Gillingham FC appoints Gareth Ainsworth as new manager

It follows the departure of John Coleman after just three months in charge at Priestfield. Bartholomew Hall reports.

Transcript

00:00A fourth manager in the space of 12 months. Gareth Ainsworth takes to the helm at Priestfield

00:06at a troubling time for Gillingham. Following the summer sacking of Steven Clements, the

00:10League Two promotion hopefuls started their campaign with Mark Bonner in charge, before

00:15his exit in early January after a poor run over Christmas.

00:19Gillingham then brought in John Coleman, with the former Accrington Stanley boss managing

00:23just two wins in his 14 games at the helm. The most recent of which, a goalless draw

00:29against League leaders Walsall.

00:50Despite some mid-season relegation fears, now in 19th and 13 points safe, it's up to

00:55the new manager to keep it that way.

00:59In the bag, I think there's about a 13 point gap between Gillingham now and the bottom

01:03two, which I think realistically we are all but mathematically safe now.

01:08The worry I think a lot of people have got, and myself included, are we going to become

01:13the next version of Watford, where they seem to change managers every few months.

01:18We do need now some stability, we've been saying it for some while. I just hope that

01:23we can settle down and that supporters will get behind him, regardless of the first few

01:28results, and let's try and build for a positive future.

01:32And you've heard me say before, next season's going to be an exciting one, but this season

01:37isn't over.

01:38The new boss, Gareth Ainsworth, is moving to Gillingham from League One basement boys

01:42Shrewsbury Town. Having won just five of his 22 games in charge at the Shrews, a move to

01:48Kent will see him drop down a division.

01:50The former QPR midfielder played more than 500 games in his senior career, where he picked

01:55up the nickname Wild Thing for his rock star aspirations, fitting hairstyle and, well,

02:00musical ability.

02:09So with less than 10 games left this season, it's now the turn of Gareth Ainsworth to produce

02:13the melody that will keep Gillingham's rhythm alive.

02:16Bartholomew Hall for KMTV.