The Gills head coach spoke to the press following his side's 1-1 draw against Port Vale on Saturday
Gillingham head coach Adrian Pennock was disappointed with Gillingham’s performance against Port Vale at the MEMS Priestfield Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Remie Streete had headed Port Vale into the lead early on in the second half but Josh Parker, on his Gills debut, powered home a header in the fifth minute of stoppage to earn Gillingham a share of the points.
Pennock labelled the showing as “flat”, but was delighted that the Gills managed to nick a point and also praised the impact of his substitutes.
Pennock on…his frustration at Gillingham’s performance: “It’s a get out of jail card, that’s what it was. It wasn’t good enough. At half-time, I was booing myself, to be fair, out of frustration for the fans.
“I’ve no idea why we were so flat. You go away to Bradford and Sheffield United and put in a performance, but then we come back here and perform like that – it is so, so frustrating.
“Our ball was retention was awful, it wasn’t good enough. You’ve got to die for the cause, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing against. They won every second ball, first and second half, and they were much brighter than us.
“It’s a point. I’m not going to try and kid anybody – they can see from themselves what’s happened and it wasn’t a very good performance at all.”
Pennock on…the impact of his substitutes: “There were really good options on the bench and that is what we want.
“Lee [Martin] did really well when he came on. [Josh] Parker has looked really bright in training and the goal will be a big boost for him. We only got [international] clearance for him last night.
“It was a great ball in from Jay [Emmanuel-Thomas] to be fair. He’s got a wand of a left peg and he’s put it on a button and it’s a really good finish.”
Pennock on…Tuesday night’s game against Chesterfield: “We’re fighting for our lives. We’re in a battle, because when you don’t keep clean sheets you’re in trouble.
“That’s four games unbeaten now, and it’s a massive game on Tuesday. If we don’t turn up then we’ll lose or draw again.
“They [Chesterfield] are not going to roll over, and we have to be better.”
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