Maher

[Tinks]

My personal view is that he will remain with us - but who can blame him if he was to consider it.

Our Kev, has integrity and I think he will want to see it through now we are on the cusp of finally seeing the changes.
He is aware of the fan base and love and respect we all have for him and if we can just get this over the line who knows what potential he has

 

[Portuguese Shrimper]

I think Kev will stay with us - he’s achieved quite a lot as a start to the journey he dreams of fulfilling!
As a side note Bet Victor had him as 2/1 favorite for the Gills job!!

 

[in the know]

Who would want the freedom of Gillingham anyway!

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

I think Kev will stay with us - he’s achieved quite a lot as a start to the journey he dreams of fulfilling!
As a side note Bet Victor had him as 2/1 favorite for the Gills job!!

A fairer price would be 1000/1 from what I've heard. Guys and Gals, he's not going to Gillingham. Don't worry about it.

 

[southendkid]

I think Kev will stay with us - he’s achieved quite a lot as a start to the journey he dreams of fulfilling!
As a side note Bet Victor had him as 2/1 favorite for the Gills job!!

The market for Gillingham manager will be very small, you could probably stick £50 on someone that's 100/1 and they'd become one of the favourites.

 

[amsemp]

A fairer price would be 1000/1 from what I've heard. Guys and Gals, he's not going to Gillingham. Don't worry about it.

What have you heard?

 

[BoyWonder2]

What have you heard?

---

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

What have you heard?

That he's extremely happy to be managing Southend. It's the job he always wanted when he started on his coaching journey. He's very exited at the prospect of working under different and much less challenging conditions under the consortium. He's also said openly that he respects and is so proud of the players and staff not abandoning ship when not being paid, despite them having mortgages and family's. So can you see him walking out on them now, after all he's said, and all they've been through, to join a club like Gillingham?

 

[amsemp]

That he's extremely happy to be managing Southend. It's the job he always wanted when he started on his coaching journey. He's very exited at the prospect of working under different and much less challenging conditions under the consortium. He's also said openly that he respects and is so proud of the players and staff not abandoning ship when not being paid, despite them having mortgages and family's. So can you see him walking out on them now, after all he's said, and all they've been through, to join a club like Gillingham?

Love that mate, what a man!

 

[Southstand blue]

He won’t leave Southend he has blue blood in him

 

[Leeboy]

He won’t leave Southend he has blue blood in him

Gillingham play in blue…..#justsaying

 

[Jai]

Gills job seems a poisoned chalice at the moment. Managers don't get a chance there, Maher is an ex Gills player but he wasn't a firm fans favourite. They're a smaller club than us, always have been and always will be, Gills fans will of course say we're non-league right now and that's the crux. Cheers Ron.

Any local Football League job has to be tempting, but you'd have to hope that given everything that has gone on, he'd only leave us for League One or higher. And who would begrudge him that really?

 

[sufc4life21]

Gills job seems a poisoned chalice at the moment. Managers don't get a chance there, Maher is an ex Gills player but he wasn't a firm fans favourite. They're a smaller club than us, always have been and always will be, Gills fans will of course say we're non-league right now and that's the crux. Cheers Ron.

Any local Football League job has to be tempting, but you'd have to hope that given everything that has gone on, he'd only leave us for League One or higher. And who would begrudge him that really?

Do managers get chance anywhere now days? Given the influx of socal media in the last 10 plus years where scrutiny of managers is at its highest, Majority of clubs tend to press the panic button quicker than they used to. I don't see gills being any different to most clubs apart from Watford who go through new manager once month. Interms of club size there really isn't much difference....... both clubs tend to yoyo between league 2 to 1 with the odd championship stint with similar size crowd at home games.

 

[cerbera45]

I guess the question is, what is Kev’s managerial dream?

If it’s to manage at the top level, top tier in English football then he needs to move himself through the divisions as and when he has success. He has, in the circumstances, been successful at Southend. He could move, and hope to replicate that with quick success at the Gills. Success there would look like promotion, which would put him into League 1. With two successful positions under his belt it may not be long before a championship club came knocking. At that point, he’s not far from his dream.

If his dream is to manage Southend up the pyramid then we will all enjoy that ride, hopefully.

Premier League and Championship on the whole just do not seem to appoint young British managers

 

[LBBlue]

My cousin follows Gillingham. He says the model they want to follow is Kenny Jackett and Andy Hessenthaler scout and sign the players and then the head coach has to get them to play. Clemence got sacked because he didn’t get promoted with the players they had signed before he even got there.

Nobody worth their salt would want to manage with those restrictions. I doubt Kev would. He reckoned that Gareth Ainsworth is the favourite but he wouldn’t fancy it either under those terms.

 

[TJC]

Maher would be wise to let this one pass him by, and I'm sure he will. Ainsworth should be aiming higher that gills too.

 

[KiwiRob]

My cousin follows Gillingham. He says the model they want to follow is Kenny Jackett and Andy Hessenthaler scout and sign the players and then the head coach has to get them to play. Clemence got sacked because he didn’t get promoted with the players they had signed before he even got there.

Nobody worth their salt would want to manage with those restrictions. I doubt Kev would. He reckoned that Gareth Ainsworth is the favourite but he wouldn’t fancy it either under those terms.

Gillingham might just as well appoint Kenny Jackett or Andy Hessenthaler as manager and save themselves some money...

 

[BoyWonder2]

My cousin follows Gillingham. He says the model they want to follow is Kenny Jackett and Andy Hessenthaler scout and sign the players and then the head coach has to get them to play. Clemence got sacked because he didn’t get promoted with the players they had signed before he even got there.

Nobody worth their salt would want to manage with those restrictions. I doubt Kev would. He reckoned that Gareth Ainsworth is the favourite but he wouldn’t fancy it either under those terms.

Quite a lot of sides operate like that these days.

Have a set model of how they’d like to play, and buy the players to fit the system, then the coach gets them working. Rather than signing a manager who wants to play a certain way, he brings 6/7 players in, loses his job, new guy comes in and wants to play a different way and brings his own 6/7 players in and so forth.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Here's the real contenders for the Gillingham job. And as always, there will be a surprise candidate or two.

Gareth Ainsworth​

Ainsworth made the brave decision of leaving a safe and successful role he held at Wycombe for 11 years when he moved onto QPR, and it’s fair to say that move didn’t pay off as he left the club in October of last year with his side 23rd in the table and with just five wins to his name.

He remains a popular man in the game, recognised for his more eccentric approach but one that paid dividends while at Wycombe, taking the club into the Championship and then again into the League One play-offs last season. Given his experience with promotions and knowledge of League One, Ainsworth would fit the bill for any ambitious League Two club looking for a long-term plan and promotion but they are likely to face competition for his services with Stevenage also linked to him.

Scott Lindsey​

Another man who has already been linked to other managerial roles this summer, Lindsay is another who was actually linked to the Gillingham role earlier in the season when he was ultimately overlooked and Clemence appointed instead.

Lindsey falls into the category of ‘he knows the club’ having played there briefly in the 1990s before going on to hold coaching jobs in the development setup at the club. He has only held senior managerial roles at Swindon and Crawley, leaving the former to eighth in the table before he was poached by the latter and this season leading them into the play-offs on the last day of the season.

Should Crawley go up, it might appear ambitious to try and lure a League One coach away following promotion but should they fail it could appear a good project for both sides.

Pete Wild​

It is no surprise to see Barrow manager Wild linked with other jobs this season, having led the club to eighth and ninth in League Two in the past two seasons - though they were firmly in the play-off spots until an untimely loss of form at the end of the season.

Wild is another who has managed on a shoe-string budget and would undoubtedly enjoy the freedom of being able to operate at Gillingham, and may think he has achieved all he possibly can in his time at Barrow. He has shown in his managerial career that he is a man for the medium to long term, having overseen more than 100 matches at both Oldham and Halifax so he could fit the bill for the Gills owners who are looking for stability.

Mark Bonner​

Bonner did a good job in his three-year spell at Cambridge, having initially taken on the role at the age of 35 in 2020. He left with the club 18th in the table - they finished 18th even after his dismissal - and was well regarded at the club, with owner Paul Barry describing him as “one of the most important people in the history of Cambridge United”.

Bonner was a long-time employee at the club, climbing up the ranks having first joined the staff as a teenager before progressing to the role assistant head coach under successive managers before getting the main role and leading them to promotion from League Two.

It will be very interesting to see where Bonner ends up next. Is he the real deal or was it just the perfect fit for a guy who knew a club inside out and could hit the ground running? He could be another who would be a good fit for a club with more of a long-term strategy rather than focusing on immediate promotion.

 

[Holy Joe]

Quite a lot of sides operate like that these days.

Have a set model of how they’d like to play, and buy the players to fit the system, then the coach gets them working. Rather than signing a manager who wants to play a certain way, he brings 6/7 players in, loses his job, new guy comes in and wants to play a different way and brings his own 6/7 players in and so forth.

It was the model that Stan advocated for us as well. Not sure if that's what we've ended up with or abit of a hybrid model?