Walsall performance shows John Coleman’s Gillingham outburst is gamble that could pay off | OneFootball

Gillingham's spirited fightback at league leaders Walsall may have revealed some green shoots of recovery after a turbulent week at the club.

To say the last week has been a rollercoaster at Gillingham Football Club would be a massive understatement.

First there was the team’s 3-0 capitulation away at Barrow, a performance so bad that it drew a post-match interview from manager John Coleman that was as incendiary and accusatory as anything fans at Priestfield have seen for several years.

Then there was the live Twitter Spaces live stream that saw the club’s owner Brad Galinson and managing director Joe Comper appear on The ME7 Podcast and admit to some alarming shortcomings at Gillingham over the last few years.

Some fans were frustrated. Others were angry. But all of the Gills faithful and the manager were all united in one view – the team that was trotting out onto the field wasn’t putting in the sort of effort and passion that has been the hallmark of a Gillingham side down the years.

Fans and senior Gillingham figures took aim at the club's players for a lack of effort

Fan comments can sometimes be written off as white noise by players but when the manager describes their performance as having “no idea, no passion, no fight, no drive, no desire” and the owner states that he is “embarrassed, despondent, frustrated” at the team’s display, the attention then turns back to the players.

After being hit with criticism from all directions, would the players step up and show what they can really do, or would they effectively down tools and quit on their manager and the fans?

It made Coleman’s comments particularly interesting, with his stinging criticism having the potential to cut both ways with his players. The proof of the pudding would be in the team’s next performance, against table-toppers Walsall. And boy did the players step up.

Gillingham players produced a big response against the League Two leaders

After a first half full of the intensity and commitment that had been noticeably absent in several of their prior performances, Gillingham were playing well before disaster struck early in the second half. One defensive slip by Max Clark, followed by a very fortunate deflection, saw Glenn Morris beaten as the Gills went 1-0 down.

For most of this season, going behind has meant game over for the Gills, but this new, motivated, determined side reacted superbly to conceding the opening goal, and a 25-yard rocket from Robbie McKenzie gave the 200+ travelling fans something to celebrate as they and the players celebrated a deserved equaliser. It felt like a release of weeks' worth of tension, with the fans and the players finally united.

It could, and perhaps should, have been even better, too. Gillingham pushed for the win and were denied what looked a clear penalty when Elliott Nevitt was felled in the Walsall box, and there were a couple more penalty shouts as the Kent side turned the screw and went for the win in the final moments.

That win didn’t come as the game finished in a 1-1 draw but, in terms of the transformation in the team’s energy and commitment, it felt like a victory to the fans in attendance, and the thousands watching from home on Sky Sports+.

Players must show this is the sign of better things to come at Gillingham

Taken in isolation, it appears Coleman’s words, both in public and behind the scenes, have had the desired effect. But they’ll only be truly effective if this marks a real culture change at the club, where that level of performance is now the minimum expectation of the team.

What’s clear now is that the players have the capacity to deliver the sort of intensity and commitment demanded of them by the fans and the manager. Tuesday night’s draw with Walsall set the bar in that regard.

Now it’s down to the players to build on that performance and replicate those energy levels for the upcoming games, starting with a home clash with Crewe Alexandra on Saturday.

A home win, and a couple of goals, would transform the atmosphere at the club, and have Gillingham looking up the table, rather than over their shoulder, as they look to pull clear of relegation trouble.