New season, familiar questions
Gillingham have rebuilt their squad, but concerns over goals, experience and injuries remain as the opening games approach
Terrible news, complains our Gillingham FC columnist Ben Hopkins: the football season is almost back. As the countdown to kick-off approaches, here are his thoughts on what to expect.
New faces
After the savage curtain call cull that ended last season, it was inevitable that there would be an influx of new signings.
The arrivals of Kadeem Harris and James Brophy were both encouraging: players who are not only well proven at this level, but that also provide fresh options for the wide positions which were a particular weakness last season. Another impressive signing was goalkeeper Ollie Wright on loan from Southampton, who won two of Accrington’s Player of the Year awards last season - albeit a move tempered by him missing pre-season with injury. Defender Liam Gordon seems like a commanding presence too, having moved down from Scottish Premiership side Motherwell.
Yanked out of the box marked gamble is striker Will Goodwin. Goals have been an issue for Gills for years - no-one has hit double figures since 2021-22! Two years ago, he was rated high enough for Oxford to spend a reported £400,000 on him, but his career appears to have stagnated since. His time on loan at Colchester received positive appraisals from fans despite few goals and, more importantly, he looks as if he’ll be a suitable partner for Ronan Hale should a two-striker strategy be deployed more regularly this season.
Gareth Ainsworth is familiar with another new boy, Nick Freeman, having worked with him at Wycombe. That said, the central midfield positions are pretty congested, his versatility seems to cover the exact same positions as Robbie McKenzie, and he wasn’t a regular last season at fellow strugglers Shrewsbury. My guess is that he’ll be shunted between midfield, right-back and the bench for much of the season. A bit like Robbie McKenzie.
Can Gillingham’s young recruits step up, and has the club done enough to fix its familiar problems? Register for free to keep reading Ben’s verdict on the rebuild, the goalkeeper shortage and a kit that makes him look like a tube of toothpaste.
