Latest / Blood, Sweat & Gills / Two wins on the spin! | Gillingham 2-0 Tranmere Rovers
Transcript
- Simon Head: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Blood, Sweat and Jills. Simon Head from Jills365 and Matt from Jills and the Blood TV talking about another positive result. Can you believe it? Gillingham getting a 2-0 home win over Trammere Rovers this weekend. But before we launch into all of that, Matt, how's it been? How's your weekend been? Obviously it's always nice when you get home after a Saturday and you've got three points in the bag. It just gives everyone a bit of a lift, doesn't it? Absolutely. Yeah, it's been lovely. Again. ⁓ and we said, didn't we, it was alright going to Rochdown and and beating a fairly average team, I think it's fair to say. It was about them backing it up and putting in another performance and and hopefully ticking off what we mentioned last week, which was that first home victory of the season. And I thought we'd done it very, very well indeed. Didn't think we was ever under any real pressure. So yeah, all good. Weekend was nice. Match day live's been well received. I think that's over three thousand, so thank you to everybody who's watched that. Match Day reviews ticking along nicely. So yeah, sun's out. Are we on the verge of another heat wave? I don't know. It's very warm. It's very humid. I thought we were gonna get thunderstorms and stuff, but they never really arrived. But yeah, so the only gripe I've got is the ⁓ aircom broke in the office for a period today, so that weren't fun. But apart from that, football wise, at the moment it's ⁓ yeah, it's all tickety boo, I suppose, isn't it? But the dreaded October is coming onto the horizon, so we'll ⁓ We remain positive while we can and fingers crossed we can navigate our way through the autumn relatively unscathed. And then probably have to remove that cautiously from our ⁓ tagline that we keep using. Yeah, definitely, definitely. But before we launch into looking back on Saturday's game, we both had the chance to check out the fanzone at Priestfield ⁓ before before kickoff. ⁓ I've just published sort of a long sort of review of sort of my experience of being there and I've put that up on on Jill's three six five. But we were both there. I was there shortly before you got there and obviously we sort of we sort of hung out, had a good chat at the ⁓ at the time. But what was your what was your overriding view of of of what we had in terms of facilities and and everything else that was there? 'Cause long you know, without going into any detail on my side, I was pretty impressed. Yeah, I think first impressions count for a lot on as a first impression for Day one, I thought it was really encouraging, yeah. Obviously it helps. The sun was out, it was it was fairly warm. You've got a football team that's playing relatively well at the moment, so of course the acid test will come maybe a month down the line if we're not playing so well, or when the temperature gauge is ten degrees lower and the clouds are ⁓ a are sort of ⁓ gathering outside, so to speak. But no, I thought as a as a first glance and ⁓ first impression I was I was very impressed with it, yeah. Lots of space. ⁓ we was lucky enough to speak to Joe who was who was wandering around with a couple of the ⁓ the marketing team as well and he said obviously there's there's plenty of stuff in place to expand in terms of catering facilities, bars, ⁓ a roof, which seems to be the be all and end all for some people. ⁓ heaters was another one that came up on social media over the weekend, which I think I think laughed at you and said then we're just just building another factory, aren't we? Just without external walls if you want sofas and seats and lighting and it's a fan zone, it's outside, it's outside for a reason. Like I d I don't w I don't get what people want more from a fan zone. There's food, there's drink, there's live entertainment. ticks all the boxes. Yeah. Yeah. I thought and ⁓ as I say, I wrote about this, but I I see the factory and the fan zone. I think some people look at them and think that one is gonna hurt the other one. I see them as complementary things. I think you've got the the people, you know, there are people who like that sort of bar slash pub environment where they want to be inside. You've got that sort of general sort of buzz of being in an environment like that. You've got all the screens around the place. And people like to sit down and have a have a beer. All good, right? But then you've got the fanzone and I think it caters to families a lot better. I think immediately you've got that that children's area there. ⁓ I think it just you know, the live music gives the kids something to just to hold their attention and just to, you know, rather than just sort of sitting around while the grown ups talk about the latest team selection, you've actually got something there that the kids can can enjoy and watch. And I think I think there's I think there's more than enough ⁓ of a fan base to to adequately support both of those different ⁓ pre match experiences, if you like. So I think they're two complementary and not necessarily competing things, but obviously when the weather gets bad, you'll see a fair few of the people that will maybe in the fanzone and go into the factory. No bad thing. You're still taking the money behind the bar one way or the other. So I don't see a terrible ⁓ I don't see it as a terrible thing at all. ⁓ the only things I I thought about this after the day because ⁓ Joe said should we let away fans in? And I immediately went, No, we can't do that. We shouldn't do that. I've thought about it. I th I don't know if it's such a terrible idea. If you've got teams coming from a long way away, League Two fans aren't that bad anyway. They, you know, if you're traveling to a League Two game, you're not going as a as a firm, you're going to watch the game, right? ⁓ and ⁓ Because of where we are, we you know, we know that we're one of the longest travelling sides in the division. So anybody who comes to us is having to put in a bit of an effort to get here. ⁓ so they're not going to turn up and just cause a load of aggro before the game starts. So I think it would enhance the experience if sort of fifty to a hundred Hawaii fans were in there who were just sort of having a beer and having a chat. I think it would make it kind of a nice experience. Not not everyone would agree. I don't know. Well, I mean, what do you think? I think it's like anything, isn't it, if it's if it's policed properly. And we saw staff walking around, the type of ⁓ don't wanna call them bouncers, like you say, it was a Saturday afternoon in the sunshine. It was hardly a like you say, it was hardly fight club. But you will now get the blade at the first sign of trouble if they do let away fans in. ⁓ I guess it's like anything else, it's something potentially sign that we could we could trial and and see how it goes. It's ⁓ Obviously it's it's it's difficult to say one way or the other because you've got different fan bases, different size of fan bases. Like if you said, No disrespect to a Fleetwood or an Atminton come down, you're probably only gonna sort of ten, fifteen of them fans come in. But if if you're bringing down like a York or a Barnet, ⁓ or someone that's like followed more on the road, then you've got to try and cater for maybe a couple of hundred. ⁓ because you can't just say it's open to away fans but then put a limit on the number of away fans, 'cause then you're just gonna annoy people from the get go. So it'd be it'd be one that would need looking at properly, but without wanting to sit on the fence. I think we'll leave that to the the people that need to make them decisions to make them decisions. And we'll just keep enjoying it for what it is until then. I'm I I was very happy with it. I mean I think you know the the club have asked for feedback and I I've I've I've sent them an email today and I think there needs to be a little bit of seating for those who aren't able to stand for long periods of time, whether it be disabled or sort of the ol older fans or maybe ⁓ families with particularly small kids. ⁓ and may you know, and that's that you know, that that was the only sort of thing that I thought we needed to do quite soon. Everything else is pretty much fine. I'd have someone on the stage reading the team sheet out as soon as they've got it. I'd have someone do that. just to announce the team to everybody. And when the weather's good, I'd get an ice cream van in there if I could, just for the kids. But I mean other than that, it pretty much ticked all the boxes for me. And I thought, given that that is their sort of baseline ⁓ offering if you like and that anything they do from this point on is going to be built on top of that. I thought it was a I thought it was a home run. I thought they did a really good job with it. And ⁓ yeah. I thought it was a really nice way to to ⁓ to sort of start your match day. I think you said didn't you it's not every Saturday that you find yourself stood with your mates ⁓ drinking a alcoholic or non alcoholic guinness in my case ⁓ eating a burger and and tapping along to Taylor Swift. Sung by a bloke with the most beautiful beard in the world. I hastened to add as well. It was, yeah. It had a little bit of everything, didn't it? Let's just talk about the fan zone. I'm enjoying this. Don't worry about the football. We'll just talk about the fact. Let's just talk about his beard. His beard was extraordinary. The guy on the guitar had he put some serious work in. There is actually I I got a really good still off a video that I took. And I've put that as ⁓ as a as a still photo. I've sort of ty of ⁓ I've I've optimised it and stuff so it's nice and it's nice and clear. But the guy's beard on the guitar, I mean, just have to s sometimes you just want to stand and applaud the man. Loads of beard envy from my part, yeah. This is as good as it gets for me. I don't know why I'm pointing, 'cause this is only on Spotify, so I'm pointing at my face, but ⁓ if it was a if it was a football related thing, you'd say it's definitely a goal of the season contender that beard. Exactly. Anyway, shall we talk about some football before we go completely off topic and people just think about We're just giddy with the fact that we're doing okay and things are positive. I mean with fur It's worth mentioning. This was our first home win of the season. It's not like we've been slaying all before us since day one. Like we have gradually built up to this moment. We had obviously we had the collapse on day one after a positive eighty minutes, all went wrong. Then we had three draws on the spin, one emphatically at Rochdale. And this was the game we last week when we spoke about the Rochdale game and we were leading into this one, it was a case of let's let's see if we can actually go back to back and get two good wins under our belt, start to build some momentum, you know, and that's what we got. That's what we got. We didn't play Tramir off the park. It wasn't Brazil nineteen seventy. But what it was was a good, strong, efficient, all round team performance. And I thought you look at the eleven that that started that game, you know, everybody put a shift in. There weren't there wasn't really anybody there you could say, well, they had a stinker. Everyone played well. Yeah, I don't it's not a performance where Stinker even comes into the description, is it? I don't think anyone was lower than a seven out of ten. ⁓ you might I mean, it's difficult to give ratings to to the the two very late substitutions. I always do my ratings based on you have to play fifteen minutes, so I wouldn't give Luxton or Kendall a rating, but I thought everyone was really, really impressive. Probably more Brazil nineteen ninety four for those that remember that World Cup, rather than Brazil nineteen seventy. functional. Rather than flat. Yeah. And then a little bit of class in the final third, yeah. Logan Dobbs can be Al Daiir scoring from a corner. And then Ronan Howe can be our very own Barbato. Or Romario, depending on who your favourite was. Well he he ⁓ he he channelled his Pele from nineteen seventy when he had a shot from inside his own half that ⁓ very nearly rivaled Brofi for goal of the season where he plunks it on the roof of the net. ⁓ that was that was an incredible bit of all Audaciousness or audacity is probably the appropriate word there. But yeah, unbelievable. 'Cause Brofie tried it last week at Rochdale when someone the Rochdale player gave him the ball in the centre circle and he did it up there. I This is a very different gillingham. And it's making me uncomfortable, but in a really good way. It is nice it is nice to be I mean, literally like twelve months ago Everyone was kind of cocka hooped 'cause things were going well at the start of the season, but little did we know it was all that you know, the wheels were about to come off in spectacular fashion as they as they tended to do, ⁓ at Priestfield. But this just feels different, doesn't it? Like the whole vibe about the team, it's a younger, more youthful, more energetic team. But also, we haven't come out of the traps flying this season. It's been I said at the s in one of the early podcasts, this is a slow burn, right? But it does feel like we've had a bit of a spark now. There's d you know, we've we've we're we've we've got a flame going now, you know? This and now it now we're just trying to trying to make it grow a little bit if we can stretch the analogy any further. But yeah, it's it's ⁓ is that for is that for when people complain that there's no heaters in the fans like in the winter? There you go. There you go. Everyone's standing by the pitch warming their hands like this. But but no, I I think I it it's good to see that we're we're now playing well on winning games. But we're doing it with half our first team missing. That's the thing. You think of all the players that we currently don't have in that starting lineup, there could be five or six first teamers to come into this side yet. I mean, how they're gonna get in, you know. I was speaking to someone on WhatsApp this morning and ⁓ he said it's encouraging that we're doing this without our key players. And I replied and said, Well, the most encouraging thing probably is that when they do come back, these players might not have to be key players because other people have stepped up to become key players. We haven't got to rush Bradley Dak back to play in the team, because you've got James Brothy who's absolutely excellent in that position. You haven't got to rush Armani Little back Eli King's coming and looks like a championship footballer. Like he looks so far above the level, it's ridiculous. We haven't got to rush Liam Gordon back. And albeit on a side note, it was great to see that he was ⁓ walking without any crutches and there was no leg brace on Saturday when we saw him in the fan zone, so that's a big bonus and fingers crossed we might get him back a little sooner than maybe we thought, but we haven't got to rush him back. We've not got to worry and think, ⁓ quick, let's get him back sooner because Logan Dobbs has stepped up and and just looks like he's been playing in the first team forever. Omar Beckles, Gareth Ainsworth said, looks like the Omar Beckles that we thought we'd signed. He looks like the Omar Beckles that's been promoted out of this division captain in Leighton Orient. Andy Smith still has a cutla moments, but another one, the other side of Beckles is learning, and I thought he got better and better as the game went on on Saturday. So these players, it's great to say they're all going to be coming back at some point relatively soon, hopefully. Sam Dabar is another one who we've not seen. But they don't they don't come into the team for me because you always say it's it's up to you to do something. To lose your shirt once you're in possession of it. And these players are doing absolutely nothing that says to me they get dropped out of the eleven at the moment. That's that's that's the great thing. I mean, take Nick Freeman as an example, right? He is not a right wing back by trade. He is a central midfield player. He's been asked to play right wing back. And I thought he played his best game in a Jill shirt on Saturday. I thought he was outstanding. you know, we've got Connor McManus, who wasn't in the first team at the start of the season. Kadeem Harris was playing that left wing back role. He's come in and for me, he was my man of the match on Saturday. I thought he was absolutely outstanding on the left hand side. You know, and that that's just two examples. Harry Waldock has come out of come out of the youth team, gone straight into the first team and looks like he's been there for years. And obviously you mentioned Dobbs as well. I mean, everywhere you turn, people who are being asked to step up have stepped up. And ⁓ I'm trying to remember who it was. It might have been Reese in our in a in our chat that said Looking at the players that we've signed, he hasn't seen any evidence of any duds yet. No. You know, the none at all. The r the recruitment has been really solid based on what we've seen so far. Mm-hmm. It's still early, but the recruitment has been really solid. But the fact that we've had these young lads coming up from the youth team, it's been it's almost sort of it it's just made all those new signings. It's it's it's given us extra new signings almost. Do you know what I mean? They they've been in in in in the club for you know, for several seasons coming up through the youth team, but they're breaking straight in and they're and and they're not looking out of place at all. Normally you put a youngster in and you feel like they need a little bit of looking after during the game. You give ⁓ a few minutes here and there. Dobbs has been thrown straight in at the deep end from day one and has looked an absolute natural back there. And he got his goal on Saturday, which was amazing for him. But yeah, everywhere you turn it's it's it's players playing well and and The overall atmosphere around the group seems really positive as well. Like the team spirit feels different as well from from an observer watching the watching it on the pitch. The way they're celebrating goals and all that sort of stuff. Does it feel does it feel different to you as well? I think so. I think again, the acid test will be if we go on a run where we lose three or four on the bounce, and then we'll see how good the group is and how how the bounce back ability is and and how together they are. That'll be the real test. But at the moment you you can only look at what's in front of you and judge that and and everything is is pointing the right way. Everyone seems to be pulling in the right direction. You look at Ollie Wright last week ran seventy five yards to celebrate with James Brothy after he'd run seventy five yards with a football at his feet. ⁓ yeah word I keep using side my channel I think I've said it to you is it's this just feels so much more sustainable. There feels like there's more longevity to this group and this this form and I get it is only five games unbeaten but We're winning games because we deserve to win football matches at the moment. Last season it felt even when we won games that, you know, we'd got away with it to a degree. I said to you a couple of weeks ago, didn't I, the comparison to the start last season, you felt like you was getting out of jail and not not at the moment. We've gone and dismantled Rochdale, they're a poor side of get that. Trammere unbeaten. Never once looked under the cotch or in any danger and I was so confident once we went 1-0 up that we'd win the football match. That sort of game last season against the a Trammere Rovers team who good form coming in, obviously unbeaten, got a good result against Oldham Athletic previous weekend. Solid from back to front, but maybe didn't have the final ball or the cutting edge against us on Saturday. That sort of game would have been a game that we would have drawn nil nil or maybe conspired to lose one nil last season. ⁓ this season we kept the foot on the gas. And even after we got the first goal, and that to me was a real difference to see We got the first goal, but we then didn't sit back and think, ⁓ we've got to protect this. We kept pushing forward, we kept attacking, and obviously we got the late second goal as well. It just feels like the the mentality of of the team feels very different. ⁓ we're playing like a team who's got something to win rather than a team that's scared to lose. Do you know what mean? I think so. And I think that was even at the start of this season, that might have been levelled at at Gareth. I think there was a couple of comments after the Northampton game and and maybe Fleetwood, the nil nil, was ⁓ he's setting up to to not lose football matches rather than to go and attack ⁓ and win ⁓ But with the benefit of hindsight, I think that was probably the right approach when you go to Fleetwood seven days after collapsing in fifteen minutes again Walsall. And proofs in the pudding. We've learnt from that. We all sat here after that Walsall game. Me and you had did one of these and said, How do we unpack this performance? For eighty two minutes we were really good. But you cannot defend like that 'cause you just won't win football matches. So we've gone from being a side that conceded three and fourteen minutes to being a side that's conceded three and five games since then. So you have to give everybody credit and whether that was Gareth just being a little bit on the cautious side to just say, Right, let's get a clean sheet. Let's say to these boys they can defend well for ninety. Northampton was probably the most frustrating one of all the games so far. I thought they were there for the taking. ⁓ Bad a bit of luck with the goal as well, like we mentioned before. But yeah, you can you have to build from the bottom up and then and when you've bought in fifteen players, albeit not all of them are playing due to injuries or just not being selected, it it's never gonna be instant. But the signs for me, again, are so much more positive than when we were eight, nine, unbeaten at the beginning of last season. It just it just feels completely different, like you said. And we can all sit here and we can sift through stats and numbers and data. Sometimes the best thing is just the eye test, and the eye test just it we just look completely different. Yeah. And I think when it comes to tests, I think we're we're gonna face our our toughest test of the season so far on Saturday when we take on Bristol Rovers, who are smarting off a ⁓ a two nil defeat at the weekend. ⁓ certainly the first goal was a very pr was a very ⁓ preventable goal and I know Steve Evans wasn't too impressed with the defender for the second goal either. But They're so they're they're one of these teams that at the start of the season they were right up there in most people's prediction lists where it they're in in that sort of playoffs, maybe automatics. And they started quite well. ⁓ and now they're coming down off a off a defeat. Steve Evans, we know Steve Evans well. Obviously, he's gonna be demanding a reaction from his players on Saturday. ⁓ would you say this is the toughest test we've had so far this season and From what you've seen at Bristol Rovers, what how do you think they stack up against us? They they've had a good start, haven't they? I'm not being funny, if you go through a season and you win four every six, then you're gonna be there or thereabouts, like twelve points from six it's two a game, points per game says you get to ninety two points. So they're well above of the ⁓ well ahead of the eight ball in terms of what you need to win a league title. But where have all their wins come? On their own patch, I think they're like something ridiculous like twelve or thirteen on the spinner at the men. But away from home I think it's just one point from three games so far this season. So there's nothing for us to fit. I think we'll have an idea in terms of who might be available for this one after Tuesday night, 'cause I think we've got a Premier League Cup game, which I think Gareth said we can put three over age players in. So if you see that team line up on Tuesday and you might have a Bradley Duck in there or a San Tabares or an Ethan Coleman, chances are then they might be able to go on the bench for Saturday, which gives us even more depth. But if we rock up at home to To Bristol Rovers on Saturday with exactly the same start in eleven. Obviously Ronan Howe might be the only one we have to take a look at because of that ankle. ⁓ but fingers crossed we can get him fit and on the park. We'll give Bristol Rovers a game. But it won't be the be all and end all if the result doesn't go our way. ⁓ but similarly to what Grimsby did to them on Saturday, if we can go and do similar We then start making the division take notice of us as a proper team in this league. But it's not season defining. Tougher one, weirdly, might be the week after. You've got to go to a York team that have won twelve on the spin at the L N E R. So that is gonna be a huge test. They score goals for fun. They seem to have got over the old ⁓ the period of mourning for the loss of Stuart Maynard. ⁓ They've just got a very good squad. And similarly to to someone like Salford City, you just think that York just have so many good players. And I'm not saying that Scott Lindsay or Peter Klukowski are not decent coaches, but you just think they've got such good players that they're gonna be a threat regardless of how they get set up. So I think I know I've taken a long way to answer that one, the next two games give us a real idea of where we're at. Bristol Rovers and York, I think, for everybody's money. Given how York have started under Lindsay, will be up there and in and around the top seven at worst, like you've said. So if we can get even two points from them games, then I think people will start saying, Yes, this really does feel like it could be the start of a very good season, relatively speaking. But at the same time, if it doesn't quite go away, as long as we're not getting thrashed, it it it doesn't mean that we still can't have a good campaign either. Yeah. And ⁓ you mentioned Ronan Hale there and On a on a scale of one to petrified, how worried were you when ⁓ you saw him go down injured after that goal? 'Cause immediately 'cause I saw what happened. I was I was at the other end of the pitch in block C at a medway stand and you could see it was a challenge from the defender, his studs on top of the foot straight away, and it was like, ⁓ please don't be a metatarsal. That's all I was thinking. Don't be a broken foot. That's all I was thinking. See, f my my angle, I thought it was more ankle ligaments would've be the concern. It looked like his ankle opened up a little bit. It was like the the boot went through the inside of the ankle and course then he sort of doubles over on it. Luckily, I think it could have been worse if there'd been another defender or the goalkeeper in close proximity as well, because then you'd have all sorts of problems. But yeah, when he went down petrified Well, that's PTSD because of the season and how it's gone so far with injury problems. ⁓ we've managed to to find a player that apparently snapped two hamstrings in the same motion. So of course we're all going to be a bit concerned. ⁓ I still don't know how that's medically possible, but there you go. It's ⁓ see, we're just setting records left, right and centre, aren't we? But yeah, I think by the time he got to the dugout the the limp was less pronounced. ⁓ he didn't go straight down the tunnel, which was a positive for me. I think if it had been really bad, he'd have probably gone straight off for a scan. But at the same time, if there's swelling, we might have to wait for that to go down. I think you'd be touching gun for Saturday, to be honest. If it's I think Gareth said there was a tennis ball. Size lump on his ankle, which means that that's going to take a while to disappear. ⁓ but we know medically these days you can get stuff sorted out, so fingers crossed we've got him available. If not, you've got Will Goodwin hopefully coming back, or Lamin Silla can go in. And oddly, I'd say if we have to play a 3-4-2-1 with just one centre forward, we might actually be better suited playing a Will Goodwin with two attacking midfielders behind him rather than. Ronan Howe plus one or a a one two which you can go to with Brocy and a genuine front pairing. So I think we'd be fine in terms of of options for the weekend. But of course he's your star man based on how much we paid for him in January. You want him available and we're a better side with him in it. ⁓ but yeah, in terms of goal and an assist, brilliant. 'Cause I was sitting there moaning with Boz and he was doing the same about hate short corners and why is Ronan Hale taking set plays, he should be in the box, he's your number ten, he's your star strength forward. I think I said on the match day vlog or afterwards, that's why we all sit in the stands moaning and talking about things, and that's why Ronan Hale and and Gareth McCleary and James Brother are out there setting up peddles for a academy products. Yeah, it's funny, about five minutes before that goal, Hale had gone out onto the other wing. And I think it was it might even have been from a from from another corner. But ⁓ he whipped a great ball across. I think actually he was on a counterattack. ⁓ he found himself out on the right Yes, and you said exactly the same thing as us. You went on the end of that. I that's exactly what we said. We saw he needs to be on the end of that, not the one putting it in the box. And then five minutes later he's on the other side, crosses it in, big Logan puts his head on it and we're one that up. But yeah, it's it's I I hope he's okay. Like he walked off the pitch, he walked past us and he had his ⁓ he was walking off w in in b in a barefoot, he took his socks off and everything and ⁓ was just walking off barefoot. He was limping, but he didn't look he didn't look like he was out for the season, put it that way. He just looked like he'd taken a nasty whack on the foot. Well, that's a bonus, isn't it, at the moment. So at least they're getting less and less serious by a weekly basis. Well yeah, yeah. I mean, you know Weeks off is better than months off and days off is better than weeks off. So that's ⁓ And the other one was Harry Waldock we were concerned about, but that was just some sort of stomach bug. So great news here be available for Saturday, I'd imagine then, which was brilliant, 'cause ⁓ I thought he was probably not as good as he's been. ⁓ but again playing in a slightly different role. He was he was one of the more advanced midfielders and I thought considering he wasn't well, he's still putting a shift. Yeah, he's our engine room, isn't he? He's our legs in midfield, which is something that we didn't have last season that's noticeable Just how much of a difference it is when you've got someone who can just go box to box like him. And he, you know, when you hear that he was he was ill, you can kind of look back at his performance, which was still good, but maybe wasn't at the level that we've seen in previous games and go, okay, that makes sense now. ⁓ but yeah, it was I think you know, there's lots lots of reasons to be optimistic, and we are quite an optimistic podcast, but at least at the moment for now. For now, a cautiously optimistic podcast. But yeah, it's ⁓ it's it's all looking very good and we've got a a big match coming up at the weekend. We're at home again. Back to back home wins would be would be absolute dream stuff for us at this point in the season. But as you said, Matt, I think a point against this lot and maybe another point against York City away would represent a really solid week's work. So ⁓ fingers crossed we'll see how all that goes. Matt, before we wrap up, do you wanna sort of plug your movements and ⁓ Work for the week so everyone knows where to find you. They're probably already following you anyway, but just in case. ⁓ yes. ⁓ as you ⁓ are listening to this, the League Two Hour will probably have been aired. ⁓ me on my own this week. So apologies in advance for that. You're gonna have to listen to just me. ⁓ Lee is working, so yeah, that goes out every Monday live on YouTube. Wednesday, as usual, match preview. With a Bristol Rovers fan, so looking forward to getting stuck into that one. 'Cause like you say, this is going to be another good test. I think we always generally have decent games against the gas as well. And then yeah, all roads to Saturday back in the fan zone, fingers crossed. And then back inside the Rainemend, hopefully, watching another Gillingham performance and another positive result. So yeah, another busy week. But it has settled down now, obviously, transfer window shut, which is quite nice, as much as I enjoyed doing all the new sidings videos. It was It was pretty relentless, so I can only imagine how busy the recruitment team actually were ⁓ researching stuff properly rather than just me finding some pros and cons on a couple of websites. But yeah, really enjoying it. Channel's been brilliantly received this season. The views are absolutely staggering, so I can't thank everybody enough. It's been phenomenal. And yeah, just one quick stat I did find online today, which I think is a a big positive and a big sort of difference from where we've been previously. ⁓ distance covered per ninety minutes so far this season, the Jules are third in the division as a collective. And in terms of sprints made per ninety minutes, we sit second out of twenty four. So it shows a willingness, like you said, we've got players that want to get up and down that can get up and down as well, I think more importantly. And that can only stand us in good stead that we've got a group of players that are willing to go to the very end, that are willing to empty the tank as S ⁓ as not Simon, your Simon, as Gareth likes to say. ⁓ Yeah. Just still cautiously optimistic, but less and less cautious and maybe. We might change it to genuinely optimistic soon. We don't want to go over the top and get ahead of ourselves, but yeah, it's ⁓ it's been a solid start and long may that continue. Yeah, I I'll echo all of those sentiments. And ⁓ in terms of emptying the tank, we have just about emptied the tank on this week's episode of Blood, Sweat and Gels. Check out Jills365.news for all your Jills news and features, opinions, player ratings, match reports, all that good stuff, giving you regular coverage, independent coverage throughout the week at Jills365.news. If you aren't subscribing yet and you want to give the site a bit of a test drive, you can do that. There is a seven-day free trial that is available throughout the season for anybody who wants to do that. Also, there's a free newsletter that goes out every Friday called The Hat Trick, which is just a little weekend preview. You can sign up to that at the foot of the Jules365 website. You can follow me on the socials at Simon Head Sport on all platforms. You can follow Jules365 on X at Jules365 and on Instagram at Jules365.news. And you can follow Matt at JulesInTheBlood on all platforms. Thanks so much for joining us on Blood Sweat and Jills This Week. Positive result this weekend. How about another one next weekend? Fingers crossed. Until next time, up the Jills.