It has been an odd feeling during the last couple of weeks, having to make do with no Gills fix due to frozen pitches while six thousand miles away I am battling forty degree heat in South America. I’ve not quite known what to do with myself.
Given the shambolic nature of our last few performances I think saying I have had withdrawal symptoms would be going a bit far, but I have missed not having a game to tune into nonetheless. Much like I’ve missed my girlfriend whining at me; it’s not particularly enjoyable but a weekend is not complete without it.
Thankfully, at the time of writing, it appears as though tonight’s game will go ahead. I say thankfully because I’m not sure that I have been looking forward to a Gillingham game as much as this one for quite some time. Not just because sitting down in front of an internet stream to actually watch the game will make a refreshing change from my usual ritual of pacing the room whilst banging my head against the wall at Peter Lloyd tempting fate once again, but also because tonight’s game represents a real chance to turn our season around.
Because while the freezing temperatures and frosty pitches may have been driving us as fans mad, perhaps they have been just what was needed for the players to rediscover a bit of sanity. Since the Accrington debacle both Andy Hessenthaler and Andy Frampton have stated their desire to ‘put things right’. With two consecutive postponements they have had more than enough time on the training ground and in team meetings to put the foundations in place.
For the past few weeks we have been doing a remarkably good impression of a pub team, and a poor one at that. What better time to try and convince everybody that we are in fact a professional outfit than in front of the television cameras on Monday night?
If we are serious about challenging for promotion then now is the time to show it. We cannot afford to put it off any longer. We have already used up all of our lives. This unplanned winter break simply must serve as a turning point in our season.
Things may look pretty bleak as we currently sit in 10th; yet winning what is effectively our game in hand tonight would see us climb back into the play-offs, albeit until tomorrow night. Other teams have proven recently how dramatically things can change in just a few weeks. Accrington have climbed from mid-table to just outside the play-offs. Torquay have shot from just outside the play-offs to a whisker away from the top three.
Tonight’s game will be the first of five that Gillingham are due to play in just over two weeks. Four of those games are at home. The players must be chomping at the bit to pull their boots on again, having had plenty of time to reflect on the things they have been doing badly and remember the things that they do well. If they can channel that into stringing a run of results together, starting tonight, then it is not too late to turn things around.
It is certainly a good time to be playing Southend. After Friday night’s 2-0 home loss to Rotherham Paul Sturrock threatened to drop the entire team. Having lost three and drawn one of their last four games, the Shrimpers look like they might be at the start of the slump that many people predicted after their fantastic start to the season. They do however still occupy the final automatic promotion spot. If we can beat them tonight, and if we can win our two games in hand after that, then we will only be three points behind them.
But that is a lot of ifs. And, as I am sure you all are, I am sick of ifs and buts. Let’s stop rearranging our recovery and actually get on with it. Otherwise this past fortnight twiddling our thumbs has all been for nothing. Sky are in town. Paulo is in goal. Super Bob is in the Rainham End. It should be an occasion to remember. Let’s get this show on the road!
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