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Gills look ready for a refresh | Accrington Stanley 3-1 Gillingham · Blood, Sweat & Gills

• BSG 011 Accrington A: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Blood Sweat and Jills, a Jills 365 podcast with me, Simon from Jill 365, and Matt from Jills in the Blood TV. And yet again, we're talking about a bit of a weird result. We've had this great form, and then we go into an away game, the team stays the same, everything stays the same, and the performance was vastly different. We lose 3-1 to Akron Stanley in a game where if we could have done, we would have come third. It was that sort of afternoon. Matt was there. Matt is recovered, hopefully. And yeah, I'm interested to hear from from your perspective on this because you travel home and away. you go length and breadth of the country, and you've come off the back of some really good away performances recently. And now we've chap we've chapped in a couple of duds in the last few weeks. We had York City and now we've got Akrinton. What's your level of concern given The fact that obviously dropping points away from home is to be expected. This is League Two football. But we've lost both the games kind of convincingly. So what what's your your takeaway, particularly from this one this weekend? This one for me was the most disappointing of the season. And and that's no disrespect to Akrinton, York have got better players. They've got a bigger ground, they've got bigger infrastructure, they've got a bigger budget, which allows them to buy bigger c better calibre of football. Football player, sorry. terms of level of concern, not too high, I don't think, because we've seen this team react. I know it's now two defeats in four, but we've not actually suffered back to back defeats in the league yet this season and and we've got two winnable home games coming up. And it's fair to say that our home form is is fairly solid, aside from the opening day, we've not lost on our own patch. And as we've said a million times before, that game we was better than the the opposition for eighty minutes. Newport was frustrating at the time, but that suddenly looks a better point, considering the results in and around that draw with us. for me it's just file it under bad day at the office and ask me again next Monday the same question, level of concern, because obviously we'll have two games to reflect on and let's see where we are. But if we go and beat Port Vale Tuesday night. I think everything from Saturday's forgiven and if we have a four point week at home, we'll have what, twenty points, we're opening thirteen games. I think given everything that that we've had to contend with over the first few months of the season, that would would still represent a really solid start and yeah, the manner of the defeat was was disgusting. It was it was so so bad from start to finish. And I'm not gonna sit here and sugarcoat it and pretend it was anything else. We were woeful, like to a man. But it's League Two football. How often do we say that? They're all prone to chuck in a four out of ten. Unfortunately, about twelve of the sixteen that got on the pitch all threw in a four out of ten at the same time, which which made it really difficult. But credit to Accrington. They had a game plan. They were big, they were strong, they were physical, they were direct, they were in our face. We didn't cope with it. And we obviously gave them the leg up with the first goal. The i I I Obviously when when I don't get to go to away games or if I miss a home game, you can look back at sort of the goals and make an instant judgment on on the individual incidents. You can watch the highlights. That gives you a slightly bigger picture. But then I try when I can to watch the entire game because that gives you the full context of those moments within the whole the whole ninety minutes. We just never got out of the traps in that game. It looked to me like It reminded me a little bit, and this is not to sound disrespectful to Akron, it's gonna sound disrespectful, I'm gonna preface this. But when you play a team who is from a lower division in the FA Cup and they know they've got to be on you from minute one. And sometimes when you see it in an FA Cup giant killing game, the team that is not expected to do so well, they they're really you know, they're really up for it from the start. They're on you from minute one. The first challenge is a good strong one. And then the other team just sort of struggles to really find their feet after that. Now this was a game between two equal teams in the same division, but Accrinton seemed to approach it in that sort of way, sort of get on them from minute one. And we never really found our feet. And the thing you said about the four out of tens and all the rest of it, to have that many people not have a good game and was was probably the main the main thing that stood out. Sometimes where you you you lose games you think too many of us were off the ball, but It was probably four or five. As you say, this was almost the whole team. It just felt like for whatever reason they just didn't seem on it. And I don't know what the reason for that is. Is it the f is it the frequency of games? If it is, this is a concern because they're not gonna slow up anytime soon. or or what? I mean, you know, I know I listening to it on the radio at the time, like the they they were questioning whether some of the players might have been drinking the Kool-Aid a little bit too much and listening to some of the positivity from Ainsworth saying we've got one of the better squads in the league. Were they taking their foot off a little bit in this game? I don't believe that. I just think that this is League Two football. These players sometimes are not going to do you know, then consistency is the thing that separates League One from League Two. And then I think quality separates League One from the championship. And then top quality separates the championship from the Premier from from the Premier League. But Consistency is the is is a big thing in League Two and this was one of the down weeks. the question now is, is this just a blip or is this gonna turn into a a run off a a run of disappointing form? My hope is that it's just gonna be a blip, but w looking at looking at what you saw on on Saturday, we had a few sort of ch the a few a few lit lit small things that were different, even though team was the same. There were some things that happened in the game, the f Let's talk about the first goal. Let's talk about the let's talk about the first goal. Matt's screwing his face up at this point. we talked about Armani a little a week or two ago, and we said the big thing that I I think it was well, it was me. I said the thing I thought he tried to do too much last season was he was trying to do too much. And to me, it looked like that again there. Like he was trying to deal with a situation that he did not need to be dealing with. From what I watched. And I watched it several times back. The keeper gave him a call of some description. He either told him to clear it or he told him it's keepers, one or the other. And Armani basically did the only thing that he didn't need to do, which was then take it past his own goalkeeper, and then obviously we know what happened. But to me, that was just a complete communication cock up and a a player potentially who wasn't really listening and decided that he was going to deal with it no matter what else was being said. Is that a harsh comment or is that how you saw it on the day? I think the blame is probably 50 50. Because I mean I didn't capture the goal of the match though live, and that was purely because I was just expecting Ollie Wright to come out and either pick it up or smash it into touch or smash it downfield for for Silla to go and battle for it in their half. So I sort of glanced to the right, waiting for the flight of the ball, and then turned back to the left and saw Stefan Moles wheeling away in celebration. And I'm not sure Ollie Wright did call. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna sit here and dig out Armani Little just for the sake of digging him out. I thought he was poor on the afternoon. Like you say, there was plenty of instances where he was trying to do too much. He wanted to take every corner, every free kick, which I didn't understand when you've got people like James Brophy, who's who's been phenomenal this season. You've got Nick Freeman whose crossing has been on point generally the entire season. So I don't get why all of a sudden Armani Little is, you know Lord of the set play, if you want to call it something. the goal's an absolute catastrophe. Whether it's little fault, whether it's right's fault, or it's somewhere in the middle, it it should have been dealt with. It's the second week in a row where we've gifted an opposition a a start. Unfortunately, from this one, we didn't recover because we didn't learn. We kept allowing balls to come into our box and we didn't pick up. And we'll probably have to talk about one of the centre offs in terms of goals two and three, unfortunately. But no, I think Little was poor, was lucky to not get sent off as well, picked up a really, really daft yellow card. Like we spoke last week about Dominic Eye Orpha and what we call good yellow cards, stopping people from breaking over the halfway line. Little got one for pulling the bloke back when he was ten yards outside his own area. And then he was lucky just before half time when he went through the lad on the halfway line. I think the referee helped us out, and also It wasn't as obvious. Harry Waldock, I thought, was lucky as well, 'cause he'd already been cautioned, and their referee then deemed one just before the break as well, to just be a sort of tangling of legs rather than Waldock clipping their player. So we could have been down to nine men at half time, and we could be talking about an even worse afternoon. but yeah, it the first goal ultimately just summed up the entire afternoon. If we'd known that at the time, I think a lot of us would have probably just walked out, gone back on the coach and had a kip or got back on the train or gone in the pub. but you don't know what's going to come. At the time, you're hoping we're going to see a response like we got at Rotherham. Not a bit of it. It was like Gareth said, it was it was a horrible flashback to last season and there's multiple reasons for that. A lot of people don't like the the double pivot of Little and Mackenzie in the middle the park. You can understand why when we chuck in a performance like that. Be interesting how we go Tuesday, 'cause I think there's got to be some rotation. but how much we don't know until obviously team lose comes out at some time around half past six. But yeah, first goal certainly summed up the entire afternoon. We'll talk about the the rotation in a in a little bit of detail in a little bit, 'cause I think what I w We'll we'll we'll pick our starting eleven. What we'll do. We'll pick our starting eleven for Tuesday night and we'll see just how far off we are when we get to seven o'clock on on on Tuesday. But you mentioned about the other two goals and this isn't to dig him out. This is just to state a fact. Andy Smith has had an absolute shocker twice. they are carbon copies of each other. a d the same man making the same run and the same mistake being made each time. Whether he was touch tight to begin with and he just lost him, or whether he just was never tight to begin with. But he had the striker on his blind side. He didn't react to the run until he was in front of him, at which point he's already been beaten. And then all credit all credit to to Woods for getting up and planted two very good headers past Dolly Wright to to make it two and then three. But that's not difficult defending to do. because If you're attacking the ball, then or even if you're just blocking the man off, those two goals don't happen. It's it's elementary stuff. It's defending 101 from a set piece. We're talking about, and I know we've seen teams have clearly been isolated or or targeting Logan Dobbs. The long diagonal ball, they did it at York, they did it at Akrinton. They have been targeting Logan Dobbs and It's been commented on that he's been under a bit of pressure in terms of those tactics. But we look on the other side of the three, and we've got Smith, who is a little bit more experienced, making some basic errors. If you're Gareth Ainsworth, how do you deal with something like this? Because we've got a young centre half in in Jack Daly, who's here on loan and is here presumably to play first team football, hasn't necessarily stood out since he's come on, has done okay, I would say, without doing anything outstanding yet. But we've got a pos we've got a situation now where we've got one one sided centre half is being actively targeted by the opposition and you've got other one who is starting to starting to show signs of committing some some some some some game changing mistakes. Do do we start looking at changing the personnel in that back three? Because the thing that has been one of the one of the the real strong points of the start of the season for us was continuity and consistency, right? It was keeping Ollie Wright and those three together as a unit, helped with communication, ironically given what happened earlier. But that that unit has generally done reasonably well for us. But a few things are starting to creep in. At what point do we turn around and say, okay, we need to we need to maybe look at some other options here. Yeah, and and just to add to the point that you've made did the the other difficult thing is is Jack Daly has has not come in and said to me I'm better than the three that are starting the football matches. I've watched him play ninety minutes in two trophies homes, already all right it's it's different sort of competition, maybe the intensity's not quite the same, but he doesn't look like the centre half everyone told us we were getting. We were getting told he's gonna be big, dominating, physical, loves to defend, all the aggression in the world. I've I've I've seen it in patches, but I've seen it from a in a slightly reckless nature. He's picked up a couple of silly yellow cards. It is it's difficult. And then you chuck into the mix, can Omar Beckles get through three games in seven days? So do we then change the shape? And then you go all the way full circle and say, or do we trust these players that generally have been very good? And Andy Smith has been on the hole up until probably last Saturday, where he he was weak for the first goal I think as well. But we got away with it. He's he's just sort of reverted to last season's type a little bit. My issue Andy Smith at set plays is he's not interested in tacking the ball. He wants to just plant himself in front of the centre forward or whoever's marking, and he just wants to look at the man and and just sort of distract. For me, just go and head the football. Like if you can't make first contact, at least if you're going for the ball, you're making it really, really difficult. By just standing there, you make it very easy. 'Cause like you say, a little bit of movement by Woods for the first goal, you just step back and then run round him, too easy. The second one, Smith doesn't jump and he just jumps over a statue. It's Josh Woods must have been laughing his head off for the second one, 'cause we just didn't learn. it's tricky. Beckles has to play if he's fit enough. but like you said, we're gonna do our starting eleven in a little while. So we'll get to that. But yeah, it it is I'm trying not to be over concerned because it's just it's only really Accrington where it's really costless. At the same time, though, you can't keep making mistakes and relying on your forward players to score lots of goals to get you out of trouble because you switch off in your own six yard box. I understand that. Logan, again, like you say, was targeted Saturday, so that's now four games on the spin, I think. York, Newport, Rodderham, and and and Accrington have all said, right, we're just going to clip it in behind you. But I don't think he made any catastrophic mistakes. He wasn't great. Let's let's not pretend either. He wasn't, you know, Laurent Blanc or anything like that. But he didn't make any errors that led to a clear cut chance that I can remember or cost us a goal, which Andy Smith's doing. So if you had to say one or the other comes out, I'd say it probably has to be Smith, 'cause he's cost us three goals out of the seven that we've con out of the four that we've conceded in the last seven days. Yeah. Yeah, it's a tricky one 'cause arguably The right sided centre half position is the one position where we don't really have a natural, a natural plug and play person to stick into that role yet. So I don't know. I don't know. It's a tricky one. I mean, the one thing I would say about about Logan Dobbs is yes, the teams have been targeting him, but I would also say, and this is not an it not a knock at all on Dobbs, and it's not a knock at all on James Brophy. But I also think that. By having Brophy in the left wing back role, who is more of a forward thinking player, he hasn't naturally got the same Dobbs doesn't have the same amount of defensive support as if economic manus was playing there, who is a fullback looking forward rather than a midfielder remembering to trap back, if that makes sense. So I do think that the return of Connor McManus will help Logan Dobbs hugely in that situation if they start targeting him. It's a much easier thing for McManus' starting position to be an extra five five yards deep or whatever, just to give him that extra cover. And I think that I think that helps nullify that a lot. And I think that's another one of the reasons why they've gone for that, because they know that Brofi at wing back, he's a he's a front foot midfield player who normally is playing in the ten. We're playing with we're playing him at wing back. They're looking for that that that space between behind him and maybe even over the back of of Dobbs as well. So I don't it is obviously targeting that area of the field. They Dobbs is inexperienced is a thing that's been flagged, but I don't necessarily think that's the only reason why they're doing it. I think it's also the fact that Brofi is there and Brofi is not a natural defensive minded midfield player. And I think that that is also one of the reasons why perhaps Dobbs has been quote unquote targeted. So we'll see how how that goes, particularly on Tuesday night with a We see a repeat of that. We've got a short week this week, Matt. And sometimes when you when you have a bad result, the best thing you can do is get straight back on the horse, get back out on the pitch, and put things right as soon as possible. Other times, you go back to the drawing board, you have a look at what went wrong, and you think, okay, we've got some stuff to address here, and you're grateful for a few extra days in order to do that. Obviously, we don't have that because of the short week. So It could be good thing for us, could be bad thing for us. Do you think this is what we need, or would you have preferred for us to have had a little bit more time on the training ground before we get back out there at the weekend? It's difficult, isn't it? 'Cause of course you're on a couple of days on the training ground to say, look, what's gone wrong here, let's put it right but the other side is we haven't got to wait too long, so we're not all sort of sitting and stewing on on what was a really poor performance and a poor result ultimately. So If I had to pick one I'm probably leaning towards no, let's go Tuesday, let's get it out of our system, let's get on the front foot against Portval and hopefully it's only three days between us all sitting here miserable Sunday and Wednesday morning coming round and we're all sort of sort of more positive again. Port Valle have picked up in the last couple of games. Good win at the weekend. I think they beat Chesterfield by Galton Hill, but they don't score loads. So I think if if we can get behind the boys and and we can sort of get that first goal, I think we'd be absolutely fine. Of course people are going to talk about October again now because it'll keep rearing its ugly head until either we win a couple of games or it's November the first. That's just the nature of the beast. But no, I think I'm happy that we've got a a quick turnaround and I think with the right changes, but not too many, I'm confident we'll get a result against Port Val. Right. Let's talk let's talk about these changes then. We've got I think we've been in a position so far where and you could almost hear Ainsworth saying it without saying it. in his post match interview where he was saying, I've got you know, I had to keep faith with the team because they were doing so well. We got these good results. And then the same team that got four one at Rotherham then goes and lays an egg and loses three one at Accrington. Same players. So he what what that now means is that that mental barrier of I can't change a winning team has gone. They've lost. So now Ainsworth can do what he wants with his team selection. Like he doesn't ha he you know, that that obligation to keep faith with all eleven players is now not there. He can pick I mean, he can pick who he wants anyway, but you know what I mean. Like you don't wanna rock the boat if you don't need to. He can do a little bit of rocking now. He can he can change things, move things around. He might want to try a combination that he hasn't tried yet. So let's pick a team based on what we know, who we think is gonna be available. I'll tell you what, let's Let's talk about the back three. Let's talk about the back three to start with. You you insinuated that if we were gonna change one of it would maybe be Andy Smith. Would you change Andy Smith? Or do you keep the three that we have now based on the personnel we've got available? I'm assuming we'll keep Ollie Wright in goal. I I'm fine with Ollie Wright in goal. He was he wasn't great Saturday again. It looked to me like the occasion got to him a little bit like he was back at Accrington and of all the games to make an error, it just had to be that one, didn't it? But yeah, Ollie Wright has been sensational for us up until Saturday. So Ollie Wright stays in goal. Omar Beckles is the middle centre back for me if fit. And then I keep Logan Dobson left sided centre back. Because as much as he's been targeted, I think he stood up to it. All right, he's struggled at times, but he's not made any catastrophic mistakes yet. On the other side, I would play Robbie McKenzie at centre half. Interesting. Interesting. 'Cause I think he's the only one looking at our squad as it stands, unless you're gonna put a completely square peg in a rat hole. We don't really have a natural right back. Who's fit at the minute. So it's you know, Sam Tabares, we understand he's in training. He's working his way back, but he's not ready yet. So he's really the other the other option we've got, isn't he, Robin McKenzie? So okay, so we've got Robin McKenzie, Omar Beckles, Logan Dobbs in your back three. Let's take a look at Are we going to keep the same formation? Are we going to stick to the same system that we've played all season, the three? I think we have to because we've not seen it changed for the last it changed from the last twenty minutes Saturday, but yeah it didn't make us any better. So I think we'll go back to the back three and then yeah, a variation of that sort of triangle up front. So Nick Freeman has played Nick Freeman's played ninety minutes every game, so there's no reason for him to not start right wing back for me. Yeah. And then we're probably both in agreement that Conor McMahon has to come back in over the other side. Yes. So that then leaves us with the two in the middle, one of whom you have redeployed elsewhere. So that's Robbie McKenzie out of that midfield duo. On paper, it looks to me like given that we've now moved James Brophy and I think we know where he's going, that then means that we're probably looking at perming two from Armani Little, Harry Waldock, Ethan Coleman, and potentially Zane Albarez if he's fit. Albrus out because he's he's he's not going to be fit to start, I don't think. He's not going to be fit, okay. No, I'm saying even if he's available, I don't think he's fit to start. He's only played he's played what sixty minutes in since the end of August and he got sent off in that game. So if he's available, he's on the bench, I think. I'm only little, there has to be a question mark over him because of the fact that he's come back from a hamstring and he's played twice. Can he then do a Tuesday? And he was rubbish at the weekend, in my opinion. So for me it leaves the other two. I'd go Ethan Coleman and he just patrols in front of that back three and I'd have Harry Waldock next to him for legs. My my question mark was I it was it was who was gonna play alongside Waldock for me. and whether you whether you stick with Little, you give him a start at home, give him a chance to redeem himself and see how he does, or do you say you've played a couple in quick succession, let's not let's not force things too much. You didn't have a great game. As you say, you're working your way back. Let's put Ethan in there. So so we've got Freeman Coleman, Waldock, McManus across the middle. I think Brophy and Hale would probably be the natural next two that we pick. Is there any any change in those? No, not at all. Brofie's been our best player. If Ronan Hale's fit he's our best striker. Like he's our most natural finisher. So Ronan plays. So it has to be them two. And then leading the line is Lamin Silla Or does Tom Eaves get his first start? Tom Eaves for me. Yeah, I would agree with that. I think the time's right now. I think he's he's he's shown enough now to show that he can at the absolute minimum give us a really good hour and then if we need to switch it after, I'd rather he be on the pitch for the bulk of the game rather than bringing him on late and then wishing we'd had him for longer. I think we're at that point now where unless we're gonna play a different front man in each half I think you start him and get the best out of him for for sixty, seventy minutes. And if he needs to come off, then you take him off. But if not, then great, you leave him on for the last the last ten, fifteen minutes and then you maybe add to that with you know your Sheldon Kendall's or your Lemine Sellers or you know Gareth McLeary and Gareth McCleary, Bradley, d there's plenty of them and Lemin's been decent. Like Lemin was by f not the worst player, Saturday. I'd say he was probably nearer the top of a very stinking pile. but at the same time, similar to what I'm saying about Little, I'm not taking Little out just because I I'm not his biggest fan or because I thought he was poor at the weekend, but he's played twice in quick succession after we haven't seen him since the opening day. Lamin Siller is still a kid, he's still trying to learn the rigours of English football. So it's going to be tough for him to go Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday. And if you've signed Tom Eaves, you've got to start him at some point. Also, this way you can go two tens behind Eaves, or you can make Brofi your ten and you can get Hale right next to Tom. And also with that middle three, you can have Brofi in the ten with Ethan next to Harry. Or if you want to be slightly different, you just have Ethan right in front of that front three and then you put the four higher up. So you have a three, one, four, two. So I think it gives us good flexibility in the system. Tom will give us that massive physicality up the front where it'll stick, which it didn't do enough of on Saturday. And if we can get him close enough to Ronan and James, then we'll we'll we'll create chances, I think, he says. Convinced still, after watching Saturday, when we didn't have a shot on target It's so easy when you don't actually have to do the have to do the job, isn't it? But it's I think now you've got if if if a defeat can be can be turned into a positive, I think it is the fact that Ainsworth's obligation to the people that played last week is now diminished severely and that he can now justifiably turn to any s almost any single one of the players who played on Saturday and say, take a rest this week, pal. We're gonna we're gonna change something. no one no one can really turn around and go, hang on a minute. I you know I tore it up at the weekend because they didn't. So and I think seeing Tom Eves lead the line is is is something that everybody has been waiting to see. I think Brofi back in the 10 is something everybody's been waiting to see. McManus at wing back fits into that mould as well. And then it's case of how we address a couple of areas of the pitch where we've been caught a little bit short at centre half and in the centre of midfield. and I think I think what we've got there certainly does that. So running through the team again, you've got right in goal, McKenzie, Beckles and Dobbs at the back, three minimum manis at wing back, midfield two of Coleman and Harry Waldock, James Brophy and Roman Hale in the tens, maybe Hale pushing up. And Evesley Eve's leading the line. That sounds good to me. That sounds that sounds pretty good to me. And the other thing here is this potentially could be a really positive week. We get a good result on Tuesday. We're back at home again on Saturday. Grimsby Town, which is probably going to be one of the tougher games we have this season. So I think they're going to be right up there by the end of the season. They are struggling a little bit, but I I always had them down as being someone who's going to finish top four, top five. but I think they're gonna come down and probably be quite difficult to break down. If we can get three to four points from these two games, or four to six points rather in these two games, then we're doing really, really well for ourselves. I think to have a two game week at home against two solid outfits who in all things being equal should be in certainly in the top half, probably in the top ten. it's an opportunity for us to really bounce back. But And we've also got players coming back. One of the positives that came out of this week, Matt, was that Ainsworth was talking very positively about some of the injured players and how they're gradually working their way back. Liam Gordon could be back within the next month or so potentially, which is an incredible I think he said he said he could be on the grass this week, which is astonishing. Like we've spoken about it plenty of times, but from the day we saw it happen, if you'd said by mid to end October it'd be back running on the grass, we'd have all gone No, you're mental. So that is a huge plus. And a good time. A good time for us as well, because we've just seen I think having having a consistent back line that does does the business and all the rest of it, that's good. But what we haven't got, and our our team selection that we've just gone through there, what what that tells us is we haven't yet got the cover in those positions because of the injuries and everything else. Arguably we've got cover for Dobbs in the form of Jack Daly, who, as you mentioned, has an asterisk next to his name. He's not quite proven yet. And on the right hand side, we don't have we don't have cover for Smith. Liam Gordon can play left of centre and or probably in the center. so we'll see how we'll see how all that pans out once he gets back fit. He will walk straight back into that team as soon as he's fully fit of that, I'm pretty sure. but yeah, just trying to hold things steady until until the big man gets back fit. And then obviously we've got other people coming back fit as well. The likes of Little playing himself back into fitness, Bradley Dak. And yeah, we've got we'll we are starting to get more options now, which is good. But we just need to make sure we keep things nice and tight. That's how we started our season, relatively speaking. We were relatively consistent and relatively tight at the bat. We've a few wobbles recently. we'll see how it goes. But the but the positive is we lost a the thing we've got to address as well, sorry, is that When we lose, we lose big. Like we've every defeat we've conceded three this season. So that needs something that needs sorted out 'cause you're not going to get any if you can stay in games but you end up losing one nil, at least you're in the game. but the positive is we lost against Walsall, we then went six unbeaten. We got spanked at York, we then took four points from the next two games. So there's no reason to think that we won't react in the right way. And like you say, if we can pick up four points from tomorrow and Saturday, you're at twenty points after thirteen games. That represents a really solid start. And also, dare I say, it only leaves one league game left in October. So the most we could lose in a month would only be two. but of course, this conversation will ultimately be had next Monday. Yeah, and I think that like the it's very easy to look at any of these games individually and then say, well, this is clearly where we're going wrong or this is clearly where we're going right. That's not how it works, right? And it's you get the instant reaction after a game, whether it's we've just spanked spanked Rotherham United and all's rosy in the garden, or you've got this weekend where, you know, we lost three one, we're kind of lucky to get one, and you know, really weren't in the game at all. It's those two games could not be further apart, yet it was the same set of players and they were within a week of each other. this is League Two football and it's about I've said it at the start of the show, it's consistency. As close it consistency has to be the thing we've got to trend towards as best we can. You know, if we we're gonna lose games. I think we said this earlier in the season on the pod, we we will lose games and we're showing that we can lose games. But as long it's how we react after each of those losses, if we can bounce back, steady the ship, and as you say, if we've got we've got the opportunity here with two home games to do that. The worry comes If we have a bad week. and because the games are coming thick and fast, and this is where I was talking about it being a short week, if things start to go off the rails a little bit, momentum is a big thing in sport, right? If and whether you're winning, whether you're losing. So we get we get spanked on Saturday. If something goes wrong on Tuesday, then we've got only a few days on the training pitch before we back out there on Saturday against another decent side. It's it's all about trying to tryna control the momentum and making sure that we're being as positive of front foot as we can because if things start to go off the rails, the nature of our fan base at times at home is that they can be quite unforgiving. and have given how things have been in previous seasons, you just want you you just hope that they'll stick with the players, we'll keep things rolling as best we can. If we don't get two great results this week that It isn't doom and gloom and the season's over before we get to the end of October. Do you know what I mean? Not at all. And I said that at the weekend. I said beating Rotherham four one and and beating Rochdale and and Trammere and Bristol Rovers didn't mean we're not going to get doesn't mean we're going to get promoted. But but losing at York, getting beat on Saturday doesn't mean we can't get promoted. It's it's one of them. And I think Saturday was the first one this season where we were really bad for the entire ninety minutes. Like you said about Asterisk. There was an asterisk against Walsall. We were better than them for eighty minutes collapsed. It happens. The the asterisky of the York game was the red card. All right, we were second best, but we were still in the game at seventy minutes until Alburus got the red and then it quickly ran away from us. Saturday was the first one where from first whistle to last we were absolutely bobbins and got thoroughly got exactly what we deserved, and that was absolutely nothing. But at the same time, the games we've won this season, we thoroughly deserve to win all four of Let me ask you a question. Like I've Yeah, a few years ago I worked in PR for a little bit and the things that you say as a as a a public figure, especially when you're talking to a a sort of a dedicated audience, like a a group of football fans, everything you say as a manager gets analysed. You've seen a l the the long run up to this question. Gareth Ainsworth came out and and we know he's a super positive guy and I I that's one of the things I like about him. And he talks about not being too high and not being too low. And I think that's great. That's a very common thing that that that people in sport work with. Did he get a little bit ahead of himself and get a little bit too high when talking about the quality of the squad? I'm not saying the quality of the squad isn't good, but for him to turn around and say, I think I've got the best squad in the league, does that not immediately A put additional pressure on his own team? B put additional pressure on himself, and C Potentially, if there are any people within his squad who are prone to the occasional delusions of grandeur, does it not potentially send them the wrong kind of message as well? Or is this just was this just someone who's just let his his exuberance and enthusiasm get the better of him a little bit? I think we have got a ho a a reasonably good squad for the division. Is it the best in the division? I couldn't tell you. But to me, it's Sounded as soon as I heard it, I'm like, you're making a rod for your own back here. what was your what was your reaction to that when you heard it? And what you know, what's your view on the fact that the soon as he said that, the very next result is we go out and get walloped away from home in a game that we were barely in? I didn't even flinch when he said it. I'm not saying that now, just just for the sake of saying it. I genuinely didn't flinch. And then it only came to light when everyone started coming in it Saturday afternoon at five o'clock when we'd been beat. So if it had been such a big deal, my question is why did no one post on social media Thursday, Friday or Saturday morning? hindsight's a wonderful thing because it's never wrong. I've got no issue with Gareth Ainsworth coming. And again, we talk about asterisks. I think he said best squad in the division when everybody's fit. We have about seven or eight players that are not fit at the moment. So I don't think we're quite there in terms of current status. And we probably won't get there because that's the nature of football. You never get everybody available at the same time. I've got no issue with him being super positive like that. Like you said, that's his character. As long as he's equal in his criticism, when that is deserved as well. And I thought his post match on Saturday was absolutely spot on. He said that was a horrible flashback to last season. We were second best all over the park. We got bullied. He doesn't want to see it again and it was nowhere near good enough. So as long as he's consistent in terms of his praise and his criticism, no issue from me. Yeah. That's that's fair. That's fair. I mean, maybe maybe it's 'cause as a sailor I've I've I've worked in situations where you have to run these especially when you're putting statements out and things. And obviously he was talking off the cuff, right? But you when you're putting statements out and things, you you you second guess everything. all the time. I'm I'm an overthinker by you know, th to a fault anyway, which is not helpful personally. But i i you know, I am. But it means that when when you say or do anything, it's a case of right, okay, how is this going to be perceived? How's this going to be sort of grabbed on by pcause as a football manager, you know that people either love you or hate you. You know, there there's very little ambivalence involved in football. So And and he's he's had to go through a fair bit of negativity to get to this point and things have started to pick up, which is which is brilliant. I I heard that and I I th my immediate thought was well it wasn't what an outlandishly ridiculous thing to say. I didn't think that. My thought was more from a defensive standpoint. Like if I was in charge of sort of the brand Gillingham Football Club, I'd I'd be thinking, My God, don't do that to yourself. You know, d I understand that you're putting out a positive message. It's like sometimes you're putting yourself out there to be shot at. And in America they call it bulletin board material where you might say something and it gets it gets sort of conflated to say something else. So by saying I've got the best squad in the league or I think I've got the best squad in the league, the very next manager's like, Hey lads, this guy thinks his squad's better than ours. Let's guess let's go show him what this is all about. and it's you you you're doing teams, team talks for them sometimes. But That wasn't where he was coming from, but it's just my my my natural reaction to seeing it was I understand where he's coming from and I get it and I appreciate the positivity and I love it. But also I know that sometimes that can that can be turned against you very, very easily in this game, whether it's through cynicism, whether it's through smart management from the opposition, or whether it's through people who have other agendas who want to get him out. Do you know what I mean? I just think it was one that just made me think, mm. Would I have preferred that he didn't say that publicly quite so emphatically, yeah, maybe. No, I understand it, and and we all see things different at the end of the day, don't we? That's that's the beauty of it. And otherwise we wouldn't be able to do these type of podcasts, because if we just sat here and agreed with each other for half hour, no one would listen. But no, the the thing for me, like I say, is if it is as long as he does both to an equal level, then I've got no issue with it. I can understand what people are saying from the other point of view. But like you said, that's that's Gareth Ainsworth, isn't it? That's and and if you can't praise your squad and big after a four one away with, which is when it came, the comment, and after you've had a good start to the season where you'd only lost twice in ten games and you were fourth at kickoff at the time, when can you praise them? That is that is fair comment. That is fair comment. And and what I would say is, just to pick up on something that you mentioned earlier earlier on, he was bang on. in his post fight comments. I thought I think he he came out and said, Look, we cannot have that again. That was Simon's doing his other job there, go people. Simon's doing his other job then. Did I do it again? You said post fight comments. man. We're gonna have to have a little counter going 'cause that's twice I've done the but dear. But yeah, yeah. It's it's one of them where Matt was right, you said. Carry on. Matt was right, just keep talking. It's right. Yeah, yeah. He was absolutely Matt was absolutely bang on. Yeah, no, it's but the the post match match comments, he was he was absolutely spot on in terms of he went out there and he said, look, this isn't acceptable, this isn't good, this is deja vu a little bit, and we don't need that again. The fact that he he acknowledged that and he he said, I hope it's a blip, which I think reflects how everybody's probably feeling right now, he's in a position where he can address it. And he even actively questioned during his interview. It was almost like he was processing his own thoughts in real time during the during the interview where he said, Maybe I need to look at a few things. Maybe d you know, did I pick the right team? Should I make a few changes? And so on and so on. So I wouldn't be surprised if we see a change or two on tat on Tuesday, rather. it'll be interesting to see where those changes come. I think that Manus coming in is probably a given, assuming he's fit to go. Eve's up top is probably something he's very keen to try. It's those other changes that we've floated on here that I would be less convinced that he'll make, but we'll see. We'll see. You don't want to throw the baby out with a bath water, but making four changes is a significant amount of upheaval from a game. But we did get well beaten, so we shall see. We shall see. It's gonna be interesting. It's it's a later kickoff than normal because we're on s on big sky this weekend. So it's eight PM rather than the usual seven forty five, where they're getting you know, we're catching the the the prime time T V audience that'll be tuning in for Jills versus Portvale. But yeah, it's gonna be it's gonna be an interesting one. Is is our f it's our first one under the lights this year that isn't a cup game? I think it is a first league one, isn't Yeah. So fingers crossed we get a good turnout pick. No, it's not no Chesterfield away was under the lights. so yeah, I I was thinking at home because I'm a part timer, right? Sorry, yeah, at home first. Yeah. Sorry, yep. Yeah, deadline day, wasn't it? Deadline Day was under L'Alight Chesterfield at the Shake My Head Stadium. Yeah. Portville Tuesday, Grimsby Saturday. So we'll have a lot to unpack by the time we're next next on this podcast on on Blood, Sweat and Jills. and it's gonna be a busy week for for you, Matt, as well. You've got your double duty prepping for these two games, right? Yeah, obviously got match day live Tuesday night, looking forward to that one. And then that means recording for the match preview gets moved to Wednesday, so it'll all be done in one evening. Record, edit, upload well I say edit, but I don't edit it. If there's any mistakes, you get to watch them. and then yeah, all all all roads lead to to Grimsby at home on Saturday, which will be nice. I like away days. but yeah, it's been two fairly early starts, so be quite thankful for the lay in on Saturday and can yeah, just Nice leisurely drive over to the price field about one ish, which would be quite good. So yeah, fingers crossed for two positive results. We're we're still going along okay. Still cautiously optimistic. Yeah, one hundred percent. And and before before we completely wrap up, give yourself a bit of a pat on the back. You've you've hit some landmarks with the with the channel, right? With the Jules in the Blood channel. You put something out on social media, it's all been going pretty well, right? Yeah, and that's that's that's not me, that's that's a big thank you to everyone else. numbers since pre season have been an absolutely phenomenal. Like probably sort of average views per video is more than doubled what it has been throughout the duration of what's nearly a decade of doing it now. February is the is the landmark. so fingers crossed we're still cautiously optimistic when that day comes around. but yeah, just a just a big thank you to everyone who watches, who shares, who comments, who likes, who hypes, who subscribes and does all the good stuff, whether they agree or disagree, I've always said it's done the right way, I'll debate until the cows come home and and then absolutely love it. And yeah, just a big thanks to everyone. It's I love doing it. I'm really enjoying doing it this season and and fingers crossed that continues. Saturday was a setback, but that's all it was at the moment. But yeah, just a a big thanks to everybody because Yeah. All roads to five K, which is is absolutely astonishing. That's great. It's great. And the fact, you know, I mean, you could be pumping all this content out and people will only subscribe to it and consume it if they like it. And you know, the fact that they are, that's an endorsement for what you're doing, mate. So long may it continue and hopefully anybody who's listening to this that hasn't already subscribed, I'd be very surprised if there are many who listen to this who don't. If you don't, get over to YouTube. Do the right thing, hit the subscribe button and check out all of Matt's content on Jills and the Blood TV on YouTube. That is all we have on Blood Sweat and Gills this week. Check out Jules365.news for all of your Gillingham FC coverage. We have a free newsletter that goes out every Monday, every Friday. The hatchery comes out every Friday before the Jills weekend game. We have the one two that comes out every Monday, which I will be dealing with this evening because I've been out all weekend. That will come out this evening. That just puts a bow on the weekends action. we'll chuck a little bit of preview content in there for Tuesday as well. check out everything on the site as well. The the two newsletters are free. Go on there, you can check that out. And if you want to subscribe and get the full coverage, you are more than welcome to do so. That is Blood, Sweat, and Jills. This podcast, by the way, is a Jills 365 podcast. You can get us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify. Audible Amazon music and you can get us direct from the Jills 365 website as well. And wrapped in with those podcast feeds, you also get Gilles 365 voice notes, which I think is the most authentic podcast you can get anywhere because there is no BS, there is no fluff, it's just the fans telling you exactly what they're thinking in the moment, leading into games, at games, after games. It's I think it's the best content we do at Jill Street C5 because it's the most authentic content you can get. So please do check out the Voice Notes podcast as well when you get the chance. That's all we got on Blood Sweat and Gills this week. Two games this week. Port Vale at home, Grimsby Town at home. Let's see if we can get four points. Could we get six points? Let's just get some points. Get back on the board and get things moving. Two games enjoyed them this week. And until next time, up the chills.