Features, Ian Varley
Varley: It was a good run out
Published by Gillingham Ladies Media on July 27, 2010
Ian Varley saw his side beat Lewes in their second pre-season game on Sunday on a sunny afternoon in Worthing.
The result and the sunny weather didn’t help the disastrous preparation that his side suffered in the run up to the game.
Talking about the fact they got stuck in a bad accident on the way to the game, he said: “If I am honest I think it really did affect us.
“It is just one of those things really and luckily it wasn’t a League game. To be fair to the girls they didn’t moan and just got on with it. It certainly didn’t help and as everyone knows good preparation is huge at the top level. As I said it can’t be helped, just one of those things.”
Despite the travel chaos the Gills came away with the win that their performance on the afternoon deserved and Ian was pleased that they did.
He added: “It is always nice to get the right result in pre-season even though it is not the most important thing. It was a good run out for us though and it was definitely a step up from last week which I knew it would be.
“However Sunday did highlight to me that we need to work on things defensively and going forward, and that is what we will be doing this week in training.”
There was yet another stand out performance from Ashlee Hincks on Sunday against Lewes, even though the manager thinks she wasn’t on top of her game.
He said: “Ash is a real professional and does things the right way so it is no surprise you her put in top performances on a regular basis.
“She keeps herself fit, she recovers properly and she does her own training, basically she does everything an elite athlete should do and it shows in games.
“Funnily enough I am sure she will agree she wasn’t at her best today but still claimed a hat trick which proved how good she is. Ash is a great player to work with.”
Ian experimented with a number of things during the game and that is what these games are all about for the manger.
He added: “Pre-Season is all about trying different things and we tried a number of new things on Sunday.
“The game has certainly given me a better indication of how I want to play and what personnel should be playing. We have such a big squad now and some places are still up for grabs which provides great competition for places.”