Anything Less Than Promotion Is A Failure

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Note: I am using LFCMarshall's Summer2012 Transfer Update for this saved game.

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Another Mad Dog Moment

In another moment of madness from 'Mad Dog' Martin Allen he has quit Gillingham FC after being in charge for less than a month, taking over this summer. With just a month to the start of the Football League season there is hardly any time for the chairman to appoint a new manager and let him make his mark on the team before the season kicks off.

Interesting Choice For New Gills Manager

In what must be described as a panic appointment Gillingham chairman Paul Scally has appointed local coach Jamie Willis as the new Gillingham manager. With little experience of managing a team many fans believe this was a panic appointment and a 'cheap' option. Willis is a regular in the stands at the Priestfield Stadium and having expressed his delight at being named Gills manager he said that he would be 'doing everything he can to ensure success at the club he loves'.

Squad

Unfortunately due to not having an assistant manager I cannot produce a team report for my current squad. This is very frustrating as I cant begin to build a squad that is capable of promotion as I do not know how good my current players are.

Staff

After looking at various details of the club given to me by Mr Scally I noticed that the back room staff was a little thin on the ground. The most notable thing that I noticed was that I currently do not have a assistant manager to help give me any help or guidance. I also noticed that the club had no type of scouting set up. I thought for a professional club that this was poor as I am keen to have someone travel around the country to try and find potential stars for the club.

Transfers

Having been in charge since the end of last season Martin Allen had already brought in a number of players to the squad which gave me a limited budget for this season. The transfer budget that Mr Scally has given me is £15,000 with a wage budget of £25,533. The current wage budget of the squad is £24,667 which leaves me with £866 per week to spend on improving the squad.

Pre Season Fixtures

Before the shock departure of Martin Allen a pre season fixture list had been put together to his specifications. Although the fixtures put together would have been a good work out for my side I decided to cancel all the fixtures so I could set up my own fixtures. The fixtures that I have arranged are;

Sun 10/07/11 – Worcester (Away)
Thu 14/07/11 – Eastbourne Boro (Away)
Mon 18/07/11 – Basingstoke (Away)
Fri 22/07/11 – Cardiff (Home)
Tue 26/07/11 – Brighton (Home)
Sat 30/07/11 – Farnborough (Away)

I shall update at the end of pre season then at the end of every month within the game.

#MadDogsBarmyArmy​
 
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Pre Season

Results

Sunday 10th July 2011
Pre Season Friendly
Worcester 2 – 2 Gillingham
Elvins (39) Burton (6)
Bertram (87) Weston (58)


Thursday 14th July 2011
Pre Season Friendly
Eastbourne Boro 0 – 1 Gillingham
Weston (7)


Monday 18th July 2011
Pre Season Friendly
Basingstoke 1 - 6 Gillingham
Pratt (23) Burton (2, 43)
Findley (15, 20, 45+1)
Kedwell (53)


Friday 22nd July 2011
Pre Season Friendly
Gillingham 1 – 1 Cardiff
Burton (Pen 15) Conway (17)


Tuesday 26th July 2011
Pre Season Friendly
Gillingham 0 – 2 Brighton
Hammond (42, 55)


Saturday 30th July 2011
Pre Season Friendly
Farnborough 0 – 1 Gillingham
Strevens (84)


Staff

Like stated in the introduction above I needed to set about improving the back room staff at the club. I started to do this by appointing 32 year old Alan Scott as my assistant manager. I was keen to get Alan on board as his man management skills were of a high level and he favours an attacking style of play which I am trying to encourage. Because of this I released one of my coaches Ashley Lawrence. I had to pay £10,000 in compensation but it was a price worth paying as he wasn’t up to the standard that I expected.

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I also managed to appoint the experienced Ian Bowyer as my new head scout. The 60 year old has a vast range of experience in football and is a welcome addition to the back room staff at the club.

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A little later on in pre season I decided to look for another coach to add numbers to my back room staff. I appointed Geoff McGregor as a coach who will be able to help first team and youth team players. He will also be able to prove great assistance to my assistant during training.

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Transfers

After looking through my squad I decided to put Danny Jackman on the transfer list. This was because I already had quite a few central midfielders and for someone who was going to sit on the bench £1,500 was a lot to pay each week in wages. I decided to accept an offer from Wrexham who he joined for£7,000 with another £500 being paid per month for the next 24 months. Even though it wasn’t as much as I was hoping for it was still a good deal for the club.

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After the English trialist's day I decided to sign highly rated 19 year old Republic of Ireland centre midfielder Daryn Hennessy. Although unlikely to break into the first team straight away the ex Chelsea, Bristol City and Woking player is being talked about as a potential Championship midfielder in the future.

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Just after the last pre season game against Farnborough I signed young Middlesbrough defender Bruno Pilatos on a free transfer. Even though he is only 18 I think he will provide great competition to current right back Matt Fish.

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I also signed another young defender in Hull's Conor Townsend. He is going to be in the same position as Bruno as he will provide great competition for Joe Martin along with another young left back Joe Carter.

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Other News

Even before the first pre season game had kicked off I suffered some bad news regarding injury’s. Young right back Jack Evans broke down in training believed to have been suffering from a hernia. Because of this he shall be out of action for between 5-6 weeks which will mean he will miss all of pre season.

In the Capital One Cup First Round I was drawn away at Crystal Palace. The game will take place on Wednesday 10th August 2011.

As Martin Allen hadn’t appointed a captain it was up to me to decide who I wanted to have lead my team. After some debating and a couple of conversations with my assistant I decided to appoint central defender Adam Barrett and my new captain. I also appoint Charlie Lee as my vice captain. Both players I believe will be able to lead my team well on the pitch.

Before the first game of the season against Dagenham & Redbridge there manager John Still stated that if we can get a good result against them we would be strong contenders for promotion. This statement was echoed by Chesterfield manager Peter Reid and Rochdale's John Coleman.​
 
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August 2011

Results
Saturday 6th August 2011
Npower League 2
Gillingham 0 – 3 Dagenham & Redbridge
Agdestein (46)
Flanagan OG (75)
Green (79)

Wednesday 10th August 2011
Capital One Cup 1st Round
Crystal Palace 4 – 2 Gillingham
Goodwillie (3, 31, 82) Findley (13, 33)
Murray (37)

Saturday 13th August 2011
Npower League 2
Barnet 3 – 0 Gillingham
Edgar (25)
Stephens (63)
Nurse (72)

Tuesday 16th August 2011
Npower League 2
Gillingham 2 – 1 Wycombe
Johnson OG (65) Logan (Pen 71)
Burton (90+2)

Saturday 20th August 2011
Npower League 2
Rochdale 1 – 3 Gillingham
Frampton OG (29) Burton (1)
Barrett (45+2)
Findley (70)

Saturday 27th August 2011
Npower League 2
Gillingham 4 – 1 Burton
Findley (27, 36, 45+1, 58) Richards(80)

Tuesday 30th August 2011
Johnstone's Paint Trophy Southern Section 1st Round
Gillingham 2 – 0 MK Dons
Miller (6)
Findley (48)

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Other News

After conversations with my assistant I offered promising young right midfielder/striker Ashley Miller his first professional contract. The youngster, currently being tutored by senior right midfielder Chris Whelpdale has been a regular on the bench so far making a couple of substitute appearances. Ashley repaid the faith shown in him by scoring the opener in the 2-0 win against MK Dons picking up the Man Of The Match award too

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Loanee David Wright suffered a broken arm in the game against Rochdale. He will be out for around 6-7 weeks. He is reported as our best central midfielder which is a major blow to our chances of climbing up the table.

As a reward for playing well Deon Burton has been called up to the Jamaican national team for there games against Ecuador and Colombia on September 2nd and 6th. Deon has scored 2 goals so far from 3 starts with an average rating of 7.13.

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Robbie Findley rounded of an excellent month for the club by setting a new Gillingham record with his 4 goals in the game against Burton. Findley currently has 7 goals in 6 appearances and is the current Gills top goalscorer.

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In another bit of individual good news Robbie Findley and Myles Weston where both included in the team of the week after a brilliant display in the 4-1 win over Burton.

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Keep up good work. Not bad start results wise. How's Danny Kedwell doing so far?
 
Keep up good work. Not bad start results wise. How's Danny Kedwell doing so far?

Danny isn't rated highly by my assistant (2 stars) so has been sitting on the bench for the first month of the season. He has made 2 starts (1 league, 1 cup) and 2 substitute appearances (both league) failing to score in any of the four games. Here's a screenshot of his current form.

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