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Coleman wants Gills to be more of a threat
Coleman wants Gills to be more of a threat

Gillingham head north this weekend to John Coleman’s “patch” as they make the trip to Prenton Park to face Tranmere Rovers with the new boss still looking for a first win and goal from his side.  

Coleman reflected on Saturday’s defeat to Doncaster Rovers and told KSN, “We started really brightly before we conceded an absolutely calamitous goal, it sapped the energy out of the fans let along the players. The fans could have been forgiven for thinking “here we go again!” or “same horse, different jockey!”

“I’m trying to say that things don’t change overnight, but really it must, and change quite quickly! We have to get ourselves to be more of a threat, we were for the first thirty minutes without creating too many clear-cut opportunities.

“We have to get more people in the box getting hungry to score, being able to cross the ball, want to cross the ball and realising that there is a reason to cross the ball because at the moment we’re telling them to cross the ball and there is no-one in the box.

“So, we have to get more people into the box and make it uncomfortable for the opposition. I think we did that to a certain extent on Saturday in the first 20 minutes. They were on the book foot before getting the shot of adrenaline by getting the gift of a goal.

“I would like to see us being more of a threat and that’s something we have worked on this week and will continue to work on and that might mean bringing other players in,”

Coleman teased but would not be drawn only adding that there “might” be a new arrival at MEMS Priestfield before the weekend, whilst adding, “They all have opportunities but it’s getting towards the end of January, and I’d still like to bring a couple more in and maybe change the way that we play a little bit!” 

“This League is not just about having good players, it helps, it helps a lot but you have to find a system that suits the players; you have to find a style of play that suits the players. Then you have to get the players motivated to kick on and go the extra mile.  

Looking ahead to the weekend trip to face Tranmere Rovers, Coleman admitted, “They are probably the team that I have seen the most of this season,” the Gills boss conceded.

“They are possibly in a similar vein of form as ourselves a little bit in the doll-drums although they did win their last home game! We’re expecting it to be tough as their fans will be demanding a performance after a couple of defeats on the road but I’ll do a lot more of these before the end of the season and I know that I am going to sound like a broken record because we’re going to be expecting a tough game!

“The fact is most managers say the same thing before a game as you won’t get us saying it’s going to be a cake-walk and dead easy! But it is true that every game you play has its own challenges and it is getting yourself right and I think that a lot of managers are finding in League Two that there is an inconsistency throughout the league as anyone can beat anyone else.

“One of the frustrations League Two managers will be having will be the inconsistency of their own players as it’s hard to get them on a run and the teams that have got themselves on a bit of a run, your Walsall and Salford, you can quickly climb the table and in Walsall’s case put some distance between you and the chasing pack.” 

“But every game you play particularly when you go away from home takes some winning, but it’s definitely achievable, our players have got to know that it is still quite possible to make the play-offs if we can get on a run, but we have to get on it quite quickly if we are going to give ourselves any chance. And that’s not a pipe dream, it is an achievable dream but we have to show I think a little bit more care and be a bit more savvy in certain situations!” 

“The boys have been good in training, but the football manager graveyard is full of managers who have suffered with training ground players!” 

Turning to team news for the weekend, the Gills manager confirmed that both Josh Andrews and Marcus Wyllie will be missing for a while. With Andrews likely to be out for 8-10 weeks as he has PCL. Conor Masterson is also still a way from returning to the squad, but the manager confirmed that new signing Nelson Khumbeni is available after joining from Bolton Wanderers. 


 
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