doesn't doesn't do tap ins that lad, does he? Well, I suppose the the one you've to Well, I suppose the one where he beat half the team was technically a tap in by the time he got there, but but it is where from where he technically where he hits it from, yeah. And I know you gave him credit for it being on his weaker foot, but I think I could have scored from there with my right foot. I I I th I would have found a way to miss that. I would have fallen on my backside or I would have skewed it wide. Last season, James last season we'd have found a way to miss it if it was Jills. Yeah, yeah. But no, it's ⁓ as you can tell, this is this is a very, very ⁓ happy podcast this week. We've got a tough game on Saturday though. And we might be we you know we might be looking at slightly different things ⁓ on next week's podcast. We might be talking about a defensive rear guard action. We might talk about a really hard one point having to come from behind, maybe. ⁓ I have to talk about how we react to a defeat like you've alluded to. Correct. So yeah, it's I think I think we've got a situation now. We're seven games in and everything's looking looking positive, but it is still very early doors and York City away is another acid test. We said that Bristol Rovers was our biggest test of the season so far last week. We passed that one. Away from home's a different game. A a completely different ball game though. So we'll see how that one goes. Anything else you want to chuck into the mix before we wrap this one up, Matt? Don't think so. I think we've covered it. Again, just to say, obviously looking forward to to to popping down to Priestfield for Tuesday night's game for the the trophy game. I know it's a a much maligned competition. But for me it's about getting players back on the park that we that we need back on the park. Hopefully we can see the likes of of Dakie, maybe Ethan Coleman. I know Zane said he was close in the fanzone pre game on Saturday. ⁓ there's a couple of others that are still not I d I'm not sure Little and Tabaris will be available, but ⁓ Although Tabaris was in the training video last week, so maybe we might get some minutes into him. But I say it gets a chance to see the the younger ones that have not been able to get into the first team just yet. Not through any fault of their own, just the fact that obviously injuries occur in the first team squad to to certain positions, so you have to pick likewise from the younger group. ⁓ Yeah, and obviously it'd be nice to I was a fan of Neil Harris when he was here. I know what everyone was, so it'd be nice to see Neil Harris. ⁓ But yeah, just looking forward to another another big week. Game tomorrow. Preview Wednesday of a a massive game and ⁓ yeah, can't wait to get up to the L and the R whatever it's called, community stadium. Ugh. ⁓ Saturday afternoon first visit to York and that ground. ⁓ yeah, and again, probably be our hardest test of the season for the third week in a row. And if we keep responding to said tests like we have been, there's no reason why we can't get something. Yes. Yeah. Well fing fingers crossed we're coming home with something. ⁓ and then we're into October where we've got six league games and a trophy match. That is a busy, busy month of football. ⁓ and with players coming back It is when you don't win games in ⁓ it is when you don't win games in October traditionally. Yeah, let's see let's see how that one goes. But fingers crossed this is a different a different looking Gillingham team and we can do something in October. That is Pretty much all we've got for you on Blood, Sweat and Jills this week. As per usual, follow Matt on Jills in the Blood TV. You can get him on YouTube. You can get him on all the socials. Is it just Jills in the Blood on all the socials or is it Jills in the Blood TV, Matt? I can never remember. Jills in the Blood or Jills in the Blood TV. You'll find me if you type in the first Jills in the first four words, you'll find me here. So yeah. Autocomplete is your friend. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. So yeah. So yeah, YouTube, ⁓ Instagram X. ⁓ TikTok not so much. To be fair, that's probably gonna be closed down, so there's a bit of breaking news for people listening 'cause I don't like it. It's a horrible app and I'm far too old to be on it. So no. Main place of ⁓ content will be X, Instagram and of course the YouTube channel. Nice one. And check out Jills365.news for all your Jills coverage needs. We are on the socials at Jills365 on X at Jills365 dot news on Instagram and if you want to follow Me, you could do that at Simon Head Sport on all social platforms. That is Blood Sweat and Jills. We're on a six game unbeaten run, boys and girls. This is amazing. This can we make it seven? Lucky number seven? York City away on Saturday. Cross your fingers. Enjoy the game this Tuesday night if you're going. And on Saturday, up the Jills.