Iain McBride, who is a former sports presenter for ITV in the South East, looks at Gillingham in the run up to next Saturday's FA Cup tie at Hereford.
'Gillingham (pronounced 'Jill-ingham as opposed to Gill-ingham which is in Dorset) is one of the five Medway towns of Kent, with the county's largest conurbation of more than three hundred thousand people. So you would think it could support a decent level of football. However Gillingham have spent most of their life bumbling around the lower reaches of the bottom divisions, and on any London bound train on a Saturday you will see a proliferation of Chelsea, Arsenal and West Ham scarves. The only exception was the early 2000s when Peter Taylor took a side built by Tony Pulis into the Championship. After four seasons with one of the lowest budgets in that division nature took its course and since then they've ping ponged between Leagues One and Two.
Last season it looked as if they were headed for the trapdoor into non-league only to be saved by the injection of American money when the club was taken over. So, to borrow from Medway's most famous writer, they went from Hard Times to Great Expectations. The season started promisingly with Neil Harris, credited with saving them the year before, getting them to the top of the league. However rumblings soon started over a perceived boring, limited style of football and there were rumours of Gillingham fans being treated for nosebleeds brought on by the excitement of scoring a second goal in a game. So in early October Harris was sacked because the club 'wanted to go in a different direction'.
As I write this I wonder if they had the same advisers as Birmingham City - though in a stroke of genius the Gills didn't appear to have anyone lined up to take over, which in view of Mr Rooney's start at St Andrew's was probably a smart move. Rumours ranged from Steve Bruce, a former player, to Karl Robinson, Dean Holden and lately another former player Scott Lindsey, currently managing Crawley.
Chairman Brad Galinson initially told supporters he wasn't going to rush things and was conducting a worldwide search. He says he's now interviewed at least twenty potential replacements and has finally got his man - subject to "documentation." So we appear to be in the realms of the Old Curiosity Shop. Despite any new manager "bounce" even die-hard Gillingham fans won't be surprised if they lose on Saturday with much criticism on the fans forums of players,tactics, defending and the inability to score goals. Apart from that it's going well.
Should it go to a replay though any Bulls fans would be advised to pack their wet weather gear. It's a well known fact that polar bears and Arctic explorers prepare for their ordeal by watching a game in November from the Brian Moore stand where away fans are accommodated. This was meant to be temporary (in 2004) but, aside from re-defining the word temporary, has no roof and also open sides. You have been warned. On the plus side the locals are friendly and Shepherd Neame's Spitfire and Harvey's Sussex Best are highly recommended.'