THE points total may have slowed down a bit for Gills in recent weeks but with January looming things are surely only going to get better.

There is no question over how much the Gills have missed the presence of David Wright as a calming influence at the back and no doubt he’ll be number one on Martin Allen’s hit list.

The defensive midfielder hasn’t played for Crystal Palace since ending his initial loan spell at the club.

Hopefully when the transfer window opens the Gills and Palace can pick up where they left off with the paperwork and complete a deal that wasn’t done in time when the previous window shut.

Apart from the 2-1 home defeat to Rochdale, the Gills were a tough nut to crack with Wright in the team, conceding just three goals in the seven games he played and winning most of them.

Tom Flanagan is another miss. The Gills have some talented youngsters at the back, in Connor Essam, Callum Davies and now Devante McKain, but Flanagan has something the rest didn’t - experience.

It was such a shame to see him pick up an injury just days after celebrating making his international bow for Northern Ireland’s under-21 side.

Another loan defender with a bit of pace and experience will be a valuable addition to the squad. That’s not to say Davies and co can’t do a job if a newcomer doesn’t arrive.

Perhaps a back-up for Myles Weston wouldn’t harm either. He has been a fantastic free transfer signing for the club but there are few others on the books with his pace and direct approach in attack.

Could Allen also be looking at a back-up in the full-back department. Both Matt Fish and Joe Martin are on four bookings - so likely to face a ban soon - and a versatile and experienced player to rampage up and down the wing wouldn’t be a bad move.

Whatever Martin’s plans, January looks like being an exciting time for the Gills fans. Hopefully the extra players coming in will give them that push to take them up as champions. And to think some people STILL moan!

The Gills seem to have money to burn, now chairman Paul Scally and his fellow directors have wiped out the bank loan that had been like a noose on the club’s neck.

Let’s not pretend the debt has disappeared. Mr Anderson and the fellow directors will want their money back at some point, but better them than owed to a bank who could call in the debt at any time.

The money generated from Matt Jarvis, Paulo Gazzaniga, Luke Rooney and Ryan Bertrand will have given the balance sheet a much better look and helped pay off some of those loans. Maybe it means that stadium move - designed to help wipe the debt clean and generate money away from 3pm on a Saturday - can wait a little longer.

Things are certainly looking good for the Gills, with a man in charge that is desperate for that first promotion and title win on his CV. 

Saturday’s attendance showed that the fan-base is still there so let’s hope the second half of the season sees the Gills push on and make this season an historic one.

Gillingham's front-line strikers have taken much of the credit for the blistering start to the season but a run of three clean sheets is testament to the work done where it was needed most.

Wins over Bristol Rovers, Southend and Port Vale have been achieved without conceding and credit must go to the way Martin Allen and his team have set up the team to defend.

Key arrivals over the summer have helped, with the likes of experienced keeper Stuart Nelson and no-nonsense defender Adam Barrett joining the Gills. The presence of Crystal Palace loan-man David Wright has also given extra assurance at the back.

And Allen has also played it safe in games after going ahead early, by introducing more defence-minded players like Andy Frampton, to ensure there are no last-minute dramas.

The Gills head into Saturday's game against Rochdale with the best defensive record in the division (conceding just a goal every other game) - a stark contrast to last season where goals flew in at both ends on a regular basis.

Fans were certainly put through it, with games against Northampton (4-3), Wimbledon (3-4), Hereford (5-4), Crewe (3-4), Accrington (3-4) and Bournemouth (3-2). Enough drama to fill a ‘how not to defend’ manual many times over.

This season the Gills have only conceded more than one goal twice, and both in cup games, against Championship Middlesbrough (0-2) and League 1 Crawley - where an understrength Gills team lost 3-2.

Only for a brief spell, against Chesterfield, have the Gills been behind in any league game. Eight minutes to be precise.

Individual performances have gone up another level, with Matt Fish now looking much more at ease on the right and Joe Martin looking steady on the other flank. The transformation of Callum Davies from a bench-warmer to a solid League 2 defender has been a great bonus. Even if it has meant his mate Connor Essam has needed to go out on loan to get games.

And it hasn't just been individuals who have made an impact.

The Gills are organised well and defend as a unit. With Allen drumming the message home from the sidelines throughout games, that message is getting through. Runners are tracked, crosses are being blocked and headers are being won.

During this week's chat with Allen he made a point of noting the improvement of Lewis Montrose. The big midfielder was sent away with instructions to improve his heading and against Vale he constantly won the ball in the air on the edge of the box, time and again alleviating pressure on the defence.

Much of the day-to-day training is taken by assistant John Schofield and his input to what we're seeing on the pitch shouldn't be underestimated. The coaching team of Schofield, Carl Muggleton and Allen is certainly one that is helping to shape the Gills into a rigid, organised team when defending and a fluid, fast-paced and exciting one going forward.

It's a joy to watch at the moment but it's not through luck, or by out-scoring the opposition, that the Gills are sitting pretty at the top of League 2.

Those that witnessed Myles Weston’s opening performances for the Gills will be forgiven for getting a bit excited.

Not since the days of Matt Jarvis have the Gills had a winger to make full-backs quake in their boots.

He may not be Jarvis class, but Myles Arthur Euguene Wesley Weston – his full name according to Wikipedia - certainly proved too hot to handle for Wycombe in the opening periods of Tuesday night’s game and that pace is something that has been badly lacking at Gills in recent seasons.

On Tuesday they were able to use Weston as predatory attacker in the first half and then, when up against it with ten men, the Gills were able to feed him the ball and let him do what he liked as an outlet to give the rest of the team some much needed recovery time.

Gills, under Martin Allen, are set up with just three midfielders and someone sat infront of the Back four (Jack Payne on Tuesday). It means the full-backs are required to get forward as often as possible, which does tend to suggest a winger is not required.

But Weston has shown versatility already. His favoured position is on the left flank, where he made an impressive substitute showing at the weekend, but on Tuesday he went upfront with Danny Kedwell and appears to have been given license to roam.

He is fast and direct and it is just a shame his early run down the flank on Tuesday, where he jumped two sliding tackles and even got the home fans off their seats, wasn’t rewarded with a goal. A fine save denied him a really special moment.

But no doubt we will eventually see a run and finish, assuming Weston can maintain that quality, and there is no reason he can’t. He is young, he has dropped down a level and he just wants to play games and express himself. Allen seems set to give him that opportunity.

Consistency, like all lower division players, will be his biggest obstacle.

Another to have impressed since signing has been Charlie Allen. He will be facing doubters after being signed by his father but young Charlie is proving what a class player he is. And again, it is his pace from midfield which is unsettling opponents. He also has an eye for a pass, like the one he served up for Danny Kedwell to open the scoring on Saturday.

It is early days for both Weston and Allen but both, so far, have given the Gills so much more energy and certainly made them more entertaining to watch.

GILLINGHAM approach their first real pre-season test, at Dartford on Saturday, with a decision still looming as to who will captain the team.

This week, when asked, Gills boss Martin Allen insisted a decision on the captaincy under his management was not made.

Many will assume that the armband will once more be handed to Andy Frampton. He conducts himself with the utmost professionalism and certainly had the respect of the rest of the squad.

Frampton (pictured) has already worked under Allen at Brentford, where he helped the club to successive play-offs. But it’s no certainty that the new Gills boss will pick the experienced defender to lead the side out again this season.

When asked on Wednesday if he had made a decision on the new captain, replied with a stern "no". So who are the possible candidates.

Frampton is certainly one of them but do you go for experience and professionalism or pick out a lively personality like Charlie Lee - he is certainly likeable and has played at a good level before.

With such a young team there are few other real options. Danny Kedwell could do the job, as he clearly loves the club - having supporterd the Gills as a youngster - and will be looking to be a regular starter under the new manager.

There are few others to choose from so maybe Allen has got some other transfer targets in mind that could fit the bill. Or maybe if Barry Fuller comes back onboard he could get the nod.

No doubt it’s probably not one of Allen’s biggest dilemmas at the minute, as he searches high and low for new recruits, but these little things can make a difference.

The captain’s role at Gills in recent years has certainly caused a few stirs, with previous boss Mark Stimson taking the captaincy off Andrew Crofts before shipping him off to the Conference on loan.

Andy Hessenthaler made a similarly bold decision to take the armband away from Fuller and give it to Frampton.

Footballers are proud people and it will be interesting to see who Allen chooses to lead his team to what will hopefully be third time lucky as they challenge for promotion in League 2.

So who do you think should skipper the Gills this season? Or does it not even matter? Comment below. 

Chris Whelpdale may yet to have convinced everyone since moving back to the Gills on a permanent deal but is it any coincidence his return to the side has coincided with the recent revival?

He may well admit himself that in the early stages of the season he failed to live up to the billing after becoming one of the more high-profile signings that boss Andy Hessenthaler made.

His whirlwind loan stint in the previous campaign saw him net three goals in four games before injury cut short his stay. Try as they might, the Gills were unable to bring him back until agreeing a fee with Peterborough in the summer.

Those blistering performances were in short supply at the start of the season but are we now starting to see the real Whelpdale?

A lot has been made of the influence that the youngsters have made to the Gills and that has been fully justified. Whelpdale himself may feel he should still be classed as a youngster. He has only just turned 25 which means he should still have his best years ahead of him.

In recent weeks he has been deployed in an advanced attacking position and he seems to be thriving on the chance to get involved at the top end. He has scored four goals in his last eight games, the kind of form that is better than leading scorer Danny Kedwell.

Whelpdale was dropped to the bench for the match against Wimbledon in January. The Gills lost 4-3. He failed to make the team for the game at Accrington, where the Gills again suffered a 4-3 defeat, and again missed out when the Gills suffered a third straight loss. This time going down 2-1 to Southend.

Hessenthaler recalled him for the trip to Port Vale, where the Gills boss also brought in youngsters Connor Essam and Jack Evans. Whelpdale was on target in what ended in another defeat but at least the performance was far better than in previous weeks.

Since then the Gills and Whelpdale haven’t looked back.

The former Posh man has started every game and is beginning to look like the player which led the Gills to digging deep and shelling out cash to bring him in from Peterborough. If Crawley boss Steve Evans' programme notes were to be believed, he was one of several players who turned him down for a more favourable deal with the Gills.

Gillingham need their best players performing at this stage of the season and Whelpdale appears to have answered Hessenthaler’s plea. At a time when the Gills couldn’t buy a win the Gills boss needed some of those summer signings to give him a bit of pay back. Whelpdale has certainly started to do that.

He is looking like a vital cog for the Gills and the last goal at Cheltenham showed what a class act he is. A neat interchange of passes with Jo Kuffour and Kedwell opened up their defence in the latter stages.

Up next are Crawley and Whelpdale will certainly be hoping for a better end to his last meeting against Evans’ side. He left the pitch with a nasty testical injury – one which gained worldwide exposure (thanks to Danny Spiller's twitter account) – following a challenge from David Hunt.

He will be looking to avenge that painful setback and in the form he is showing he could end up hurting Crawley where it really hurts.

BY this time next week we could well have a much clearer picture of which way Gillingham’s season is going to pan out.
With two games scheduled in three days it could well be a defining period.
First up is a trip to a Burton side who have wobbled of late but are having a surprisingly good season.
The toughness of that trip could rest on how well some of the Burton players are recovering from injuries, with strikers Billy Kee and Justin Richards on the treatment table recently.
The Gills follow up Saturday’s trip to Burton with a home game, live on Sky, against second placed Southend.
These aren’t the kind of games you need after conceding eight goals in your last two games.
For Andy Hessenthaler’s men they should be looking at four points minimum. Any less and those play-off places might start looking like a distant dream.
Hopes of automatic promotion should now be forgotten and only the most optimistic of fans can hope the Gills can gatecrash that party. It would need an incredible run of results now, indeed the Gills will need to double their current points tally to stand any hope, with just 19 games left.
The Gills are already nine points off sixth placed Torquay and with Accrington (8th) and Oxford (7th) - who hold the final play-off position at the moment - meeting this weekend, the gap between Hess’s men and the play-offs would definitely grow, if they don’t get a win at Burton.
At the start of the season the Gills set themselves a rough target of two points a game, on average, to achieve promotion.
That was assuming they would need 80 points plus to get into the automatic places.
Their current points to games ratio is just over 1.5.
If they keep going at this rate then they’ll finish the season with 68 points, which would be the same as they finished last season.
Fans won’t be happy to see the team not only miss the play-offs again but also make no progress.
Last season that points total just enabled Torquay to scrape into the final play-off spot, having had a point deducted for fielding an ineligible player. They finished above the Gills on goal difference.
What is for certain is that Gillingham need to improve or the season will be another one to forget.
Only once in the last decade has a points tally lower than 68 bagged a club a play-off spot, when Lincoln got on board with just 66 points after becoming the draw specialists. They did, however, only lose 10 games. That’s how many the Gills have already achieved.
Points tallies aside, the Gills now have two massive games to focus on.
Two defeats and the play-offs will be a struggle, a draw and a win and there is hope, two wins and it’s game on again.
Let’s hope it’s the latter.

After conceding six goals in two games Andy Hessenthaler snapped on Saturday with a verbal volley at his defenders.

Four avoidable goals against Wimbledon at the weekend led to him threatening to bring in the youngsters.

But now after making that threat will he go through with it?

The danger is that Hessenthaler could make a bad situation worse by bringing in untried youngsters and we’ve already seen it before.

Following the disaster that was the Dover FA Cup game last season, Hess hauled in Callum Davies to play against Crewe, in the following league match.

Just 28 minutes into his debut Davies saw red after Crewe’s Clayton Donaldson was tugged back by the young defender. Gills went onto lose 3-1.

Hessenthaler, who made his players watch the DVD of the Wimbledon game on Sunday morning, is now talking up the return from loan of Connor Essam to inject some youth into his back-line.

Essam has been playing for Dartford during the last month or so and will make his final appearance for the Blue Square Bet South side tonight (Tuesday) at Staines. He could now find himself in the starting line-up to face Accrington on Saturday instead of facing Thurrock for Tony Burman’s play-off hopefuls.

Connor has been with the Gills for some time and is now a second year pro. But in his 18 months of being among the first team he has not even made a substitute appearance.

Is it wise to bring him into an already nervy team at a place as unforgiving as Accrington?

But then when is a good time? He is clearly talented, hence the second year contract he was handed in the summer, and if he isn’t going to be given a chance then what’s the point?

He could be joined in the back four by Simon King, who before injury looked destined for bigger and better things than Gillingham, but has barely been seen in the last two years. Fitness could be a problem, but again, it could be a case of now or never for King.

No doubt young Davies will also be knocking on the manager’s door this week but if none of those players get a shout they may as well start looking elsewhere for football.

Hessenthaler is in a no-win situation now. If he drops Lawrence, Garry Richards or Joe Martin he may lose their respect. After all, until recently the defence were performing well. But if he ignores the others in his squad then they will be asking what more they need to do.

It’s going to be a pivotal moment of the season this weekend.

The automatic promotion places are already looking like a long shot and unless Hessenthaler can quickly establish a solid system at the back even the play-offs could slip from their grasp.

The Gills haven’t lost three league games in a row this season and the last place Hessenthaler will be wanting to go is Accrington, where 18 months ago his team conceded seven.

Hess said this week he was in the market for an "athletic" defender in the ilk of Nyron Nosworthy. But looking for a player and signing one are two completely different things.

Changes are inevitable at the weekend but it will be a brave move for Hess to tinker too much.

He is under pressure to get results, he knows the score, but he’ll need to show the fans and perhaps more importantly the chairman that he is taking assertive action to put things right.

The braver move for Hess, and arguably the sensible move, could be to stick with the same defence and give them a chance to prove the doubters wrong. Saturday’s team-sheet will certainly make interesting reading this weekend, whoever he chooses.

Picture: Barry Goodwin

LUKE ROONEY is all set for a move to Swindon Town but who is the winner here?

For the Gills they look set to get an unexpected January cash windfall while Town get a young player with undoubted talent.

It is likely that talks and a medical will be concluded one way or another on Tuesday.

The problem for Swindon boss Paolo Di Canio will be how he gets the best out of Rooney.

Only fleetingly have Gills fans seen him at his electric best. When he is good, he is a pleasure to watch, but all-too-often we have seen him let frustration get the better of him.

Rooney, who turned down an offer of a new deal with the Gills, has the problem that afflicts all players at this level, a lack of consistency.

On Saturday, and the week before against Stoke, he showed exactly what he is all about at the moment. He came on to do what he does best, as an impact sub. He doesn’t like the tag but since he progressed into Gills’ first team his most dangerous displays have been when coming on against a tiring defence.

Against Stoke he nearly scored a blistering goal, after side-stepping two markers, only to be denied by a good save. He did the same against Shrewsbury on Saturday as he produced a shot at goal - something the rest of the team had failed to do in the first 70 minutes.

He has the ability to get people off their seats and excite but he is a luxury player at present.

Neither team are likely to reveal the full details of the agreement made, but I’m sure if the Gills got £150-200k then they would be happy. I doubt they would get so much in the summer when he would leave for a fee set by an FA tribunal.

But if fans are expecting an injection of cash into Andy Hessenthaler’s transfer pot then think again.

The budget was already maxed out before Jo Kuffour agreed a contract until the end of the season and Gavin Tomlin checked in on a half-season loan.

If anything the money will be used to level out the deficit and off-set a few debts.

Hessenthaler, if he is lucky, may be afforded the luxury of just one more player.

We await to see if Di Canio can turn Rooney into a genuine star player and how well a hot-tempered player (on the pitch) and the equally hot-tempered manager can hit it off. That, of course, is on the assumption that Rooney and his dad can broker a deal.

They clearly felt the Gills were under-valuing him. But Rooney is still someway off making even 100 appearances at first team football (61 at present) and the 21-year-old is nowhere near the finished product. Only time will tell who is the winner on this one, but at present I think the Gills will be feeling pretty comfortable about the situation.

Whatever the thoughts are about Rooney’s decision, however, nobody should question his desire to help Gills succeed out on the pitch when he played. He is a real winner and a nice lad as well.

Players come and go in football and all he is doing is looking after number one now, as we all do. Let’s hope it’s the right decision and I personally wish him luck.

Luke Rooney had dominated the headlines this week for all the wrong reasons in a saga that would usually be reserved for the circus that is the Premier League.

Judging by comments on the situation from Gillingham fans there seems to be large-scale support for the club’s stance but how much damage could the episode do to the club or the player.

After Gills’ first half performance on Saturday no doubt many will say he wasn’t missed but when Chris Whelpdale started limping late on at Aldershot the list of possible replacements looked slim.

Gillingham came into the season with limited resources out on the flanks and Rooney’s omission will leave them short of numbers further still.

Could Gillingham’s hard-line approach to the situation hinder the team or is Rooney more of a luxury player that won’t be missed?

Rooney, who is out of contract in the summer, has only just started to earn a right to call himself a regular first team player but if the contract talks remain stalled then he could well find himself sidelined for the next six months and joining the hundreds of players looking for a new club in the summer.

Because of his age Gillingham would still be entitled to compensation if he joins another club so they seem to be the ones with the least to lose.

Rooney is a likeable lad and always very approachable and nobody should doubt his appetite for the game and determination on the field. But he seems to have made a grave mistake this time around by listening to his representatives or perhaps his own ego.

As we don’t know what he has been offered it would be wrong to label him a "money grabber" as some have done. For all we know the offer may be derisory and he is well within his rights to say, thanks, but no thanks.

But with Jack Payne agreeing to a deal last week it seems that the Gills were prepared to entice both young players with reasonable deals to stay. Had both declined than perhaps there would have been questions over just what was offered.

Rooney’s last contract extension was protracted after the Gills offered him three years and he eventually accepted two after a long delay.

It appears that the Gills aren’t willing to be as patient this time around.

Rooney really needs to sign the deal and get back to concentrating on improving his game. He has looked a more rounded player this season but six months on the sidelines will do nothing for his career. He could be in danger of going backwards.

If he signs and then does well the big boys will soon start calling and he can then start to make demands but right now, with his career in its infancy, he should take what he can get and then prove that he can harness his undoubted skill and make it big.

Gillingham are League 2 and Rooney is currently a League 2 player who has yet to claim a "key man" status so it’s still too early for him to be calling the shots.

Let’s hope he, his representatives and the club can come to agreement quickly, because Rooney is a quality player and Gillingham will benefit from that. Sitting in the stands will be a shocking waste of talent that the Gills have worked so hard to nurture.

Of course, he could already know, via his representatives, that another club are willing to pay him what he wants…