"Hopefully they'll gel sooner rather than later"
By Jack Nolan
August 18 2007
Gillingham manager Ronnie Jepson gives his views following Gillingham's dissapointing two goals to nothing defeat to Tranmere Rovers at the krbs Priestfield Stadium. The Gillingham boss believed that Tranmere deserved the victory, and praised striker David Graham for his performance despite carrying a groin strain.
Speaking about the game, boss Ronnie Jepson said: "I thought we started off very nervous. We looked a bit lacklustre at times. That may have been because we were a bit nervous. We looked a yard short at time and we were waiting for things to happen rather than make them happen. The first goal, we lost a 50/50 ball in the middle of the park when Andy Crofts has gone up for the header and the ball has gone forward. I think we lost too many 50/50s in key areas of the pitch today.
"The second-half, we jigged it about a bit and the boys were up for it. We had a couple of good chances in the first-half and David Graham would've scored that chance to make it one-all nine times out of ten. We kept at it and kept going but the second goal absolutely killed us. It was a bad goal to concede, it was too easy and was very poor defending from that right-hand side; you cannot allow teams to do that. You're then asking a lot from your players to come back from two-nil."
The Gills boss thought that the second goal was a very soft one to concede, and also praised his players for their performances despite not getting the results. "I would say that Tranmere Rovers deserve the three points without a shadow of a doubt. I wouldn't say their second goal was a good one as we just let them walk through and it was poor defending from my team. The first goal, it was great movement but it initially came from the 50/50 where we lost it in the box. Chris Shuker is on the move and Chris Greenacre is a good player. With Calvin Zola also up front, the combination works well. Their link-up play is good and that is what we lacked a little bit today. Before you get that combination and link-up play, you need good service and you need to pass the ball better than we did at times today. You need to move the ball a lot quicker as there were too many touches at times and that enabled them to regroup and set their stall out.
"To give the lads credit, they kept going and going and we had some half-chances. At this moment in time, and as people saw at Watford, it is just not going into the net for us. We have got to stick at it. With the chances we had, when it is your day, one or two of them go in. You need to be big enough and brave enough to get on the end of them and show a bit of composure. We lacked that little bit of devilment in our play today. We were on the back foot far too much today and weren't picking up the second balls enough for my liking. I didn't have too much room for manoeuvre on the bench to turn it around but the lads are not feeling sorry for themselves. You don't panic but you don't go burying your head in the sand either. You cannot go hiding from problems. We will regroup and hopefully we'll come back stronger."
"To give the lads credit, they kept going and going and we had some half-chances. At this moment in time, and as people saw at Watford, it is just not going into the net for us. We have got to stick at it. With the chances we had, when it is your day, one or two of them go in. You need to be big enough and brave enough to get on the end of them and show a bit of composure. We lacked that little bit of devilment in our play today. We were on the back foot far too much today and weren't picking up the second balls enough for my liking. I didn't have too much room for manoeuvre on the bench to turn it around but the lads are not feeling sorry for themselves. You don't panic but you don't go burying your head in the sand either. You cannot go hiding from problems. We will regroup and hopefully we'll come back stronger."
Jepson revealed that Gillingham striker David Graham was carrying an injury, and praised the striker for still being able to win the matchday sponsor's Man of the Match award. "I've got to give David Graham credit for today though as he has been struggling with a groin strain. He played for me today and I didn't think he would last the 90 minutes. He did see out the game though and all credit to the lad. I don't think the strikers got the greatest of service and I think they made some chances off their own back today. I thought we could've played the ball a little better at times, especially in the middle of the park. David Graham comes off well, he knits things together and that is what I brought him here to do. He'll also score you goals as well. We never got the ball into the right areas. It was too much up in the air and around the waist. I want the ball on the floor and I want it to be passed; we didn't do that at times today."
Jepson also said that the new players still had to gel and that Gary Mulligan has a good chance of making The Gills trip to Luton next Saturday. "Gary Mulligan has had a scan and luckily nothing has come up. His ankle is swollen so hopefully he can come back next Saturday for Luton. We haven't spoken about them as yet but we will do tomorrow morning and Monday. I need to get my lads on board and make them aware what we are trying to achieve here. As for having a go, I cannot fault them, but that is a pre-requisite for me. It is the quality and taking the bull by the horns; I never saw enough of that today from my players. I need to instil that confidence into them. They are gelling together and I've signed ten new players over the summer. Hopefully they'll gel sooner rather than later.
"I'm still looking to bring players in and Ronnie Moore just said to me that he wasn't too worried at half-time as he didn't think we had a lot to change it with. I understand where he is coming from. We're in the market for players and trying to get them down here and hopefully thing will come to fruition. I need a bit of competition in the middle of the park as they're not doing enough for me in there at this moment in time. I am pleased with some aspects but I'm not pleased with other aspects and we need a little more strength in there at times."
"I'm still looking to bring players in and Ronnie Moore just said to me that he wasn't too worried at half-time as he didn't think we had a lot to change it with. I understand where he is coming from. We're in the market for players and trying to get them down here and hopefully thing will come to fruition. I need a bit of competition in the middle of the park as they're not doing enough for me in there at this moment in time. I am pleased with some aspects but I'm not pleased with other aspects and we need a little more strength in there at times."
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