Gillingham 0 Tranmere Rovers 1

Match 44/09/796 - Tuesday, 9th February 2010 - League One

Gillingham (0) 0
Tranmere (0) 1 Thomas-Moore 68
Att. 3,840

Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 45/5,275

Match Report

It has taken me three days to sit down and write this particular posting. It hasn’t been apathy, although the wretchedness of the game deserved such a mood, but the wish to see how the following couple of days unfolded.

I was expecting to be writing this on Wednesday morning having learned of the exit of Mark Stimson. It is now Friday and unless there is a monumental about turn by the chairman, the manager will lead Gillingham into Saturday’s trip to Yeovil.

There was seconds of the four minutes of added time remaining when Gillingham were offered, by virtue of a free kick, one last opportunity to salvage a point from the game. What tall lads we have were sent forward and for a fleeting moment there was some expectancy. Chris Palmer delivered the cross straight into the midriff of one of the Tranmere defenders in a two man wall and the opportunity was gone and the final whistle was blown. It was a fitting end to a match of frightening ineptness.

There is absolutely nothing to dwell on regarding this as a game. I thought it humanely impossible for the performance to be worse than the debacle at Brentford, but it was. Luke Rooney, who looked like a little boy lost, had a second half effort strike the bar before Ian Thomas-Moore scored from close range in the 68th minute to win the points for relegation rivals Tranmere.

I’ve long defended Mark Stimson in the face of mounting criticism but Tuesday proved my watershed. Two successive matches where the manner of the defeat rather than the losses themselves have been hard to stomach has altered my opinion.

The chanting for the manager’s head had grown in intensity during the second half and plunged to new depths with the booing of Adam Miller’s introduction as a substitute for Mark Bentley. There is no doubt that Stimson has lost (in fact never had) a big section of the home support and I believe there are people in attendance that actually want Gillingham to lose to justify the poisonous atmosphere they seek to create.

I believe a change of manager was needed immediately before it is too late to rescue the season and the fact that it wasn’t done in the couple of days following the Tranmere defeat might well mean that the chairman goes through to the end of the season with him. If we lose at Yeovil on Saturday and Stimson is sacked that evening what was the point of delaying the decision for one game? If, shock horror, we were to win, are we then in a situation where the next run of poor results culminates in the sack with precious few games in which to retrieve the situation.

If the change was made now, I think it would need to be somebody with an affinity to the club to restore the support of the fan base. Mark Stimson has suffered because he was far from everybody’s choice when he was appointed, his non-league credentials not cutting it with too many people. Personally two names fit the bill, Peter Taylor and Andy Hessenthaler. My theory would involve the new man taking the club through to the end of the season, see where we are at that time and where that person would like to be at the start of next season and that is when contracts would become involved. With Hess presently fully employed at Dover, perhaps this scenario would not be for him, but Peter Taylor is without a job and might fancy the challenge. Is it just coincidence, or scouting duties, that he has been at Priestfield for the last couple of games?

Perhaps it is a good thing that Saturday’s game is at Yeovil. The last away game at Brentford was a short travel and over a 1,000 made the trip including the vociferous element that was never going to take too kindly to a humbling defeat. At Yeovil there is only going to be the faithful couple of hundred and whilst they are not going to take another defeat quietly they are likely to be less confrontational. It could also be that, without the pressure cooker atmosphere at Priestfield, players will feel more confident to put a foot on the ball, take a bit of time and make a pass rather than getting rid of the leather just as fast they possibly can.

I was quietly pleased to have a prior engagement which precludes me from pitching up at the Huish, but whether it a little sadistic or just a curiosity, I’ve a hunch that Saturday afternoon could be very interesting.