Southampton fans have been shown that the upcoming Carabao Cup could be an upset-fest like that Gillingham game, due to a wildcard twist.
Recently, Saints hero Steven Davis has stressed upon the importance of Russell Martin framing a positive initial impression at Rangers. Now, that's a brilliant motivating gesture but Martin's Southampton tenure wasn't a theme about smooth sailing in the starting months.
That too, when he was given the Championship duties where defeats raise questions about a coach's tactical capacity. Now, either blame Martin's too easy going approach or praise that brave Gillingham side, but Southampton received an embarrassing Carabao Cup upset that campaign in the opening round itself.
As the saying goes that history often repeats itself, there will be valid Cup concerns when Will Still also leads the Saints in those tournaments. And needless to say, that those assignments come quickly for non-Premier League sides but they can get even more trickier this year.
Will Still has his Carabao Cup work cut out
That's because the Daily Echo have pinpointed the introduction of a wildcard preliminary stage into the tournament.
What it means is there could be some unexpected outfits who might repeat a Gillingham trick on Southampton, if they rotated too much. Now, resting players isn't bad but shuffling the lineup balance so early can hinder the squad's on-field potential.
After all, the whole point of a summer squad upgrade is to strengthen the weakness of the roster and not the other way around, which excessive lineup experimenting does. So, clearly, Martin shouldn't be the reference point for Still in this department.
Instead, Still needs to devise a plan to tackle these hidden hurdles present while facing a lower-division club. Deep down every Southampton fan knows Still will exceed their expectations but it's a crucial reminder for them as well to avoid criticising the Englishman if he fumbles a few results here and there.