Gillingham are open to extending newly-installed manager John Coleman’s six-month deal into a long-term appointment if he brings success on the pitch.
Coleman’s taken charge of the team with half a season remaining, tasked with turning the club’s form around and mounting a promotion challenge.
The Gills moved quickly to get vastly-experienced Coleman in place after Mark Bonner was sacked on Sunday. Coleman’s first day was on Monday, he met the players on Tuesday with the immediate focus on beating Saturday’s visitors, Fleetwood.
“I think the beauty of this is we were able to do something very quickly,” said managing director Joe Comper.
“John and I met for the first time [last] Saturday, so it’s not something that we’ve been cooking up for weeks.
“I think we’re both looking at it in the same way. For John it’s a great opportunity. If John goes and gets us into the play-offs it’s going to be a very brave, stupid decision to go, ‘oh yeah, cheers John, we’re going to go and do something else’.
“It’s a great opportunity for John. It’s a good opportunity for us as a club to take stock.
“We’ve been through quite a few managers in a short period of time and we’ve got to stop doing that. We need continuity, we know that.
“In the summer we have an opportunity to really make a change in the playing squad because we’ve got a lot of players out of contract and those guys are playing for their future – their future here or their future elsewhere.
“People who come here and do well for John, they’ll get looked after and obviously John will get looked after as well. It’s a nice arrangement for all of us.
“We’ve got a manager with a vast amount of experience. One of the things that really struck me when I met John and [assistant boss] Jimmy [Bell] on Saturday was the hunger. There aren’t that many people of his age who have that hunger.
“I didn’t see someone who was thinking, ‘I’ll take a last payday and then retire’. It was someone who was desperate to come and achieve something, desperate to work with a group of players. It gives us an opportunity to work out what we want to be as a football club in the summer.
“We can really make strides to being what we want to be as a football club. Hopefully John does a great job and gets us out of the league and is a longer- term part of that future. That’s very much on the cards.”
Coleman takes over a team sitting 14th in League 2 and 10 points outside the play-off places after losing their last three games.
“I haven’t come here for my holidays, that’s for sure,” declared the bullish new boss.
“I’m certainly not one who would just come here to pick up a wage. If I can’t make a difference, I’ll be the first to tell Joe. I believe I can make a difference.
“I am quite strategically minded when I’m thinking. I do realise that there’s long-term aims and I’d love to be part of it.
“I’d like to think I can put things in place that even if I’m not here, come next season, there is scope that I have made a bit of a difference and I have put things in place that can enhance the club.
“When you’re planning to build a squad, you’ve got your short-term goals and obviously we know what our short-term goals are. You’ve got to think about what’s the club going to look like in two years’ time, what’s it going to look like in three years’ time.
“I think I can be a big help. This club can be a big, big player, certainly in the lower leagues, certainly in League 2 and League 1. I would never come here just to settle, just to see the days out.
“Pottering along being mid-table in League 2 would make me feel sick. A club of this stature should be challenging the top end of League 2, and that’s not to discredit any other managers.
“The unfortunate thing in this industry is that for me to get back into work, and for any other manager to get back into work, it has to be at the pain of somebody else. That’s the sad part of it and it’s happened to me on a few occasions.
“I’ve come from quite a similar background to a lot of people who are supporters here, you look at Saturday as being your day that you can provide the fans with thrills and spills. I’m a fan first and foremost and I want the fans to get on the edge of their seats and hopefully we can deliver that.
“I think there are good players here and we’ve got an opportunity now to maybe tweak a few things and hopefully get us playing football that will really excite the fans.”