Benno's Beat: Gillingham's Mark Bentley writes exclusively for the KM Group
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Mark McCammon tries his
hand at hairdressing as he tends to Josh Gowling’s new barnet at
Gills’
photocall
Picture: Andy Payton
The pressure is on, and for a moment
I’m not talking about our quest to return to League 1.
I have been asked to give you all an
insight into our push for promotion this season, taking over from
John Nutter’s weekly column last year.
Nutsy, who sees himself as a
highly-intelligent guy, has told me I have a high standard to
follow, so here goes...
After a mixed summer trying to get
over the disappointment of last season (which I will not mention
again), it was nice to get back to training on July 1 to see the
lads and it wasn’t long before the banter started when Josh Gowling
arrived with his new, fluffy barnet.
With a new manangement team in place,
everybody has been eager to impress.
The gaffer, along with Ian Hendon and
Nicky (Trigger) Southall, has been quick to put into place his
ideas and what is expected from us. The main thing is that there
will be no excuses for not working hard.
Which brings me to pre-season.
Footballers moan about most things,
and doing too much running is no exception, so pre-season is a pure
mental test for us.
Running in what has been one of the
hottest summers for a few years has been tough. The usual bleep
tests and 12-minute runs have been mixed in with Trigger’s
leg-burning drill from Bolton pre-seasons of the 1980s, so there
was definitely a sense of relief when the games started.
They give the manager a chance to look
at everyone and try out different formations. Pre-season matches
are, in a way, very false as the team gets mixed around along with
many trialists who are keen to impress but sometimes not up to the
level required. It is, however, not hard to see why some of them
have earned their contracts and have now settled into the squad –
they look sure to play major roles in the season ahead.
Pre-season overall has been
successful, with the squad taking on board what is being asked of
us. It is going to be a headache for the gaffer when he has to
select a team to play Cheltenham.
It has been well publicised that
nothing but promotion will do, but it’s not going to fall on a
plate for us. League 2 is a very tough league to get out of, with
some grounds and atmospheres where you really need to have the
right mentality to play in. This year it’s not about looking
forward to playing at Southampton or Leeds, it’s going to
Accrington and Bury and being strong and hard to play against.
Saturday gives us the opportunity to
get off to a good start and send a message to the rest of the
league. No disrespect to our opponents, but if we perform how we
know we can, especially at home with our fantastic support behind
us, we will have too much for them.
We also have a nice match in the
Carling Cup at Norwich to look forward to on Tuesday night where
the pressure is off, but it gives us a chance to enjoy moving the
ball around on an excellent pitch.
It also means meeting up with a couple
of old friends in Andrew Crofts and Simeon Jackson, who both earned
deserved moves to a top club.
After Jacko said his goodbyes last
month it wasn’t long before the boys told him they couldn’t wait to
kick him up in the air when we meet in the cup!
Yes, we will miss Jacko’s goals, but
the strikeforce we have now looks the strongest I have seen, with a
good mix of pace, strength and, most importantly, goals. Good luck
to all the centre-halves if Mark McCammon and Adebayo Akinfenwa
form a good partnership!
Speaking on behalf of the players, we
look forward to hearing you get behind us home and away this
season. You really do make a difference as we look to get our club
back into League 1.
Send Mark a question or add
your comment below.
Thursday, August 05 2010
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