This episode, Bartholomew speaks to host of 'Gills in the Blood TV' Youtube channel, Matt Boosey about the sacking of Gillingham Manager, Neil Harris and we take a look at this week's Action Replay.
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00:00 Hello and welcome along to Invicta Sport, the only show on your TV dedicated to wrapping
00:19 up all of Kent's sporting action.
00:21 I'm Bartholomew Hall and here's what to expect on this Friday the 6th of October.
00:27 Harris out but who will replace him? We'll be diving into the shock announcement from
00:31 the Gilles this week.
00:33 Holcombe goes to Europe. Rochester Hockey side sets off on its first European season
00:38 in five years. Plus we'll have all the latest clips sent in by you, the KMTV viewers, in
00:43 Action Replay.
00:44 But of course, tonight we must first start with the news that broke on Thursday. Neil
00:49 Harris has been sacked as manager of Gillingham FC. The former Millwall striker joined the
00:54 club in January 2022. In that year, he was unable to keep the Gilles from escaping relegation
01:00 in League One, ultimately succumbing to a goal difference. Following the takeover of
01:04 American businessman Brad Gallinson in January this year, things started to change for the
01:09 club. Harris fought to keep the Gilles in the Football League, finishing last season
01:13 in 17th. Since August, the tide has begun to change, with the club initially hinted
01:18 at being the bookies' favourite promotion, equalising their best start to the season
01:22 ever with four straight wins and hanging around the top of the table for most weeks.
01:27 So why the change? Well, the club says it wants to move in a new direction. And that
01:32 starts with appointing B team coach Keith Millen as interim manager. Here he is speaking
01:36 yesterday.
01:37 The timing of it was a shock. I think it was the timing. But I've seen it before and it
01:45 happened again. It doesn't always reflect on the results, whether you're winning or
01:50 losing. There's always a reason, isn't there? Well, there should be a reason for it to happen.
01:55 So it's a case really of me picking up the pieces of where the players are. I'm not going
02:03 to be trying to motivate the players by saying, "Let's do this for Neil." I just don't think
02:07 that's the sort of right... I wouldn't want that as a player, as a motivation. So it's
02:12 an awareness of what's happened. And if it gives us a little bit more of an edge come
02:19 Saturday, then that's a good thing. And I'm sure Neil would want that. 100 per cent he
02:23 would want the players to go out there and perform and try and win the game.
02:27 And it seems the press and the fans weren't the only ones who were shocked, with a team
02:31 now looking towards taking on the MK Dons this weekend. Here's Connor Masterson explaining
02:35 just how they were told about Harris' departure.
02:38 Yeah, we came in this morning at half ten, expecting to meet at the games the other night,
02:43 like we usually do. The gaffer just told us that he would be part ways with the club.
02:50 So Neil was here this morning, so he spoke to you this morning?
02:54 Yeah, he did. He came into the dressing room and spoke to us and told them that obviously
02:58 he got sacked. It is what it is and we were all a bit shocked obviously, but this is football.
03:06 It might be just football, but it leaves fans with a huge question on their mind. Was this
03:11 the right decision? Was it the right time? And who will be the next manager of Gillingham
03:15 Football Club? I spoke to presenter of Gilles in the Blood YouTube channel, host Matt Bozy,
03:19 earlier this afternoon.
03:21 So I'm joined by Matt from Gilles in the Blood TV. Thank you very much for joining us. Welcome
03:25 to Invicta Sport as well. What was your reaction to Thursday's news?
03:30 Shock, I think is probably the best word to describe it. Regardless of whether it's the
03:36 right call, it's the wrong call. Ultimately, time will dictate whether it is one of them
03:42 two. But yeah, I think the timing was, for me certainly, was strange. Two days out from
03:46 a home game where we've been very good. I understand that there's flaws to Neil Harris
03:50 and certainly the two big ones that stand out throughout his reign were lack of goals,
03:54 averaging less than a goal a game over 90 games in all competitions and in the league
03:59 as well. And also an inability to chase games and come from behind. I think we'd only won
04:04 once from behind in the league and two or three times in cup competitions, which wasn't
04:08 good enough. So I'd imagine they're probably the stats that whoever's made this decision
04:13 has looked at and ultimately that's what's cost Neil his job. But yeah, certainly in
04:16 terms of timing and league position still, I struggled to get my head around it all of
04:22 Thursday. It was one that took a while. It's not like we're bottom three and really, really
04:26 struggling for form. We're eighth and we're four points off top. It seems an odd time,
04:31 but I'm sure the powers that be have their reasons and we have to move forward now.
04:35 Yeah, clearly something has happened, something's changed at the club. They're saying they want
04:39 to go in a different direction now, but it has really come as a shock to the players,
04:45 to the media, to the fans as well. On social media it's been brewing and we should obviously
04:50 take social media with a pinch of salt. People tend to be a bit reactionary at times, especially
04:56 in football as well.
04:57 It's an emotional spot and if you get asked a question, I'm sure Neil's been asked a
05:00 question plenty of times straight after games, you probably make a slightly ill-judged comment
05:05 at times. But yeah, I think everyone was in shock regardless of whether he was Harris
05:10 in or Harris out.
05:11 No, absolutely. But casting our minds back to just after those four opening games, Team
05:17 One, as you mentioned, goal scoring was kind of, questions were raised, just one goal scored
05:22 in all four of those games. The question was put to Neil Harris in some of those early
05:27 press conferences about the discussions that were happening in the small reaches of social
05:32 media. Let's hear what Neil had to say.
05:36 As you can tell, I'm quite astounded. I shouldn't be because that's modern day football. I don't
05:45 really know what to say. I suppose I have to try and defend myself a little bit then
05:52 if there's the odd person out there who questions that. Look at the record since January, one
05:59 of the first five games of the season we've had a bad week. Yeah, it's early days for
06:05 Newgrounds. I don't really know what to say.
06:07 Well Neil looked quite shocked there and probably absolutely reasonably so. It was very early
06:11 on in the season and maybe people talking on social media were just being reactionary
06:15 as we've already said. But in terms of how his form has been this season, it hasn't been
06:21 all bad. What has gone wrong?
06:23 I'm not sure if anything has gone wrong enough to be sacked. Like I've already said, we're
06:29 four points off top. We're a point off of the top three which is automatic promotion.
06:33 My big question now is do I fancy us any more tomorrow against MK Dons to win the football
06:38 match with Keith Millen in charge? And I mean that with the most respect to Keith Millen
06:43 more than Neil Harris. No I don't. Because number one, Keith Millen's got to take over
06:48 at short notice so he's got minimal time to sort out systems, personnel, style of play.
06:55 Number two, regardless of his flaws, this squad of players really liked Neil Harris
07:01 and really wanted to play for Neil Harris. So there's going to be a mental impact on
07:05 the playing staff which I fear may have an impact on Saturday afternoon.
07:09 Yeah, I was going to ask about that. Lots of the players have come with Neil almost
07:13 from Millwall from his links there. We heard from Connor Masterson yesterday in that press
07:17 conference.
07:18 He looked quite shocked. He was obviously just hours after hearing the news. How much
07:23 of an impact could this have on the players come Saturday?
07:26 I guess we find out at three o'clock Saturday afternoon. Ultimately in the same way that
07:29 we'll ultimately find out in seven months when the season ends whether this is the right
07:33 call. Tomorrow from three till five we'll ultimately find out how much the players have
07:37 been affected. They might go out there and turn on a show and we win two or three and
07:40 everyone's happy and goes home and we're back in the top three.
07:43 Just quickly before we wrap up. It doesn't matter now, it's in the past. Neil Harris
07:48 whatever the decision was.
07:49 He's gone and we've got to move on.
07:50 Yeah, exactly. So who's next in line for you? There's been a few names thrown around. Karl
07:54 Robinson obviously left Oxford United earlier this year. Scott Lindsay at Crawley Town.
07:59 These are sort of what the bookmakers are throwing around.
08:01 To be honest there's not anyone that jumps off the page that I think is ultimately an
08:06 immediate upgrade on Neil Harris in terms of pedigree. Robinson if you look at him he's
08:10 done alright at Oxford. Got to a couple of play-off campaigns but never got him over
08:14 the line albeit at a higher level. Got promoted with MK Don's out of league, won a few seasons
08:19 ago. Struggled at Charlton, got sacked for a reason. Scott Lindsay I like what he's doing
08:25 at Crawley Town. He's locally based so logistically it would work but my big concern with Scott
08:30 Lindsay I think he's only managed around 65-70 senior games so it's a very small segment
08:35 that you're looking at in terms of being successful and I don't think his spell at Swindon was
08:38 great either. I'm genuinely not sure because I'm still a little bit in shock at what happened
08:43 yesterday rightly or wrongly. It came as a surprise to everyone like I've already said.
08:46 No rightly and if anything of the last 48 hours is to go off it's that whoever takes
08:51 over the standards are going to be quite high. They've got a big job to do because you're
08:55 looking at a manager that's been sacked with a 58% win ratio this season sitting in 8th
09:02 so the only positions above that which will class as an improvement are either play-offs
09:05 or automatic promotion. Matt thank you very much for joining us. Absolute pleasure, thank
09:09 you. Well moving on from the Gilles there are plenty more games happening this weekend
09:14 of course. Here's Finn McDermid with a look back at some of the midweeks and a look ahead
09:18 to the games happening this weekend. On Tuesday Ebb Sleet continued their season of ups and
09:23 downs with another defeat after travelling to Italy in the National League. They lost
09:27 5-2 with striker Darren McQueen scoring a brace but midfielder Billy Clifford was sent
09:33 off in the fourth minute of extra time before the final whistle blew. Here's what manager
09:38 Dennis Kutryb had to say after the dramatic game. Conceding two easy goals is negative.
09:45 This is what we have to turn around and this is what we have to stop. But apart from that
09:48 even possession apart from the last five minutes after the red card was maybe different but
09:55 before we had most of the time the ball but you can see sometimes it doesn't matter if
09:59 you have the ball or not. You need to make sure that you don't concede. And here's how
10:02 the National League table looks after that tough defeat. Ebb Sleet are still holding
10:06 out in the mid-table at 15th but it is a close one with 10 other teams being within three
10:11 points. Now for a look at the National League South. Here are the matches coming up this
10:16 weekend. Dartford Town after sneaking a 1-0 victory over Tonbridge in the league hope
10:21 to make it another win when they travel to Chippenham Town. Also Dover face Taunton.
10:25 20th place Tonbridge have a home game against Hemel Hempstead and 7th place Maidstone head
10:30 to Torquay hoping to keep up their dominating winning streak. Here's how the league currently
10:34 looks and the Ithsmian Premier takes a break this week but here are the sides taking part
10:39 in the third qualifying round of the FA Trophy. Folkestone who lost out at this stage last
10:44 year take on Haringey who only made it to the first round in their last campaign and
10:48 we see a Kent Derby with Ramsgate facing off against Sheppey. Only one of them will make
10:53 it to the next round. Now let's take a look at League 2 with Gillingham up against the
10:57 MK Dons following a few mixed results in the last couple weeks. This might be an uphill
11:02 climb for the new interim head coach Keith Millen. And this is how the table looks with
11:07 Gillingham at 8th but with all the teams from there up to second having within two points.
11:12 Gillingham only being held back due to their -2 goal difference. Well that's all for today's
11:17 football fixtures, see you next week.
11:45 Just half time which means it's time for a break but coming up we've got plenty more
11:49 sport from across the county. See you in a minute.
11:51 Thanks for watching.
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15:09 >> Hello and welcome back to Invicta Sport live on KMTV.
15:13 This weekend, the 2023 British Touring Car Championship season comes to an end
15:17 right here in the county.
15:19 Brands Hatch will be the host of the final rounds of the championship.
15:22 Ash Sutton leads the standings by 45 points.
15:25 His route and base team alliance racing,
15:27 formerly known as motor base performance, has changed names for the final weekend.
15:31 The three time champion leads by 45 points,
15:33 whilst Platz Heath driver Jake Hill remains third in the standings.
15:37 He can't win the title, but second place is up for grabs.
15:40 And broad stairs born Michael Kreese sits 23rd.
15:42 On to cricket and Sam Billings has stepped down from his role as captain of
15:46 Kent County Cricket Club following a tough summer.
15:49 Speaking at the end of the club's end of season awards events on Wednesday evening,
15:54 the 32 year old announced his intention to focus on improving his game going into
15:58 the 24 season and beyond.
16:00 Billings described his captaincy as an incredible honor and
16:03 says he hopes to have left the club in a better place.
16:05 Our county side survived relegation from division one of the county championship
16:09 this time last week, finishing eight points higher than second bottom Middlesex.
16:14 Billings will remain a player until at least the end of the 2025 season.
16:19 Next and Holcombe Hockey Club set off on the start of their European Hockey League
16:24 season today.
16:25 It comes as here at home, the Medway League are top of the EHL premiership
16:30 after winning three of their four opening league games this season.
16:33 It's the first time that Holcombe have been in the European competition since 2018,
16:37 where they couldn't get past the round of 16.
16:39 The team took on Racing Club de France in Barcelona today.
16:43 I caught up with midfielder Hayden Phillips earlier in the week.
16:46 Well, Hayden, thank you very much for joining us here and welcome to Invictus Sport.
16:50 Now, as a New Zealand international, you've played all around the globe.
16:53 So going into a measly European competition surely is not going to be
16:58 too much of a challenge for you.
17:03 Who knows? I mean, it's the EHL is quite an exciting competition where all the top clubs
17:08 basically from Europe come together.
17:10 So I don't think it's going to be easy by any means.
17:13 And it's definitely going to be an exciting wee challenge and something different for me.
17:17 Yeah, absolutely. And of course, I was just guessing you are going to be up against some of some of the best clubs in Europe, of course.
17:23 Now, what's the sort of general feeling within the group going into this match on Friday?
17:30 Match on Friday, we are going in, I'd say, quietly confident.
17:34 We've had quite a good build up through our first four league games.
17:39 And then in our last two games, we played Old George Enns and Serviden,
17:42 who we played in the semifinal last year to make EHL.
17:47 And then Old George Enns we played in the England Hockey Final.
17:50 So we've had a good little build up.
17:53 So we're feeling confident.
17:55 Yeah, of course. And that sort of build up has been quite good for the club, really.
17:59 I mean, you go into this European sort of campaign top of the domestic table.
18:04 I know we're quite early on in the season, but then also following, you know,
18:09 getting so close last year in the playoffs as well.
18:11 Is there any pressure at all on yourselves?
18:14 I don't know. I don't think we feel the pressure.
18:19 I think we're, to be honest, our whole bunch of mates just getting out and playing on the park together.
18:25 So I don't think we quite probably see it in that way.
18:29 No.
18:31 OK, well, fair enough.
18:33 I mean, you seem optimistic and you seem like you're going into it all sort of close-knit.
18:37 What's the sort of, you know, camaraderie between you guys at Holcombe?
18:42 It's wicked.
18:45 I think...
18:46 So I'm actually... I live in Rye Gate,
18:49 and there's about five of us guys currently living in Rye Gate.
18:52 And so we all share a car down each day.
18:56 And then there's a whole bunch of guys that come from London as well,
19:00 who grab Rye's together and all that kind of thing.
19:03 So I'd say the core of our group as well has been together for about three or four years now.
19:08 So, yeah, we get along pretty well.
19:11 Social side of things is excellent.
19:13 And then obviously, I think that probably portrays into the way that we play.
19:17 It's great. We talk to loads of different teams and loads of different sports here.
19:20 And it's always good to hear, you know, when you're car sharing, things like that,
19:23 you're spending so much time together, you sort of come together as a bit of a family.
19:27 But I know you also have another role at Holcombe as well.
19:30 I know you coach and you manage the women's first team.
19:32 How's that role been going?
19:34 Yeah, it's been all right.
19:37 So last year, assistant coaching and carried on assistant coaching this year.
19:40 And then for the first time, stepping into the manager role,
19:44 I'd say the coaching side is probably the easier side of...
19:48 That comes probably a little bit more naturally.
19:50 But the managing and the organising of other people sometimes is...
19:55 That's probably the new challenge that I'm finding in the sort of admin side that goes with it.
20:00 That's, yeah, it's been interesting.
20:03 Absolutely. I mean, it seems like a big year ahead for the club as a whole, really.
20:07 The women's side, you know, really wanting to push to get back into the premiership.
20:11 What's the sort of feeling amongst the club?
20:13 Am I right in saying it's quite a big year ahead?
20:16 Yeah, definitely, particularly for the, I'd say, the two first teams that I'm involved with.
20:21 So obviously for the men, EHL and the league,
20:24 I guess the hopes of probably, well, of going one better than what we did last year.
20:29 And then for the girls' side, obviously after a disappointing,
20:32 basically in that last game last year, disappointing to not stay up in the league.
20:37 Now it's like we want to come back and get back up there.
20:40 And so it is going to be massive.
20:44 Well, Hayden, thank you very much for joining us today and best of luck this weekend
20:48 and with the rest of the season.
20:50 Thank you very much.
20:52 Well, Holcombe won that game today 4-2.
20:54 They'll move into the quarterfinals on Sunday.
20:57 Now, a Maidstone mum has raised £1,000 for the neonatal intensive care unit ward
21:02 at the William Harvey Hospital that saved her baby's lives after completing a half marathon.
21:08 The Four Castles Challenge starts at the Deal Pier and finishes at the Dover Castle,
21:13 a distance of 13 miles.
21:15 And it's made all the more difficult by its hilly terrain.
21:18 But after two hours and 14 minutes, she had done it.
21:20 I spoke to her earlier this week.
21:22 So, Sue, welcome to the programme.
21:24 It's really good to speak with you.
21:25 Now, you completed your target fundraising for the Four Castles Half Marathon Challenge.
21:31 You actually doubled it as well as completing the half marathon.
21:34 You must be quite proud of yourself.
21:37 Yeah, really proud.
21:37 Yeah, I kind of set the target for 500, not really expecting to even get that.
21:42 So to smash that, like double it, is just absolutely amazing.
21:46 I'm really pleased.
21:47 Now, are you a bit of a runner already?
21:50 Because the time that you completed it in was two hours and 14 minutes.
21:54 That's just three minutes over the average for a woman to complete a half marathon.
21:58 You must have had a bit of experience in sort of half marathons.
22:02 Yeah, I did a half marathon five years ago to raise money again for the hospital.
22:09 And I do generally short distances a couple of times a week.
22:12 So normally just three, four miles a couple of times a week.
22:16 I hadn't done this sort of distance for quite a few years.
22:20 So it was a bit of a challenge for me.
22:22 But yeah, it's good.
22:24 Am I right in saying as well, you went into this following a foot injury.
22:28 How do you sort of push through that?
22:31 Yeah, well, I hurt my foot training probably about three weeks before the run.
22:38 So I hadn't been able to do any running.
22:40 So I didn't want to risk hurting it anymore before the run.
22:43 But I just thought if it went on the day, I'll just, yeah, just kind of go with it, push through it.
22:47 I knew I would be able to get through it on the day.
22:49 So I didn't want to hurt it anymore.
22:51 And yeah, yeah, it started hurting about five, six miles in.
22:54 But I just, yeah, it was fine.
22:56 It wasn't bad enough for me to stop.
22:58 I just knew it was there.
22:59 So.
22:59 OK, so no doubts that you were going to miss out on it.
23:01 You was definitely going to push through.
23:05 Definitely.
23:05 Fantastic.
23:06 Well, that's good to hear.
23:07 Now, we're quite lucky with our sort of coastline and our castles here in Kent.
23:11 You must have had quite a good view while you were running.
23:15 It was absolutely amazing.
23:16 Yeah, the views.
23:18 Yeah, I kind of wanted to stop and take photos, but then I wanted to get it done in a reasonable time.
23:22 So I didn't.
23:23 But I think it would be quite a nice place to go and take the dog and the family for a walk, just to go and show them the views, because they are stunning.
23:30 Yeah, absolutely.
23:31 Absolutely.
23:32 I mean, I was.
23:33 OK, completely.
23:34 Now, the East Kent Hospital's charity, you chose it because you've got quite a personal connection to it.
23:40 They looked after you and your twins when they had difficulties after being born.
23:44 Can you tell us a bit more about why you decided to support them?
23:49 Yeah, yeah, well, my twins were born at 27 weeks, five days, so they were three months early, essentially.
23:55 Absolutely tiny, wouldn't have survived a couple of minutes with all the help that we got from them, basically.
24:03 And they stayed in hospital for three months, come out a week before their June day.
24:07 They'd had numerous, numerous life-saving care given to them and then loads of years of follow-up care.
24:14 And yeah, they were just absolutely amazing.
24:16 If it wasn't for them, we would not have our kids, basically.
24:19 So I just wanted to do a little something to give something back.
24:22 You know, the amount they spent on our kids must be huge, but it's just a little something to give back to them, just to say that we're always thinking of them.
24:30 You know, we're forever indebted to them, basically.
24:33 Absolutely. Such an important cause.
24:35 Now, I have to ask, how are your twins doing now? I know they're a bit older now, right?
24:39 They're amazing. They're going to be 10 in just about, I keep doing a countdown the minute, less than two weeks.
24:45 Yeah, amazing kids. Fit, healthy, sporty, into everything.
24:51 Yeah, brilliant at school. No lasting problems whatsoever, thanks to all the care that they gave them, that they needed.
24:58 Absolutely. Well, Sue, congratulations on completing the run and obviously the fundraising as well.
25:03 Thank you for speaking with us. Thank you very much.
25:06 Well, before we go, let's see what we've got in store for you this week on Action Replay.
25:11 Kicking off this week's Action Replay, we have to rewind back to Sheppey United's astonishing effort in the FA Cup third round qualifying,
25:20 when they beat the Welsh side, Berthetown, 4-1. The Isfian South East Underdogs came from behind to dominate the match.
25:28 Our goal of the game was from Captain Richie Hamill, putting United ahead with 20 minutes to go and knocking down the first domino of a proper golf fest.
25:37 Next, at Medway Park, welcomed dancers from across the globe this week as the 70th annual International Dance Festival took place in the Gillingham venue,
25:46 with more than 20 categories of competition taking place over four days.
25:51 You might not be surprised to hear that it meant cramming in more than 20 hours of dancing every day.
25:56 Sounds quite tiring if you ask me.
25:59 And the winners here in Medway bagged themselves a place in the International Finals at the Royal Albert Hall on Friday, today.
26:06 Lastly, let's set sail with our very own Abbey Hook, who decided to take the scenic route to London.
26:12 Forget the car, forget the train, she cruised from Gravesend to Greenwich, gliding under the Kiwi Tee Bridge and basking in the Thames sunlight.
26:21 Now that's what I call a journey with a view.
26:23 And that's a wrap on the whirlwind of excitement for this week's Action Replay.
26:28 And if you are itching to be part of the next edition, well, don't hold back.
26:32 Send in your jaw-dropping pictures and videos.
26:36 Oh, well, don't forget, if you want to appear in Action Replay next week, you absolutely can.
26:40 Just send us those clips on social media.
26:43 Well, from me, I'll see you on Monday. Have a good weekend.
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