Nutter's Natter with Gills defender John Nutter
14:48, 24 August 2009
updated: 14:48, 24 August 2009
What a start! None of us expected to pick up such an emphatic win on the opening day.
Everyone would of taken a 1-0 before the game but as it went on we grew in confidence, began to express ourselves and scored some great goals.
I managed to be involved in a few of them. Everyone can see the understanding between the players is growing all the time and the goals showed that. Jacko’s movement was great and his finishing was just as good.
Millsy also managed to slide one in off his ever-increasingly greasy top. I’m trying to catch him up with the hair but he has got a couple months ahead in the growing process!
It was good to see Benno (pictured) notch the first as well. Those ones are always harder than they look and he stuck it away well.
It was also pleasing for us boys at the back to keep a clean sheet. The little winger McNamee was a lively one but we manged to limit them to few chances.
AJ (Alan Julian) had to pull off a good save in the first half to show everyone what he is about and it was good for him to also get a clean sheet.
We had a couple of the boys missing on Saturday with injuries but showed how strong the squad is. Young Jack Payne came in for Kevin Maher and he was outstanding. His composure and intelligence on the pitch are well beyond his years and I’m sure he’ll play an important role for us over the season.
It always helps the back four when you have that holding midfielder to help protect you. Whether that’s Jack, Kev or even Stewy Lewis, it’s great for us at the back.
Kicking off early gave us the chance to get to the top of the league for a while and we all thought it would last longer than it did.
Norwich had a strange performance against Colchester but as we saw last season, letting in seven doesn’t always mean you’re in for a bad season.
I enjoyed the early kick-off. It meant less waiting around for the match. I hate the waiting around, you just want to get out there and play so the earlier the better for me.
It also gives you the chance to listen to the results come in after you have finished.
I’ll be listening out for the Super Clarets results this year. My whole family are huge Burnley fans, coming from up there, so we’re looking forward to see how they do in the Premier League this year.
Tuesday night was another good win against a strong Plymouth team who had a lot of the play in the first half-hour but we kept our discipline and restricted them to little in front of goal.
The gaffer changed the shape slightly and we got into the game more. We scored a great first goal then the ‘big man’ Barch stuck a header away to make it 2-0 at half-time.
They pulled one back in the second half but again they didn’t cut us open. It keeps us bouncing along for the trip to Tranmere. It will be a tough game as they have a new manager in John Barnes and it’s their first home league game, so they’ll be up for it. But so will we and it should be a good game.
I was pleased to get the man of the match on Saturday but I felt a bit cheeky getting the champagne when Jacko had got a hat-trick!
I was lucky they announced the man of the match before he had chalked up his third. I’m sure he will get plenty of MoMs this season anyway so I won’t feel too guilty.
He is a talented goalscorer and I’m sure he is going to have a big future – hopefully with us.
The gaffer has mentioned the club are still trying to add a couple of players to the squad.
I have played against the players we are rumoured to be interested in and they will definitely strengthen the squad.