Gillingham: Connor Mahoney issues plea to Mark Bonner ahead of 2024/25
Former on-loan playmaker Connor Mahoney wants to see the Gills go for it in attack next season.
Former Gillingham loanee Connor Mahoney says the Kent club should play more on the front foot next season to avoid another frustrating season in front of goal.
Mahoney, who joined the Gills on a season-long loan from Huddersfield Town, was one of the few bright spots in attack for a team that finished the season as League Two’s second-lowest goalscorers – only bottom club Forest Green Rovers managed fewer goals in 2023/24.
In a wide-ranging chat with The ME7 Podcast, Mahoney shared his insider’s take on Gillingham’s underperforming season, and offered his thoughts on where things went wrong
Mahoney: Gills missed a natural goalscorer
Gillingham managed just 46 goals across their League Two campaign – an average of just one goal per game – and the lack of a cutting edge up front was clear to see, both from the stands and from inside the dressing room itself.
“Well, I think the big one is scoring goals, isn’t it?” Mahoney admitted.
“Personally, I think we had good strikers. That’s not me saying that because I’m on the podcast, but maybe we didn’t have a goalscorer that was going to score 10-15 goals, you know? Even little ones that
just nick off you, or a ‘fox in the box’ kind of thing where a shot gets parried and somebody just taps it in. I think obviously that’s a big issue.
“I think we needed to get somebody in January, and somebody coming in straight off the bat could give us a good three or four months, and score six, seven, eight goals.”
Unfortunately for Mahoney and the Gills, that didn’t happen. Gillingham did sign three forwards, but for various reasons, none of them gave the team the desired impact.
Colombian loanee Jorge Hurtado showed flashes of brilliance before sustaining a season-ending knee injury in his third appearance while their permanent signing, target man Josh Andrews, arrived at the club already injured, then suffered a second injury setback when he was on the cusp of his Gills debut. The club’s other January loan addition, Burton striker Josh Walker, netted on his first appearance, but was largely ineffective thereafter.
