Gillingham manager Gareth Ainsworth doesn’t want to wait until next season to give their fans something to cheer about.
The Gills have lost their last four League 2 matches and have just one win in their last nine matches.
There’s still eight games left to play and while the summer can’t come soon enough in terms of squad rebuilding, the current crop still need to deliver on the pitch.
“I just don’t want the season to peter out into nothing,” said Ainsworth.
“I’ve got pride, I want to make sure we turn some teams over, I want us to have a say at the top end of the table.
“The club changed hands a few years ago and I think there’s not been anything settled and we’ve been chasing trying to get success.
“We’ve got great owners, we really have. They’re brilliant, Brad and Shannon Galinson, and I think some continuity is what they’ve been craving
“I’m taking a bit of flack at the moment but I’m totally fine with that because I know that if I’m given the continuity that I think the club craves, then we’ll slowly start getting better.
“I said we’ll make this club a lot better than it is when I took over a year ago, just over now. It’s a tough task but I’m up for it and I can’t wait for the summer and to come back next season enthused.
“But I want to give the Gills fans something to shout about at the end of the season.
“I want to make the club attractive to potential new players coming in. I want Gillingham to start winning games and that’s what we’re going to work hard at.”
The Gills visit struggling Crawley, who sit one point and two places outside the relegation zone, this Saturday.
They axed manager Scott Lindsey and his assistant Neil Smith on Sunday night and have replaced him with Colin Kazim-Richards. It’s a first managerial role for the 39-year-old, who takes over a team that have gone 10 games without a win.
“We’ve got to focus on ourselves, what we can do and I want to do that from now until the end of the season,” stated Ainsworth.
“Everyone can get frustrated and everyone can be down about it but I’m positive. We go to Crawley, they’ve changed their manager, we’ve had that quite a few times this season.
“We’ll work on things we’re going to do rather than what Crawley are going to do because we don’t really know.
“Obviously they’ve had a change of manager, Scott Lindsey is well known in these parts and a good friend as well, so [I’m] gutted for Scott but it’s football management and that’s what happens.
“We’ve got to make sure that we play our game on Saturday and we go there and we get our points.
“We’ll have fans paying money, travelling, paying for tickets and getting there. I want to put a performance on, there’s so much to play for.”
