The Gills have been searching for a new manager after former boss Stephen Clemence was sacked a week ago today.
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00:00 So, Bartholomew, we've dragged you in on your day off because this is some pretty big news
00:03 for the Gilles. What can you tell us about their new boss?
00:06 Well, what we know about Mark Bonner so far is that this is going to be his second managerial
00:11 job since he took over as the boss of Cambridge United back in 2020. Now, there were some
00:17 questions at the start of Stephen Clements' tenure at Priestfield about how experienced
00:22 he was. Of course, it was Clements' first ever managerial role, but there's less questions
00:27 this time about Mark Bonner. He's had some great experience and some great success when
00:33 he was in charge at Cambridge. He took them up to League One for the first time in almost
00:38 20 years. He had a very famous win over Newcastle in the third round of the FA Cup, where he
00:45 beat them in their own back garden. And interestingly, he didn't have a professional playing career.
00:51 He was a manager of Cambridge United's academy team before falling into the job and leading
00:59 them for three years.
01:00 And how does his appointment fit into the club's wider plans?
01:04 Well, going into the summer window, the club is going to be wanting to make a few changes,
01:09 bring in a few new players. And we were hearing from Brad Gallant, the chairman, just a few
01:14 days ago. One of the reasons why he parted ways with Stephen Clements is because he is
01:20 really wanting to get into a position of pushing for promotion. He doesn't want to sort of
01:25 waste time. And if he was to go into the new season, allowing Stephen Clements to make
01:30 the changes to the club and bring in the players that he wanted and it didn't work out, well,
01:34 then that would have potentially been another transfer window waiting for a new manager
01:39 to come in and make the changes that they wanted.
01:41 So yeah, I mean, appointing him now, it gives Mark Bonner the summer to get his grip, get
01:47 grips with the team, bring in his own backroom staff as well, and really mould the club into
01:54 what he wants it to be going into the next season. We'll hear from him later this week.
01:59 He's expected to be talking to the press. So no doubt we'll be breaking that down on
02:03 the new episode of Invicta Sport this Friday at six.
02:05 Thanks for joining us, Bartholomew. We'll let you get back to your day off now.