Although you probably wouldn’t think it looking at the league table, Gillingham fans are likely to be relatively pleased with their season so far as we enter the busy Christmas period.

The Blues sit 13th in the League One table at the time of writing. It was a tough start, but the side have excelled in the last few weeks, and the only way they’re looking is up.

The season has endured some tough results: 3-0 away at Oxford, 3-0 at home to Rotherham, 1-0 away to Wimbledon. 

There have, however, also been some cracking results: 2-0 at home to table-topping Wycombe (their only league loss of the season so far), 1-0 away at Accrington, and most recently, two 1-0 wins at home to Sunderland.

The first of those wins came in the FA Cup. The team reached the fourth round of the competition last season, and they’re already in the third round of this year’s episode – their reward an illustrious home tie against three time winners and Premier League big boys West Ham United. That’s a big tick.

Although the Gills exited the Leasing.com Trophy and Carabao Cup at the first time of asking, the recent league form and FA Cup run have made the season so far a success.

The Gills fans were no strangers to new manager Steve Evans (although some probably wished they were), and some still aren’t happy with him being manager of their club. The Scot has, though, managed to get the majority of the fan base on side, and he’s starting to work his magic – it was always going to take time.

Perhaps the most pleasing thing about performances this season has been the defence. There’s a new goalkeeper in Jack Bonham, who has arguably surpassed Tomas Holy’s legacy at Gillingham already, but, apart from him, pretty much all of the defence was already at the club.

Max Ehmer has taken the captain’s armband this season and has proved to be a successful ever present at the back. Connor Ogilvie, who signed permanently in the summer after two years on loan, started in the middle but has gone back to left back, which has been a resounding success. Jack Tucker has come through the academy to be one of the first names on the team sheet, and we all know about veteran Barry Fuller.

Southampton loan-boys Tom O’Connor and Alfie Jones have slotted in when required, amongst the likes of Lee Hodson and rarely seen Bradley Garmston, but the work Evans and his assistant Paul Raynor have done on the training ground with the defence is clear as day for all to see.

Last season Gillingham conceded an average of 1.6 goals per game in the league. This season, so far, they’ve conceded 1.1 goals per game – a significant improvement.

Arguably the main issue, however, in this Gillingham team is scoring goals. Tom Eaves scored 22 goals last season and left for Championship football in the summer. He was never really replaced.

Work horse Brandon Hanlan has been a star up top, but he doesn’t seem to have found a partner. Mikael Mandron (three goals), Mikael Ndjoli (three goals) and Alex Jakubiak (six goals) have all been tried and tested, but one feels that natural goalscorer is needed to take the team to the next level. That could, and hopefully will, happen in January.

Whilst, on paper, it may seem like Gillingham have provided an average, boring season so far, it’s actually been far from it. The Steve Evans train is rolling, and it promises to be a big 2020 for Kent’s only Football League club.