Gills Manager full of praise for players and backroom team...
Martin Allen praised the efforts of his players and backroom staff after watching his side beat Bristol Rovers 4-0 on Saturday to remain top of npower League Two.
Danny Kedwell (2), Charlie Lee and Chris Whelpdale scored the goals for the home side and the result means the Gills are now three points clear of nearest challengers Port Vale, who the club travel to this coming Saturday.
Martin paid tribute to the way his squad and staff have applied themselves, but says more can be done to stay top of the pile.
Following the game on Saturday he said:
“There is a lovely honesty about the whole group – they care for each other, they look after each other and we do not have one bad apple, there is no-one who you consider a pain in the backside or is high maintenance.
“They are all decent people, we have 21 or 22 people training on our pitch every day and we are all together, that’s significant to me and it means a lot to me.
“I have to make decisions - I can’t get everyone in the team but there are ways of treating people or talking to people if they are not playing. If you have open, honest communication the players’ respect it and they are treated the same.
“They are all hungry to be part of the success.”
After the game the players underwent their warm down before taking to the swimming pool and ice baths as part of their post-match exercises, and Martin says all of this is contributing to the players’ ever increasing physical condition.
He added: “They are not allowed to leave until they have eaten – a lot of work goes into it so it’s not by luck, I’m proud of all the staff and the playing squad and it’s like sitting at the top of the building and making sure these little bits and pieces are in place.
“The swimming pool has always been here and when Mr. Scally showed me round one Sunday afternoon I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
“They have to use the ice baths – it’s not optional, they have to do it. We’ve now done eight weeks fat testing and not one of our players in that time have gone up with their percentage of body fat in eight/nine weeks.
“Everyone is coming down and that is continuing – that is our first team senior squad of players and that is a fantastic achievement.
“There is not one injury in our squad!”
Turning attention to the game itself Martin said the side did play deeper in the second half, but brought on Myles Weston to ensure the hosts could take advantage going forward.
He said: “We did sit deep for obvious reasons – we were 3-0 up and you need to get everyone behind the ball and we put a centre forward on who can play on the counter attack and we asked them to retain possession rather than threaten to score goals.
“Gaps were then opening up for Weston to get in, which he did. It’s a shame he didn’t get a couple more because that would have been a boost for him.
Finally Martin touched on the impact his two strikers had on the game, particularly Danny Kedwell. He says both he and Deon Burton did well in the match but believes there is plenty more to come from them.
He said: “He [Kedwell] still needs to do better and do more and I said that to both centre forwards after the game.
“Danny Kedwell has a good return so far and everyone in the squad is playing their part but we need to improve and play better than that.
“I took him off because he gave the ball away; it had nothing to do with two goals or a hat-trick. He gave it away on the half line when we should keep it and play to our team.
“The other thing is that we have a really good player in Ben Strevens who has been fantastic in training. He is a good player who has had two promotions in the past few years so it’s good to have him to come on.
“We need to get these people on when they are playing so well in training.”
Martin's side are next in action on Tuesday when Southend visit MEMS Priestfield. Tickets are still available and you can purchase online via - http://www.gillinghamfc.talent-sport.co.uk/PagesPublic/Home/home.aspx