Gillingham have had a second interview with Stephen Clemence about their vacancy- and are close to a decision.
Journalist Alan Nixon claims that Gillingham has spoken with Stephen Clemence again on their managing vacancy and is almost ready to make a choice.
Since choosing to remove Neil Harris from his position on October 5th, the Gills have been without a manager. Their search for Harris’ replacement has been a drawn-out process.
Furthermore, Nixon stated that Clemence is definitely on their radar on his Patreon page.
“The seasoned mentor wants to stand on his own now that he has worked with Steve Bruce in the past. Dean Holden is a target for the League Two team as well, but Bradford City may make an offer to him this week.”
Following the sacking of Harris, Keith Millen has been caretaker manager for the Gills.
During Millen’s spell in charge, Gilllingham have won just twice in the league, but they sit eighth in the League Two table and just one point behind the play-off positions.Who is Stephen Clemence?
Stephen Clemence has not been a first team manager in senior football, however he does have plenty of experience as an assistant manager.
After a successful playing career, in which he played for Tottenham Hotspur, Birmingham City and Leicester City, Clemence retired from football in 2010 after a serious heel injury.
He then took up the role of assistant reserves manager at Sunderland prior to the start of the 2010-11 campaign. He held this post until the end of the 2011-12 season.
In his next step into management, Clemence was the Hull City under-21s boss during both the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.
It was during this spell that he caught the eye of Steve Bruce who was the Tigers’ first team manager at the time. The pair worked together at Hull from July 2014 all the way up until October 2016.
After this spell at Hull, Clemence has been an absolute stalwart of Bruce’s coaching team wherever he has gone since.
The duo have worked together at Aston Villa, Sheffield Wednesday, Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion
Clemence now believes he is ready to take up the role of first team manager at Gillingham.
Would Clemence be a good appointment for Gillingham?
He certainly could be.
League One and Two are often a great place for budding young managers to learn their trade and take their first step into first team management.
Russell Martin is a great example of this. He did very well at MK Dons, then of League One, in his first spell as a manager and caught the eye of Championship clubs. He is now doing well with Southampton in their quest for promotion.
On the other hand, there is such a huge gap between being an assistant manager and being the number one boss at a football club.
His rich experience in assistant coaching may not translate into successful first team management.
There could certainly be spells in Clemence’s prospective tenure where the Gills’ board may have to maintain their patience with him.
What kind of football could we anticipate from a Clemence-managed Gillingham team?
For the great portion of his managerial career, Clemence served as Bruce’s assistant, making him somewhat of a follower of the football man.
Thus, we would anticipate that a Clemence-led Gillingham squad would prioritize having a strong defensive framework and foundation.
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