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Gillingham assistant Paul Raynor delivered a damning assessment of the performance against Ipswich as the manager told the players some home truths.
While manager Steve Evans addressed the players post-match following their 4-0 defeat to Ipswich Town it was left for Raynor to face the press.
“It was a little bit feeble, a little bit weak and it wasn't a reflection on how we like our teams to play,” said the no.2.
“We lacked aggression, we lacked intensity and that came from the opposition, which is sad really. We don't subscribe to that type of performance and we won’t stand for that type of performance.
“The gaffer was in there (the changing rooms) without ranting and raving, but there were some home truths about how we play, how we want to play, the areas we want to play, the intensity, the aggression we have to play at.”
Raynor couldn’t remember a worse performance since he and Evans took charge of the Gills two and a half years ago.
He said: “We are not happy, we are not happy with certain individuals and we will analyse the goals a bit more when we get a chance.
“The better team won and sometimes you have to hold your hands up but teams like Ipswich don’t need a helping hand. We gave them a real helping hand and you can't do that against quality teams. Well done to Ipswich, we will take it on the chin and hopefully we will bounce back.
“There were no excuses. I would love to say it was this or that, but it was indiscipline, people not doing their jobs, not defensively sound. Teams like Ipswich will punish you and they are on a high at the moment.
“It helps with a new manager (Kieran McKenna) coming in, he has instilled confidence, they look as though they are playing for him and they had a real intensity. We told our guys that is the intensity we need to play at. The way they closed the ball down was exceptional and they never gave us a chance on the ball to settle. We turned it over far too easily and that is where they got their overloads and where they punished us. Credit to Ipswich.”
Gillingham were three-down after 23 minutes.
Raynor said: “It was an incredibly bad first half; it was as disappointing as it has got.
“We have had some poor performances but for 45 minutes we just weren’t at the races, we didn’t track runners.
"Their manager has gone in there and got a real reaction from them, they played with intensity, quality, moved the ball very quickly and when teams do that you have to be disciplined and to be able to stay with your runners and frustrate them. We did that last week (at MK Dons) but unfortunately we didn’t do it this week and that was the disappointment.
“It certainly hurts, the players were hurting and we are certainly hurting, because you don’t see too many teams that Steve and I put out on the field that get beaten as easily and that is a real disappointment. That really does hurt.”
