Gillingham v County

A midweek trip to Kent

Feb 20, 2024

Tuesday 20 February 2024

NEXT HOME GAME: Swindon – Saturday 24 February, 3pm

NEXT AWAY GAME: Gillingham – Today, 7.45pm

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Dear County fans, Stopfordians, Gillingham supporters, and anyone else from The Football Family joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Tuesday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.

Cashy the groundsman is driving your editor to Kent today, although I have just got behind the wheel myself at a Welcome Break somewhere on the M6.

That photo is all you’re getting from me today, because I have absolutely no idea how we’ll get on at Priestfield tonight. I could argue a decent case for County winning the game, and losing it, which means it’ll probably be a draw. The realist in me says that wouldn’t be a bad result, if we then beat Swindon on Saturday. Jon Keighren, Ed Chadwick and Ian Brown are all backing County to win narrowly this evening.

Today’s edition is sponsored by Malbern Solar. My thanks to Wayne and Vicki. If you’d like to save money on your energy bills, make sure you book your FREE survey, worth £150. Full details below.

Finally, I’m currently walking every street in Stockport to raise money for mental health charity Mentell. If you’d like to make a donation to help me reach my target, please click here.

Total distance so far: 97.67 miles

Total steps so far: 160,432

Total raised so far: £1,561

Total completed streets so far: 156 (Click here for the full list, which includes reports and photos from every day of the walk.)

Further information on the walk can be found by clicking here.

Des Junior

Des Junior loves writing about County. But he can never be arsed doing match previews. They’re a bit dull, aren’t they? Paddy Madden’s out for two games with an ingrown toenail…blah blah blah…tomorrow’s referee has handed out more cards than Moonpig…blah blah blah…County haven’t won at Birmingham since 1672.

Fortunately, he has a number of fellow County content creators to call upon. Here’s their thoughts, general chit-chat and score predictions, as County look to get that Tranmere debacle out of their system as soon as possible.

Jon Keighren, Stockport County

Gillingham 1 County 2

What are your travel plans for this mammoth midweek trek to Kent?

I’ve managed to tie this fixture in with a work meeting and delivering some media training in London so it’s worked out pretty well for me. The lads will be keen to bring this current run to an end so I’m confident we can get three points. I’m going for a 2-1 win.

Ed Chadwick, Stockport County Supporters Co-operative

Gillingham 0 County 1

“We were toothless in the tackle, bereft of ideas and responded to loose balls about as quickly as Crewe acknowledge their role in a scandal. It was like watching another team in our kit.” That’s what you said about the Crewe defeat. Should I just copy and paste the same for the Tranmere game and give you the week off?

Although the Saturday-Tuesday schedule has left me flagging like some of our players, I've got a new set of gripes to air. The only sentiment worth repeating is the fact that I'm expecting a reaction.

I'll take the positives first:

1) I think everyone was encouraged when Will Collar emerged stripped to his kit just before the second half. He symbolises all the things we do well and he'll be key to getting us promoted.

2) We played some good football during the 10 minutes leading up to Tranmere's second goal but couldn't capitalise.

3) It's always nice to visit a proper away ground in a real place rather than a retail park.

As for the negatives, I was frustrated to see Bailey wasted for the first 45 minutes when he was playing alongside Sarcevic as a number 10. Neither Bennett nor Byrne are good enough on the ball to play out from the back when their only outlet is a half-fit Croasdale. I thought it took an uncharacteristically long time to change things, especially given how quickly Challinor reacted to Crewe.

There's nothing I can add about the pitiful set piece defending that hasn't been said elsewhere.

However, those pressing the panic button need to give their heads a wobble. As soon as we start to get a couple of injured players back, the confidence will return. Performances and results will follow. Challinor has steered us through worse storms than this.

There have been some absolutely mental takes among the hard-of-thinking triggered by two defeats in a 46-game season. People say social media brings out the worst in football fans, but hats off to “Graham” for taking an old school approach to making an idiot of himself by phoning BBC Radio Manchester.

If Confucius had a Yellowboard account, he would have said: "Our greatest glory is not in never losing 4-0 at Tranmere, but in rising every time we lose 4-0 at Tranmere."

An early goal tonight sees us home 1-0. Godspeed to all those travelling.

Ian Brown, hedgegrower

Gillingham 0 County 1

“County were shambolic. Our tactics, use of substitutes, and most crucially how we were set up, were questionable at best.” That’s what you said about the Crewe defeat. Should I just copy and paste the same for the Tranmere game and give you the week off?

Cut and paste would not have been a million miles away from being correct, but it would have been lazy, and of course the truth (I make no claim to being the arbiter of that by the way) lies somewhere else. This is just my take on Saturday’s drubbing.

With Horsfall out perhaps we were always going to be feeling stressed at the back but whilst we were put under a lot of pressure, at 1-0 down the situation was retrievable at half-time.

But the second half had me wondering from the off. We had used Bennett on the left of a back four before the break, Byrne to his right, but these positions were not only reversed upon the restart, but we had Touray to their left in a three (arguably a five) and if I was confused by that, the feeling was only compounded when County’s number three switched to the right.

It looked anything but a well-ordered game plan and as a result we reaped a grim harvest of goals via our inability to defend set pieces be they corners or free kicks.

All the above should not be interpreted in any way positioning me in the “Challinor Out” camp (which I suspect is somewhat and justifiably under populated right now). As I said earlier this is merely my take on Saturday’s performance but I remain doggedly hopeful of a reboot, starting tonight in Kent.

My score forecasts have been consistently awful this season, but here’s another: Gillingham 0 County 1.

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Photo of the day

Somewhere on the M1

Gillingham away on a Tuesday night. COME ON COUNTY!

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Today in SK

🎬 Cinema

Three films at The Savoy Cinema (SK4) today. Migration (U) at 3.45pm, The Holdovers (15) at 5.45pm, and Poor Things (18) at 8.30pm. Click here for tickets.

🍺 Food and drink

The Nelson Tavern (SK1) have a great range of offers throughout the week, including £4.50 for drinks off the Doubles Bar, a comprehensive range of shots for £2, and 3 for £6 on Jägerbombs.

If you’re not off to Gillingham today, pop into The Petersgate Tap (SK1) for a couple of pints. Open from 3pm.

Enjoy a delicious meal at The Dog & Partridge (SK2). You’ll also receive 20% off your bill. Just mention the discount at the till when paying!