Adebayo Akinfenwa arrived with a bang on Saturday as he dug Gillingham out of a hole at Priestfield.
He insists he doesn’t want to be used as an “impact sub” but what an impact he made.
I’m sure he’ll get some stick from opposition fans this year for obvious reasons but Cheltenham fans have clearly learned that he is a man to fear.
He put three past them last season and another on Saturday made it an almost-perfect day for the big striker. Just a shame about the result.
See some of Barry Goodwin's pics of the match by clicking here.
I see the Gills fans are busy on the message boards trying to come up with a song for Bayo and he looks like becoming an instant cult figure. In his own words on Saturday he “repaid the love from the fans with a goal” and I can only see this relationship blossoming.
Talking of relationships, it seems that the Dover fraternity have yet to get over Hessenthaler and co’s departure from Crabble. Why anyone would have a problem with wanting to see someone better themselves is beyond me.
Hess did wonders down at Dover and the four fans in the away end at Priestfield on Saturday should be applauding the man rather than carrying on with their petty hatred to all things Gills.
I’m sure Martin Hayes will do a good job at Dover this season and surely it’s about time those supporters got over it! But no doubt Mr Scally will be saying thankyou for the extra £92 that was handed over at the turnstile.
The rest of the 182 visiting fans will certainly have gone home happy. The bookies had them down as relegation faves but they looked decent enough, although had Andy Barcham finished off a few of his silky runs with a decent finish then it could have been a completely different outcome.
Personally I saw enough on Saturday to suggest there is plenty to come from the Gills team, and let’s not forget the players still to come back. Barry Fuller, Garry Richards, Stanley Aborah, Dennis Oli and Cody McDonald. They would all walk into most League 2 teams.
Aborah’s debut was delayed by paper-work, but according to Hess he was ill anyway and might not have featured.
A bug has apparently hit a few other members of the team since the weekend so let's just hope it's not too contagious.
If was great to see Dan Spiller back in action. I heard conflicting views about Spills’ performance on Saturday but personally I thought he looked willing and eager and still has a great eye for a pass. I also had a quick look at his youtube video. If he and Aborah can work their magic this season then they’ll be plenty to look forward to this season.
Some of the fellow journalists asked how he came across when I interviewed him. Well, like most Northern Europeans his English was spot on, and better than mine probably. But my impression was apparently more Chinese than Belgian/African.
We began our search for new Gills Jury members last week and now have a group of fans in place to give their thoughts on how the side will do this season. Everyone though predicted a Gills win on Saturday and it was only our guest Cheltenham fan Steve who went for 1-1. A fiver down the bookies brought him £80 as well! Well done Steve. Let’s see if our Jury can predict the outcome of Saturday’s trip to Hereford.
First up though is a game in Norwich. Simeon Jackson can’t play, as part of a gentleman’s agreement between Hess and their boss Paul Lambert, and Andrew Crofts is also absent now as he is on Wales duty.
How he ended up leaving the Gills for nothing is beyond me. It was sad to see the way he ended his spell at Gills but he’s proved last season at Brighton what a talent he is and I’m sure he will do well in the Championship.
I'm assuming Mr Lambert has remembered the Jackson agreement. In the press conference for the Norwich press on Monday he apparently made no mention of Jackson's unavailability. when asked about Simeon he described him as "fit and well". Could he yet play?
The Benno’s Beat column made its first appearance this week. I have no idea what the “Beat” is for as my shout of “Benno’s Banter” got snubbed by the boss. Mark Bentley will be providing an insight all season and unlike some columns which are ghost written, or sometimes written entirely by a journalist, this is all his own stuff, so I hope you enjoy what he has to say. Feel free to drop me an email with any questions for him.
Let’s hope for a cup upset in Norwich.
1 comment:
Somewhat naive comments re the Dover fans,we're not just some small club you can tell to shut up when you feel like it. We have every right to feel shafted by the poison dwarf, we let him go to his beloved Gills, released him from his contract free of charge as we knew Scally the cheapskate would never pay up. And how does he reward us? Systematically rapes the club he said he would do "everything to help" by stealing our new manager, assistant, captain, and academy manager. As for him doing wonders at Dover I think thats a typo for "his budget was a wonder at Dover"
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