The rumours started circling earlier today of Shrewsbury Town boss Gareth Ainsworth being a target for League Two club Gillingham. Ainsworth only joined the Shrews in November. The news comes despite the Gills’ already having a manager in place, mainly John Coleman who was appointed to the role in January, following the dismissal of Mark Bonner. Despite having a contract until the end of the season, it seems Coleman’s time is up.
The club have now confirmed his departure. Just before 5pm today, both John Coleman and Jimmy Bell left the club. The Kent based team are believed to have paid Ainsworth’s release clause and this includes his assistant Richard Dobson also making the move down to League Two. Rumours have been circling about a takeover of League One’s bottom side, but nothing is stated in the open letter from the chairman issued this afternoon as uncertainty continues to grow at Croud Meadow.
Speaking to the Gills’ website, John Coleman said:
“Jimmy and I arrived at Gillingham at a difficult time, knowing we’d be here for a short time, but hoping we could turnaround performances and work rate. We believe we achieved this, particularly in recent weeks. Whilst the results haven’t reflected the performances given at times, we are pleased to leave the team more stable and having improved both in attitude and application.
“We believe this has been vital in repairing the relationship between the team and the fans. We’ve really enjoyed working at Gillingham and wish everyone the very best moving forward.”
Ainsworth is now expected to be confirmed as the new boss of the Gills’ later this evening. Known for both his stints at QPR and Wycombe, the latter of which he is most famous for, staying for an astonishing 10 years and accumulating a points per game of 1.47. He also played for both clubs. The duo will arrive in Kent with the Gills sitting in 19th position and just 14 points above the drop-zone, albeit them going down does look highly unlikely.
Coleman had achieved just 2 wins and several draws in his brief tenure. Ainsworth will become the Gills’ fifth different manager in 18 months following on from Neil Harris, Stephen Clemence, Mark Bonner and Coleman. He will arrive in Kent having won five and lost 12 of his 22 games in charge of the League One strugglers, with Shrewsbury still bottom and 14 points from safety with nine matches still to play.
It is understood that this is a real surprise for the Shrews’ and their fans, with the club offering the management team a fresh two year deal just weeks ago, that deal would safeguard them whether they were in League One or Two. Whilst this is obviously great news for the Gills’, who will start a new era, what could this mean for Shrewsbury Town and what direction will the club take?! It looks almost certain that they will be playing League Two football next season.
Writers View
Whilst this does seem a crazy move to swap League One for League Two, I can understand Ainsworth wanting security at a time when he will not be getting it at the Shrews’. The uncertainty of the clubs stability is bound to have had an impact on his decision.
As for the Gills’, they saw an opportunity and took it, paying his release clause to get their man. Questions surely have to be asked as to why he had a release clause in the first place. Its understandable with players but managers don’t often have them.
It seems this will be an exciting new era for the Gills’, but with that being said, its fair to see why Shrews’ fans are frustrated with their club and the lack of direction as they go through trying times. All eyes will be on who replaces Ainsworth at Croud Meadow, once the move is completed.
