Gillingham manager Mark Bonner hopes that by creating a more balanced squad this summer the club’s star signing from last year can flourish.
Jonny Williams joined the Gills a year ago with great fanfare but the former Welsh international was unable to produce his best football – something Bonner hopes he can change.
Key dates and matches as Gillingham fixtures are revealed
Williams says he still has plenty to offer and Bonner was asked how he could get the best out of him. The answer was a simple one.
“Play him in his best position,” said the Gills boss.
“I think two seasons before he played centrally for Swindon and that’s why he signed (at Gillingham), because he had scored and assisted in that team.
“With the balance of the squad last year there was a lot of central players and no real width in the team. You can’t play them all but you end up putting your best XI on the pitch and it might not always be the best team that suits the system or what you want.
“Jonny Williams is a really talented player who can score goals, create chances and he is brilliant in central areas. Hopefully we can get the best out of him by doing that.”
Bonner has added wingers Jack Nolan and Aaron Rowe while pacey forward Jayden Clarke will be looking forward to a fresh start and showing what he can do after a frustrating past campaign.
Williams signed off last season with plenty to look forward to. He’s got married over the summer and will return eager to make an impact at a club he’s always wanted to play for.
“It has meant a lot to me to be playing in Kent,” said Williams. “There are things I want to improve on, getting in the box more, getting more shots, creating goals, scoring goals.
“I was involved in lots of goals [last season] but not direct involvements and that is something I want to work on and I back myself to do that.
“I think people appreciate what I bring to the team, the same as I have done as a kid, playing on the front foot, taking the team forward and creating opportunities.
“I am 30-years-old but I am still improving and I can work on that and hopefully be better next year.
“I made 49 appearances [last season] which is something I haven’t always been blessed with so my body is doing well and I have played a lot of games, so that is a massive positive for me.
“I look forward to getting back and having a great season next year.”
Williams’ only goal last year came in a 5-1 EFL Trophy defeat at Portsmouth. He’d scored 11 the year before that at Swindon which led the Gills to make their move, clinching a deal from under the noses of League 2 rivals Bradford City.
The Gills have snapped up some top performers from last season in League 2, with play-off finalists Elliott Nevitt and Rowe both moving to the club from Crewe Alexandra.
Wideman Nolan excelled on loan at Accrington Stanley while midfielder Armani Little was a regular for AFC Wimbledon.
Bonner knows that stats from the past mean nothing.
He said: “Just because they have done it before doesn’t mean they will naturally do it again – if only it was that easy!
“We have signed talented players who are capable of doing what we want them to do, now they have to do it and we have to find a way of getting those players finding the rhythm and the numbers in the past. That is the challenge, otherwise everyone could just sign the best players from the previous season and you’d win the league, easy.
“It is not as simple as that but we have to try and find a way of putting the players together in the right way and get the best out of them.”
