Before Saturday's game our panel of Gillingham fans were unanimous in their pre-match predictions, saying their team would beat Lincoln at Priestfield but it all went horribly wrong. Below is a selection of views.

ALEX SARSON (Wellingborough)

Lost and clueless. It reminded me very much of last season if I’m honest. It was a clear case of having the one idea of thump long to Bayo and hope he flicks it on, and when that clearly wasn’t working keep trying anyway. Maher was a waste of space for his time on the pitch and the only advice I have for him is retire, as good as a player as he has been in the past for Southend and us on occasion, he now looks out of touch. Curtis injected something into the midfield but he clearly wasn’t hundred per cent and maybe it would’ve been time for at least a fit Trigger to make a cameo appearance instead?

Saying that, it’s three games in league wise, so it isn’t all doom and gloom. We don’t want to be losing home games but we have, so it is time to learn from the mistakes and focus on the game at Morecambe, once again trying to get rid of the away day hoodoo. Hopefully some players will be back and give some more competition to the squad, as there are some places up for grabs after the Lincoln game.

PAUL BLAKELEY(Maidstone)

I don’t think that wasn’t the game any of us were expecting. We were appalling in the first half - Lincoln looked brighter, Gillingham ‘cast off’ Jarrett was running the show. Julian will be disappointed with his save to his shot just to palm it forwards, even if it was swirling a bit. However the lack of any of our defenders reacting was just depressing to watch.

For the rest of the half we proceeded to be pretty bad. Hoofing high balls up to Akinfenwa, no one supporting him, and an oh so slow midfield pairing of Maher and Bentley. No coincidence we improved as soon as those two went off. We instantly looked better with Spiller in the middle and Payne (pictured) and Rooney helping out Akinfenwa. Also we started to hit the balls to Akinfenwa on his chest, so we could actually knock it around a bit.

The second half performance was much better and bar for a good save and the post we’d have got an equaliser. Someone needs to tell our full-backs to overlap and Nutter needs a stern talking to as he was a contender for worst display. At least Hess’ subs were pro-active and we’ll look better when we can play two strikers up top regularly. Lets hope that was a blip, but for some people to say it’s the ‘worst performance’ they’ve ever seen is a farce, how soon they forget some of the shotless games we had under Jepson and Stimson.

MELISSA GUTHRIE (Rochester)

The game against Lincoln was an insight into what teams will try to do all season when they come to Priestfield. Lincoln defended, gave us no room to manoeuvre and hoped to nick a goal. Gillingham lacked pace in the first half, and the heart they showed against Cheltenham and Hereford seemed to slip away after conceding so early. Our midfield players were slow to pass and looked lost at times. Their performance improved in the second half, especially after the introduction of Weston and Rooney.

The final 10 minutes of pressure were too late to grab a goal back though and perhaps the substitutions should have been made sooner.

What was most upsetting though was booing by the fans. We have a new manager, new players, and loads of injuries. Losing at home hurts, but we need time to gel, and booing does nothing to help the situation.

MARK FELLOWES (Ashford)

The most frustrating of afternoons as the Gills gifted Lincoln their first points of the season. The Imps went ahead through a goal that shouldn’t have gone in, then killed the game for the remaining 80 minutes. These tactics were immensely frustrating as Gillingham struggled to break down the 10 men behind the ball. When they did, Spiller was taken out and given nothing and Akinfenwa hit the post. Just not the Gills day.

JULIAN HART (Canterbury)

Disappointingly we stayed with the same 4-5-1 formation for the game and this gave Bayo too much to do, he has shown his best of his game with another attacker up-front, playing the lone man his flicks and passes go nowhere. I can see the pros of having a defensive centre midfield player to provide cover but this player has to be an attacking minded player too. Maher killed any attacks we made from the back. He demanded the ball so often then played it back along the defence rather than looking forward to make a break. A defensive midfielder should be marking and tracking the opposition’s attack, he stood off Jarrett who was then able to get the shot in before Lincoln tapped in the rebound. I think Maher missed the point of the ironic applaud he got when he was subbed. The sooner we have Jack Payne back the better.

When Rooney came on and we went 4-4-2 we looked better, but still second best to Lincoln. It should have been set out like that from the start. Hessy (pictured) was at fault for the defeat yesterday and if we see more performances like that it could be a long hard season.

Only positive came at the end of the game, hearing Barnet lost 7-0. With three away games on the bounce it will be interesting to see if the defeat yesterday rubs off on travels?

PETE BRUDENELL (Brixton)

Unfortunately it was another frustrating performance from the Gills, with the lack of goals and number of chances an issue. Despite some individually encouraging performances from the likes of Spiller and young Rooney when he came on, on the whole it was disappointing. On another note, I personally don’t like it when certain players are made scapegoats when there were a number of poor individual performances on show. As always, I’m remaining confident for the coming weeks and with the likes of Jack Payne and Cody Mac (pictured) getting back to full fitness, I’m sure we’ll get some wins under our belt.

And from Lincoln supporter...CHRIS ASHTON

I was delighted that we got the three points. Both sides had their injuries before the match and altered formations because of it and I thought the experience of Ian Pearce and Jamie Clapham made it difficult for Gillingham. The first goal was always going to be vital and we got it. Gillingham did have a lot of the ball but they didn’t really put a terrible amount of pressure on us, there was just that one break when they hit the post. Before that Facey should have made it 2-0 and there was one off the line in the last minute. I’m delighted we’ve got our first win and hopefully that’s just the start.

Pictures: Barry Goodwin.

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