Gillingham head coach Stephen Clemence has demanded a reaction from his team at Bradford City this Saturday after the shambles at Harrogate Town

lcawdell@thekmgroup.co.uk

Published: 05:00, 04 April 2024

Gillingham head coach Stephen Clemence has warned that futures are on the line after witnessing an unacceptable Easter Monday performance.

The Gills went from 1-0 up in the first half at Harrogate to losing 5-1 and seeing the club’s promotion hopes for the season all but extinguished.

Gillingham's first-team head coach Stephen Clemence Picture: @Julian_KPI

More: Clemence ‘disturbed’ by Gillingham performance

Clemence – who scrapped a planned two-day break after Monday’s defeat – accepts they probably have to win their last four games to stand any chance of making the League 2 play-offs.

His side have won just one of their previous seven and head to Bradford City this Saturday knowing it’s now win or bust for the remaining games.

“I need to see a reaction from them,” said Clemence.

“I will get ready for the next game but also I have got one eye on the future as well.

“I need to see how the boys react because one thing is for sure, I want to be successful at this football club and performances like that are not what I want to be a part of.

“They need to produce a lot better than that under my watch.

“Players are always under pressure to perform, there is always someone watching and you have to perform for your future, of course you do.

“It’s the first time since I have been here where I have seen a bit of weakness and they’ve dipped under the pressure, whatever you want to call it, [and] made individual mistakes.

“We can’t have any more days like that again. If we do, we have to make changes don’t we?”

League 2 table

Clemence said: “We are going to have to win every game and what I knew [before Monday] was that if we went there and won we would still be in the top seven with four games to go.

“I think the players would have taken that at the start of the season had you asked.

“We haven’t been able to do it and that is three or four times now in the last five or six weeks where we’ve been seventh and we haven’t backed it up with a victory. We haven’t even got a point.

“Three or four times we’ve been seventh and had to go somewhere to get a result and we haven’t managed to do it on any occasion and that tells me a lot.”

As one League 2 club shows intent to expand their current ground, could that be something the #Gills do? The club chairman shares his thoughts + updates here on plans for internal improvements at Priestfield 👇https://t.co/wuOu0wxgW7
— Luke Cawdell (@KentOnlineGills) April 3, 2024

It was comfortably the worst 45 minutes for Clemence since taking on the head coach role.

“It was very tough,” he said. “Momentum is a key thing in football, it always has been, the momentum was all with Harrogate [in the second half] and it was very hard to stop that flow.

“You hope the boys can weather it, and if you get beat, you don’t get beaten by five, you don’t go under like that.”

Clemence had recently switched from a safety-first 3-5-2 formation to a more expansive 4-3-2-1 and his team looked more attack-minded. On Monday it all went wrong, leaving him questioning which way to go.

He said: “We tried to go to a back four to try and be more on the front foot, but when you go to a back four it does expose other areas of our play, so that is something we have to look at.

“I don’t think anyone can knock on my door, can they, if I make changes.”

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EdinburghGill wrote:

04/04/2024 20:57

I think Brad said that we're at the stage now where we only need a few new players. Less and less with each window. I wonder if he is of the mindset to have a purge.

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+1
Borders blue wrote:

04/04/2024 17:42

Wouldn't it be great if all the team were made to read these posts, then they might get off their backsides and really really try to win the last 4 games. I'm afraid however they don't really care now that the season is lost and yet they will still get paid. We will be better off without most of them next season.

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+26
Iffy'sbits wrote:

04/04/2024 15:26

Like Essexboy I think Shakey's clearout is more of a massacre but i'm with him on a lot of points though. As much as I rate Ethan Coleman he is one defensive player too many when trying to win a game and Clemence had a blue print for winning at Morecambe with McKenzie and Ogie in the team and he should have kept with them against Crewe. I always get cheesed off with England's Southgate for sticking with out of form players or playing them out of position - it demotivates other players trying to get into the team. We do need a good clear out to make room for Clem etc to bring in better players but I feel our defence ( except Masterson ) have proved themselves adequate for the division and we have Hawkins who can also play at the back. I also think the keepers are good enough for L2.
I would get rid of:- (contracts allowing) J.Walker, C.Mahoney, S. Williams, J.Clarke, C.Masterson, A.Naseden, M.Bonne.
Not bothered if the rest stay or go but they must do better next season. I think Harris will come in for both Masterson and Jeffries.
We need two out and out strikers, one attack minded midfield general and one left sided winger ( we have Hutton to deliver on the right side). And I also accept that the spotlight is on KJ and AH now because I see other clubs such as Harrogate, Tranmere and Barrow etc picking up talented loanees that we seem to miss out on. Like everyone else I am doubtful about Clemence but unlike them I am prepared to give him until October time to prove himself - having 4 managers in one season doesn't look good to me.

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+7
Jedi wrote:

04/04/2024 15:16

I'm with Shakey Shearer, a huge clear out is required if we are not going to change the manager, his prefered formation is 4-3-3, not many of our current squad could play that system, if the Chairman is backing the manager he needs to back him in the summer too.

Glen Morris, sadly this once great keeper is past his sell by date, time to move on
Jake Turner, would be a good no.2 if still in contract, keep
Max Clark, good wing back but poor full back as not the best defender, squad player
Scott Malone, past his sell by date, was good not any more, off load
Remeao Hutton, the best attacking right back in the division, keep
Conor Masterson, excellent player with poor attitude, rumours Millwall want him
Shadrach Ogie, would love him to stay, other clubs will be interested, try to keep
Max Ehmer, been a great servant to the club but it's time to move on, too slow, plays too deep
Shaun Williams, was a mistake to renew his contract in the summer, thanks but bye
George Lapslie, quality player if used in the right system, keep
Jonny Williams, came with a huge reputation and has not delivered, transfer list
Dom Jefferies, one of the best players at the club, we will do well to keep him
Robbie McKenzie, not given much opportunity by SC, done well but always dropped
Jayden Clarke, just not developed in the two seasons he's been here, move on
Ethan Coleman, our player of the season, neat and tidy, a must keep
Conor Mahoney, we won't be able to afford him when released by Huddlesfield
Tim Dieng, need a younger midfield going forward, release
Josh Andrews, going to be a big season for the big lad, contracted to stay
Ashley Nadesan, injury prone and rarely scores, quick but that's it, release
Oliver Hawkins, not mobile enough to play in a 4-3-3 system, move on
Josh Walker, it's just not worked out for him or the club, lost confidence
Macauley Bonne, Clemence wanted him out, off load or loaned out again

If I'm any where near right, we have a lot of work to be done in the summer, exactly what the chairman said in his tweet on Tuesday, however is the recruitment team up to the challenge and to be trusted to bring in the right players after the disaster of the last transfer window, hopefully now with Joe running the football side it will improve like the off field activities have done.

What does worry me is the fans will vote for Max Ehmer for player of the season being blinkered and he will be rewarded with another two year contract. The club needs to move on and sign defenders who can play a high line otherwise it will be another disappointing season in league two with the defence sitting 10 yards outside the penalty box with the fans wondering why we are the lowest scorers in the league again, resulting in Clemence being sacked in October and we are back to square one.

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2 Replies

+11
Essexboy wrote:

04/04/2024 12:21

Shakey that really is a potentially massive clear out. That might take more than one transfer window to achieve and get the recruitment right. It's also going to take some time to gel and so it all suggests to me that it could take at least another two seasons to get out of this league.

I agree we should move on Bonne , Nadesan and Williams even though they are still in contract.

I am not sure on the contract situation with Masterson but I like Iffybits have noticed his body language and think he will go one way or the other. I had hoped we would keep him along with Jeffries.

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+8
Iffy'sbits wrote:

04/04/2024 11:19

Mondays second half performance was a shocker and Clem has rightly apologised for what happened and so he should but was it really all down to him? If we were 5-0 down at halftime I'd say yes because of team selection etc but we were 1-0 up and to be honest looking in total control. The same players came back out and fell apart under a reinvigorated Harrogate after their subs came on. Should Clem have changed it at half time and brought on Ogie and gone to wing backs to close the game down, just as Harris would have done? Possibly but if he had and we then lost then certain fans would accuse him of losing the game through being negative just like they did when Harris did it. I'll say again - I think Conor Masterson is not a happy bunny and it's beginning to affect both his and the team's spirit. Just look at his body language and spats he has with other players, he needs to be replaced by Ogie and let go to Harris'sMillwall in the summer. Admittedly, Clem's subs might not of been the most inspiring but for me the responsibility for Monday's hiding was 80% the players and 20% the coach. Let's hope they try to redeem some pride at Bradford.

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+18
Bellamijas wrote:

04/04/2024 10:10

I wouldn't be surprised if we get another drubbing on Saturday. I believe there are players in the squad who joined us because Neil Harris was Manager but would not have joined us under Clemence. I don't believe SC has lost the dressing room because he never had it in the first place whereas Neil Harris did. A couple of good strikers at the beginning of the season would have transformed our season. All this nonsense about Clemball and signing players on loan like Walker show how we lost our way. Malone, Mahoney, Masterson and Ogie are a few of the players I believe have no confidence in SC, and I don't blame them. We need a really good experienced Manager to restore the faith for next season.

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+18
By the seaside wrote:

04/04/2024 10:03

I feel sorry for Stephen he can only put players on the pitch that the club has. If they are not good enough what else is he expected to do?

I've said before and I will repeat it again. There seems to be a mental block the guys start off playing a passing style then for some unknown reason rather than taking an easy option the aimless up field pass kicks in and it becomes backs to the wall stuff. Watch the games on Ifollow when the result is known as you can get a different perspective than seeing it live. Anyone with an ounce of football knowledge will see what I mean. It happens week in week out possession is wasted through careless passing. I realise we are not a top premier league team but those guys should be the example Gills players should aim to copy.

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+10
Iffy'sbits wrote:

04/04/2024 09:50

Right, so there are no hallucagenics or magic mushrooms involved in this post but I am actually going for a Gills win against Bradford on Saturday. Might sound crazy but generally after a good hiding and the necessary kick up the pants, teams come back with a point to prove that they can actually play football. Only caveat is that our current squad are mostly dross and Clem doesn't have a belly full of fire and fury to tell them their fortunes but there is a first time for everything!
If I'm wrong and we lose, I'm off to the woods to find some of that fungi that grows in circles!

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+15
crumblingredwall wrote:

04/04/2024 09:14

Statement from GFC:

We can't afford to sack Clemence. Fans will have to put up with this delusional theoretician for another year and let's hope we can finish lower-mid table. There are many squad members who have proved themselves useless over recent months; unless we can persuade other clubs to take them we are stuck paying them for another season, meaning that we can't afford new players, or not many. A fresh start might be possible in May 2025.

In the meantime we hope to be able to spin positive-sounding, reassuring fake news to the fans (largely via the hapless 'computer Joe' Comper) without being found out.

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1 Reply

-29
Lord Justice wrote:

04/04/2024 08:58

Aysgarth, exactly what I said before for example he brought on Jayden Clark ex Hendon and Dulwich Hamlet player.. spend some money and get a few proven players. You have money to improve the ground you say, leave the ground as it is. Decent players first.

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+22
Ian Goodwyn 2 wrote:

04/04/2024 07:27

I can't believe not one single player has mentioned what a embarrassing performance that was at Harrogate,nobody has apologised apart from Clemence,for their total capitulation,made worse by substitutions,madness who was taken off.they should all be ashamed

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+49
Aysgarth wrote:

04/04/2024 06:38

If changes he makes are anything like his usual substitutions we can expect a few more hammerings. We were doing ok before changes were made. Harrogate's improved their team, he brought on weaker players including Jayden Clark. One can only wonder how he thought this was going to strengthen our team. I doubt there was even one fan who would have thought anything other than this is going pear shaped. The one person to be hammering on his door should be Brad Gallinson.

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+55