Gillingham’s impressive start to the season has seen Gareth Ainsworth pick up the August League 2 manager-of-the-month award.
Ainsworth’s side won four and drew two of their opening six games to top the table after the first month of the season.
The Gills boss was keen to thank those around him after picking up the award.
Ainsworth said: “It means a lot to me because to win this award is a team effort and the team has been right there for me.
“There is no way you could do this on your own, and anyone who thinks they can is kidding themselves.
“The whole team, and all the players, have played a huge part in this, and what it means is that we are definitely going in the right direction.”
There will be some fans fearing the supposed curse of the award as they face Notts County this weekend.
County’s six-goal striker Matthew Dennis picked up the star player award for the month.
“I don’t believe in the curse of manager-of-the-month,” Ainsworth said. “But we will see what happens this weekend.
“We are really proud to receive it and be recognised as Gillingham Football Club as a whole.
“I think manager-of-the-month should be replaced with management-of-the-month because my staff and everyone has bought into what I am. They deserve a part of that award.
“I’m really, really proud. Hopefully it won’t be the last and we can keep winning games.”
Previous research into the ‘curse’ of the award came back with a slight drop in performance of teams whose manager picked up the award, from an average of 1.8 points per game to 1.75.
Mark Bonner picked up the award for August last season and started September with a win at Doncaster, and it wasn’t until October when form took a nosedive.
Gills’ first game of this September saw Ainsworth’s side draw 2-2 at Bromley – extending their unbeaten run in the league from last season to 19 games.
“It’s a great run,” said the Gills boss. “I can’t thank the boys enough for everything they’ve done, and my staff, they’ve all bought into me since the day I walked in.
“I still remember that first day, I had a meeting with the staff and talked about what we thought was not going great, what hadn’t worked and what could work and how the boys are.
“The staff and the players have been great from day one and I can’t thank them enough. They are the people on this run.
“Everyone says, ‘it’s the manager’, but no chance. The players are the ones on this run. They are great, they are really good and they believe. They deserve a lot of credit.”
