Gillingham 0 Cheltenham 0

Are goals overrated? Last week’s eight League Cup games, which saw an average of over 4.5 goals per game, were hailed as unbeatable entertainment in some parts. This was followed by a weekend in which only two matches in England finished goalless. But there is a counter argument that goals lose their value when they come in too great an abundance, that it is there scarcity that makes them special.

On Tuesday night Gillingham and Cheltenham bucked the trend with a hard fought 0-0 draw. Neither side could be excused of sitting back. Cheltenham had the better of the first half, drawing a couple of fine saves from Stuart Nelson, but it was Gillingham who had the best chance of the half, and indeed the match. After Jack Payne had his long shot parried, Danny Kedwell could only smash the rebound against the crossbar from (very) close range. Gillingham were stronger in the second period, but the away side continued to threaten on the break. In the end neither team could turn their endeavour into goals, but both will probably be fairly satisfied with a point.

Hopefully most fans were too. The ‘friends for a fiver’ ticket offer meant there was a bumper crowd in, and expectations had probably been raised by the fact that the Gills had scored four in each of their last three home games. A goal, and more importantly a win, may have helped persuade a few more of those extra fans to come back again soon.  But football has to be about more than goals, and there was enough in this game to keep most spectators interested. With everyone else in the chasing pack dropping points this was a game from which both teams should take the positives, safe in the knowledge that if they play like that against most teams in this league, they will be rewarded with three points more often than not.

The occasional 0-0 draw is good for football. For one, it reminds everyone that scoring a goal is a difficult business, to be fully enjoyed the next time one comes along. It also helps remind us that there is more to the game than just attacking. As aesthetically pleasing as it is to watch the best passing sides going forward, do we really want every team to try and play like Barcelona?  Chelsea's Champion's League victory last season was every bit as valid as Barcelona's the year before, even if it was built on very different foundations. Football needs that diversity, that clash of cultures, so that no one style of playing becomes too dominant for too long. And whilst the odd 7-5 scoreline can be fun, the sheer explosion of joy that comes with scoring can only be maintained as long as it remains a relatively rare occurrence, a surprise even. 0-0, good for football and good for the soul.

Just not every week, obviously.

Gillingham 4 Burton 1

When the team is winning, the manager’s job suddenly looks very easy. The hardest part of Martin Allen’s afternoon was the post-match interview, when he seemed slightly lost for words, trying to work out whether this was his team’s best performance of what has been, so far, a very strong season. Confidence is high, both on the field and in the stands, and many of the ghosts of the past few seasons are seemingly being laid to rest.

Allen’s appointment in the summer was met with a mostly lukewarm response, but his early results have little short of spectacular. His signing s have mostly worked out well, Nelson, Barrett, Allen and Weston being amongst the standout players in the side. But he has also overseen vastly improved performance from many of last year’s underachievers, Mark Fish and Danny Kedwell in particular. The team look fitter than before, and have a purpose about their playing that was often lacking.

The obvious conclusion to draw from this is that it is the manager who has made the crucial difference. But the obvious conclusion isn’t necessarily the right one. At the very least, there are other factors to take into account. Gillingham’s strength in depth must be the envy of the division, and so far this season Allen has added a two loan signings from the Championship to his already  would be wrong to say Gillingham have  been lucky here, the money earned from players brought through the clubs youth system and subsequently moved on with deals that show benefit in the long term is down to hard work and good business, not luck. But Allen is the lucky man who is now reaping the benefit of those deals.

Allen’s managerial record is very much hit and miss. Of course, if it wasn’t for his failures, there’s no way he’d be at Gillingham now. But by his own account he has changed his managerial style over the years. As he told The Independent earlier in the season; “Management methods have had to change. I have undertaken courses to look at leadership, being more open-minded.” Maybe this is an example of club and manager finding each other at the right time.

Even with his changed ways, some of Allen's methods and quotes are still somewhat left of centre. When the team is winning, all of these idiosyncrasies can seem endearing, the charm of a maverick. It's not so endearing when the results aren't going well, as anyone who has been watching Brendan Rodgers early season David Brent impression on Channel 5 will know. 

Still, at the moment the players seem to be responding to Allen. Whether they like him or not, whether they respect him or find him slightly odd, the results seems to justify the methods. When Steve Evans left Crawley late last season, with the team in the promotion places with two games to go, footage emerged on Youtube of the players celebrating his departure. Evans is, of course, a particularly polarising figure, capable of making even Neil Warnock seem charming and likeable by comparison. It's easy to sympathise with his former charges feelings. There's nothing to suggest that Allen's relationship with his players is anything like as difficult. But even if it was, as long as the results and performances carry on as they've begun, few in the stands will worry too much.

Gillingham 4 Aldershot 0

When does a good start end and just being good start? For even the most cautious of Gillingham fans must be starting to accept that the this particular good start appears to be progressing into something more substantial.

After the defeat in the last home game against Rochdale, all eyes were now fixed on how the team would react. How one reacts is very important in modern football. Many new manager's seem keen to get their first defeat in, just so they can gauge reaction. Witnessing Brendon Rodgers in Being: Liverpool, as he wrings the positives from his side's opening day 3-0 defeat at West Brom, you could be forgiven for thinking he was hoping they would have shipped another goal, just so they could have something really special to bounce back from.

Gillingham's reaction has been pleasing, with four points from two away games followed by this thumping of a struggling Aldershot side. By the time Danny Kedwell made it 2-0 inside half an hour, one could see the fight had already been beaten out of Dean Holdsworth's team. With the game clearly already won, Gillingham coasted through the second half, wrapping their players up in cotton wool, and instantly replacing two players who picked up yellow cards, rather than risk any continuation of the recent run of reds.

So are Gillingham now good? The league table would certainly suggest so. The cautious element will remind all that it is still early, but the truth is they've played half the teams in the league, and have seen very little to worry about. The squad should be big enough to overcome all but the most savage of injury crisis, and clearly confidence is high. On paper Saturday's match against Burton should provide a sterner test, but at this point it will surely be the visitors who'll approach the match with trepidation.

Gillingham 1 Rochdale 2

In the past five years, tackling has become one of the most contentious topics in  football. Studs up, two footed, off the ground, over the top, every week these phrases are repeated and debated in games across the country. There is a generation of fan coming through who will see the way players tackle through totally different eyes to the one before. The players are also asking these same questions of the officials like never before, sometimes looking for cards, but sometimes looking for protection.

Which brings us to Saturday's game. For the second successive home match Gillingham were reduced to ten men before half time, thought the circumstances were slightly different this time. Against Southend, Bradley Dack was late, painfully so, especially for his opponent who was unable to carry on. On Saturday Danny Jackman's tackle was undoubtedly strong, but there appeared little question that he won the ball. Despite this, he was shown a straight red card. Referees are seemingly being asked to judge not just what happens in each challenge, but also the intent of each challenge, and what might have happened if it had been mistimed. A difficult job is being made much, much harder.

The red card certainly impacted the match, although not in the obvious way the scoreline would indicate. Gillingham were already one down before Jackman's departure, and were frustratingly insipid throughout the whole of the first half. The second half display was much improved, the ten men showing an urgency that would have left most supporters asking the inevitable question "why didn't they play like this from the start?" Unfortunately, a man down and chasing the game, Gillingham were always vulnerable to the counter attack, and conceded a second goal on the hour. It says much about the Allen's impact on the team and the start that they've made that even then the heads didn't go down, and when Danny Kedwell scored his 8th league goal of the season from the penalty spot with fifteen minutes still to go, there was belief on the pitch and in the stands that the game could still be rescued.

Ultimately though, Rochdale held on. In truth they probably should have scored again. Despite this, there was just about enough to take encouragement from. The unbeaten record may be gone, but there is a long season still to go, and if Gillingham can show the same intensity and desire from the second half here in the rest of their games, they shouldn't drift too far away from their current spot at the top.

Something unexpected has happened over the last couple of weeks. It started back in August, with a relatively comfortable 3-1 win in the season's opening game against Bradford. Seven undefeated games later, Gillingham are still looking good. Maybe not great, certainly not unbeatable, but a sustained level of good, something that has been frustrating rare in the past few (ten?) years, and so it should be lauded for what it is. Clearly there is still a long, long way to go in the season, but there is a noticeable confidence surrounding the team, and by proxy the rest of the club and its supporters. It's starting to make going to the game fun. This shouldn't seem such a revelation. After all, why would anyone go, and keep going, if it wasn't fun? But being a football supporter is rarely as simple as that, and the introduction of fun into the 90 minutes has come a quite a pleasant surprise to many fans who become more used to frustration and disappointment.

And that's one of the reasons why I wanted to start writing about what's happening. There are others, but they're not really relevant to anyone else reading this (if indeed anyone else is reading this). I'm not so blinded as to assume that it's now going to be fun and laughs forever, but it's enough of an inspiration to get things started. An irregular and incomplete record of Gillingham (and other sporting giants).