Gillingham manager John Coleman praised his trusted no.2 Jimmy Bell as they held their nerve against Morecambe.
The game was 79 minutes old before the Gills got the crucial goal that won them the game against second-from-bottom Morecambe. Coleman admitted he was close to making a tactical switch just before they scored.
More: Former Gills assistant lands Premier League role
It was his assistant Bell who persuaded him to keep the faith and it paid off.
Coleman said: “It’s crazy because I’m talking to Jimmy about two minutes before we scored, saying ‘should we go 4-4-2, get another attacker on and take the centre half off?
“He’s saying, ‘Yeah, I know what you’re saying. It might look good, but will it make us any stronger? We’re on top at the moment’.
“Thankfully, he persuaded me to hold my nerve, and then you’re glad of having the three centre-halves on at the end to see it out.”
The Gills led 1-0 through Robbie McKenzie and eased to victory at Priestfield in a performance where they dominated from start to finish.
Coleman has had Bell at his side right the way through management, starting out as Sunday League team-mates and near neighbours back when they were players.
It’s a combination that’s worked well over the years.
Coleman said: “It’s no point having an assistant if he’s just going to go, ‘yes boss, no boss’.
“He’s there for a reason. He’s there to give a different opinion or a different slant on it.
“We might not always go with what he says. A lot of the time we’ll go with me, he’ll tell you that, but it’s good to have another opinion and another view.
“We’ve got Pete (Gill) upstairs looking down so he can tell us the shape and how it’s panning out. We have got a good network of how we can influence the game.
“You do get the gut feeling. Over the years you get the gut feeling whether it’s going well, whether it needs changing or not.
“It becomes second nature when you’ve been doing it for so long but you still need a little bit of help and thankfully I got that help.”
