Evans says star players will attract big interest

Gillingham manager Steve Evans expects cash bids for two of his back four whenever this season comes to an end. Left-back Connor Ogilvie is many people’s pick for player-ofthe-season while youngster Jack Tucker has been a revelation in central defence.

Both have attracted plenty of attention and both are capable of playing in the Championship, according to the Gills boss. Ogilvie was Evans’ first signing after taking charge last summer, signing him after his release from Tottenham, while 20-year-old Tucker (pictured) has made 34 appearances for the Gills after being given a chance to show what he could do. Evans said: “I think there is no doubt that in the summer the chairman will receive bids for Connor Ogilvie and Jack Tucker and he may receive bids for (teenage goalkeeper) Joe Walsh as well, but certainly the main bids will come for Jack and Connor.

“I think Connor has been nothing short of stunning all season. Since I first worked with him we identified some things that we had to work on his game, to make him a proper left-back, not the left-back I had watched before I came in.

“We gave the kid some guidance, he grabbed it and he worked so hard. You can talk about Coventry and you can talk about Rotherham and them all but Connor Ogilvie is the best left-back in League 1. He is deserving of playing in the Championship next season.”

Tucker had only one league appearance under his belt and a couple of Football Trophy games to boast of before this season. Evans said: “He is a kid, he is still learning, he is 20, but he has every tool in the locker to be playing in the Championship too and the chairman has already turned down money for both. I think he will have people back on the phone when the window does open up again.”

Whether they leave is dependent on many factors, none more so than the value the chairman puts on their heads, but Evans has no issue with people being ambitious. He said: “I have always believed that players or managers should always aspire to be as high as you can, that should never change.

“Will Jack Tucker and Connor Ogilvie be ambitious? Absolutely.

“I am not so sure they will go.

The one thing you have with Paul Scally is that he knows the value of 10p, never mind £10. “We are making sure that we spend every penny properly and that we get value for money. The only person who can ultimately set the value for those two players is the chairman himself.”

Evans has often been asked about those players from rival managers, some in the Championship and others at the top end of League 1.

The Gills boss said: “They are asking about their character. When they say ‘what do you think?’ I have to say, ‘don’t ask me to talk about them as a player.’ The fact they are ringing tells me why, because their own staff like him.

“Both get the highest glowing references in terms of the boys who are in first, last out, live properly and are brilliant professionals.”

The chair of the Southern Counties East League feels their whole purpose has been null and voided.

Denise Richmond has spoken about her frustration over the FA’s decision to end their season without promotion or relegation, ignoring their preference for positions to be decided on points per game.

On Thursday the FA

Council ratified the League Committee’s decision to end the 2019/20 season at steps three to seven of non-league football.

A statement from the

SCEFL the following day said that “success should be rewarded” and that their hope was for the season to be completed on a points per game basis, enabling teams to be promoted or relegated. Ms Richmond said: “The decision to end the season was the right one but my frustration, and a lot of the clubs’ frustration, is the outcome of that.

“What it feels like is that we are not rewarding success and we are not rewarding hard work. We have clubs who have applied to come into the league and clubs in promotable positions at step seven (the Kent County League) who have invested a lot of money.

“As a level of football, steps five and six, we are here to facilitate football, a league for clubs to get promoted out of and for clubs to take a step back and to consolidate and by null and voiding the season it completely killed that, for me.

“At this level of football that is our whole purpose. We bring clubs on and help them get their facilities right and give them the right recommendations to do that and it is not just a season, it feels that our whole purpose has been null and voided.

“It feels like a bit of a waste, we haven’t been able to do our job have we? We haven’t been able to bring clubs on or get them promoted.”

The decision made by the

FA - taken without any vote from leagues at step five or six - denies both Corinthian and Beckenham the chance of promotion into the Isthmian League on PPG and the likes of Kennington in Division 1 to move a step forward.

In the Kent County League, Staplehurst Monarchs United had worked hard off the field to ensure their ground would be up to standards in the SCEFL and on the field they led the way too, topping the Premier Division. They have been denied the chance of progress as well.

The league must now wait to see what happens at the top level before they can plan ahead. They have written to the FA to see if they can, if needed, defer their general meeting in June. The SCEFL season usually starts in early August but there is no definite answer as to what is happening at the moment.