Charlton star Gilbey: Last season was worst of my career

Charlton star Alex Gilbey has told a mental health podcast that he went through the toughest spell of his career last season.

The 26-year-old former Milton Keynes and Colchester ace hit a rough patch of form with a nagging Achilles injury.

He lost confidence and the ability to take risks and therefore to affect games.

Gilbey is yet to play this season because of contracting Covid-19 in pre-season.

But he is ready to play his part – and believes it is only a matter of time before the Addicks challenge at the top, because the club has the right ingredients and environment.

The birth of a daughter three months ago and getting the right care at The Valley have all contributed to his return, he told Kyle Andrews on the Mental Well-Balling Podcast.

Gilbey said: “I had problem with my Achilles quite early on. I played on for six weeks. When I did stop, I came back too early. I could not find my form. I was overthinking it. I became more sensible – it was side-to-side and backwards.

“I stoped playing on my front foot – I was bringing nothing to the team. At my previous clubs, people knew the ability I had. But people got on my back and I stopped trying to affect the game. It was the hardest period in my career. I was so happy to be here then thinking ‘What have I done?’

“It was a terrible situation to be in. I had no confidence. All I wanted to do was impress but went the opposite way – I brought nothing. The first six months at Charlton were a disaster.

“Before, I would take risks, shoot from distance, get into the box. But as soon as I played safe, I was not performing at the level I should have. I was trying too hard but every week getting worse and worse. I was putting so much pressure on myself to show how good I could be.

“I’ve played in every position – so it wasn’t down to being played out of position. Not showing people how good I can be was a shock to the system. Now, I have experienced that, I am so much stronger for it.”

The turning point came in training.

“I said to myself ‘Scoring goals is the best thing in football’,” he recalled. “I went into training trying to score as many goals as I could. I must have had 40 shots and all I could hear was ‘pass the ball’. I was trying things I used to try.”

Scoring in a 2-1 win at Sunderland was important.

“I missed a chance at Doncaster and it was eating away at me all week,” he said. “At Sunderland I fluffed the first chance then it landed for me.”

Having a daughter three months ago has enabled him to switch off from his job.

“I look at life completely different. I love being with the boys and my mates,” he said “I was at the training ground until 4pm playing darts. Now I want to get home, because I want to give all my time to her. It has made me mature more. When I am not at football, I can switch off from it. I was so obsessed with watching every game on the TV, no matter what standard. It was just football, football, football.

“It’s given me an escape which I did not know I needed. I’ve learned to take myself away from football. I can’t be moody all night because this little thing needs me. I’m absolutely loving it.”

Gilbey said his biggest lesson from the early part of his career would be taking his schooling seriously.

He also thanked Paul Tisdale, his manager at Milton Keynes, for encouraging players to talk about their issues.

Gilbey said: “Life in football is just get on with it. But sometimes it’s okay not to be okay. It’s all right to show your emotions.

“There are so many people at Charlton who are so caring. Whether you are talking to the chefs or the manager, everyone talks to each other – asks how they are.

“When the new signings come in, after a few days, you don’t feel like you are. It is only a matter of time because of that for Charlton.”

He also revealed he might not have come to Charlton, when the club was in turmoil, if Connor Washington, a former team-mate from Newport County, had not also been in the process of joining at the same time.

“Connor, a mate I was in contact with, was willing to do it with me,” he said. “Let’s get this over the line. We were constantly talking about the situation the club was in. If we had done it separately, we might not have done it. Other people might have thought ‘I’m not taking that risk’.

“There was so much outside noise – the players blocked that out. I was thinking I might be out of work in six weeks. 100 things were going through my mind but for the 90 minutes I could forget about it.”

Catch the full podcast on Spotify or https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/5fdd23cb3cd21479c410c498