Gillingham manager Gareth Ainsworth admitted it was a strange feeling to be without his long-term assistant at the weekend.
Richard Dobson’s appointment as Gillingham’s technical director was announced last week and Ainsworth’s first game without his right-hand man was on Saturday, in a 4-1 home loss to Grimsby Town.
Dobson stood at the top of the Medway Stand, rather than being alongside Ainsworth in the dugout, as he has been since the pair first came together as a management duo at Wycombe Wanderers in 2012.
Ainsworth had Gills’ first-team coach Pete Gill for company on Saturday and will choose his new assistant before next season.
Speaking on Saturday about the new set-up, Ainsworth said: “It was strange without him, but change is good, and this is a great change for Gillingham.
“We’ll get to the end of this tunnel and see the light and realise what we’ve done and why we’ve done it. I want to be a big part of that next season.
“The club’s been crying out for somebody to be organised and have experience in this role. Richard’s got so much experience in the academy system. He was doing that before he became my assistant and produced some really good players at Wycombe Wanderers.
“He’s in-depth, he’s detailed. He thinks the same as me. We’re always together.
“I don’t think there’s going to be too much of a change on that side of things, but the club will gain on a lot of experience with academies, and not just academies, but right down to the grassroots and everything.
“Richard will be in charge of the long-term technical planning of everything, while I’ll be in charge of the day-to-day football. They’re both intertwined. It’s a great job for him, and I’m pleased for him.”
The first game of the new set-up didn’t go well, however.
Gillingham went a goal down, pulled it level early in the second half, but collapsed after conceding three goals in 11 minutes to lose heavily at home.
Ainsworth said: “We know the mistakes were the same on the pitch as when he was stood next to me at times. We’re both finding a way now of trying to rectify this, make us more solid and more potent going forward.”
“We looked really good at times [against Grimsby] but we looked really bad at times as well and we were carved through too easily.
“It was a tough day for his first day as technical director. Pete’s stepped up a little bit but yes, it’s not unexpected. We’ve been poor for quite a while now.”
Dobson’s new role sees him take overall charge of the club’s recruitment department, sports science and medical, and the GFC Academy.
He will remain on hand for support during matches, in contact with the bench throughout.
Ainsworth said: “He was upstairs and on the comms, and at half-time, so it’s not too much different.
“It was good that Pete Gill then stepped up. At half-time, we sussed it. We got it right. We solved the problem. Definitely we were a better team going forward, but we can’t open ourselves up like that.”
The Gills boss was asked what he would miss without Dobson alongside him.
He said: “It’s just that he’s very good at the support, but Pete gives me that as well.
“He [Dobson] probably knows me after all these years on the emotional side of things, so he knows when I need certain words because I’m a very emotional guy.
“His technical knowledge is very good as well. There’s plenty of things there, but we’re still getting that from upstairs anyway, so he’ll be at the games.”
Ainsworth won’t be short of options for a new no.2, whether that’s in-house, promoting one of his senior players like Sam Vokes or getting someone in with a fresh outlook from the outside.
He said: “There’s no decision made yet on that, so we’ll leave that one to probably the start of next season and then see where we are.”
