It comes after a poor run of results for the League Two club, leaving them just 14th in the table.
Now, the club has appointed former Accrington Stanley manager John Coleman to take charge until the end of this season, a move which some fans have described as completely out of the blue.
Now, the club has appointed former Accrington Stanley manager John Coleman to take charge until the end of this season, a move which some fans have described as completely out of the blue.
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00:00One out, and another in. The revolving door of Priestfield's manager's office is now set
00:05to welcome its fourth occupant in the space of two years, as Mark Bonner is replaced by
00:10former Aquington Stanley boss John Coleman after just seven months in charge.
00:16Bonner took the top job at Gillingham at the start of the 24-25 season, following the sudden
00:21sacking of Stephen Clements. Despite a strong start to the season, which saw the Gilles
00:26top of the League Two table for a brief period, a poor run of form over the Christmas break
00:31has left the Gilles sitting 14th and 10 points from the play-off places.
00:36However, losing to local rivals Bromley for a second time appeared to be the final straw,
00:42a third defeat in a row, with Bonner himself admitting things weren't looking good.
00:47What can you change from here to change the direction I suppose?
00:51Yeah, look, it's loads of things really. It's a mess at the moment. The team looks a mess.
00:56It's so many ins and outs, chops and changes, morale low, loads of frustrated people, me
01:04with the players' inconsistencies, the players with the inconsistency of coming in and out
01:08the team and not having runs and things changing. I don't think we are capable yet of being
01:15one of the top teams, but we're certainly capable of being better than we are at the moment.
01:19Thanking Bonner for his time at the club, Gillingham's managing director Joe Comper
01:23said we needed to make a change to give us the best possible opportunity of getting to
01:28where we want to be come the start of May.
01:31Moments after the announcement of Bonner's departure on Sunday night, the club followed
01:35up, officially appointing his replacement, former Accrington Stanley and Rochdale boss
01:40John Coleman, who's set to remain with Gillingham until the end of the season.
01:45John Coleman completely came out of the blue. He's got no connection with this club at all.
01:50And maybe that's a good thing, because he's going to come in with a completely clean slate
01:55as far as that's concerned. I think he's worked with Andrews and Nolan from his Accrington
02:01days, but that apart, I think he doesn't know the club at all, which is probably, as I say, a good thing.
02:07The appointment of John Coleman might come as a shock to some fans, but with just a few
02:11days until their next fixture and the transfer window firmly open, it's up to the new boss
02:16to prove he's the right man to steer this ship back into the waters of a promotion fight.
02:21Bartholomew Hall for KMTV.