FOM BLOG: Adrian Pennock, Steve Lovell and Jamie Day Appointed At Gillingham
With The Expected Announcement officially confirmed around 7PM on The Fourth Of January that Adrian Pennock had been appointed as “Gillingham’s Head Coach” and Steve Lovell and Jamie Day have joined Gillingham as First Team Coaches, I thought it would be an sensible idea to write down my thoughts and opinions on there appointment, an appointment which was made just over twenty four hours after Justin Edinburgh had been relieved of his managerial duties, and a appointment which made me put My FOM BLOG for The Oxford United Game into the rubbish bin, Justin Edinburgh wasn’t the only person to leave Gillingham Football Club on Tuesday Morning, as Assistant Manager David Kerslake, and First Team Coach Wayne Hatswell also moved on, and Adrian Pennock was favourite for The Gillingham Job on SKY Bet very quickly prior to his appointment.
I had initially denied The Rumour of Adrian Pennock coming to Gillingham, but once I heard this Interview with Paul Scally on BBC Radio Kent - https://twitter.com/BBCKentSport/status/816562979688878080 - and more specifically, other alternatives and a team of coaches, it started to become clearer throughout the day that Gillingham weren’t going to appoint a manager, but rather a team of coaches, this lead to plenty of speculation with Nicky Southall, Stan Ternent, and Ian Hendon all being mentioned, coaches who all have had previous roles with Gillingham in the past, and of course, Dennis Wise was mentioned as well, but mostly it was staff who had previous connections with Gillingham who were being linked to the job, whether that is because we were re-defining The Managerial Role to A Head Coach Role, or Manager’s didn’t want to take The Gillingham Job in the middle of the season, I couldn’t say for sure.
Then, around 7PM, We Heard The Official Announcement that Adrian Pennock had been appointed as “Gillingham’s Head Coach” and Steve Lovell and Jamie Day have joined Gillingham as First Team Coaches, we as supporters could finally react to the news, I think it is fair to say that the reaction to this announcement wasn’t encouraging, and I will admit that I have, and still have, many reservations and concerns regarding this appointment, but I will be there at Boundary Park supporting Gillingham away against Oldham Athletic, hoping that The Gills can pick up three points in a match we have to win, as Oldham Athletic are bottom of League One with nineteen points from twenty four matches.
I liked the idea of A Head Coach working with A Team Of Coaches, the idea was intriguing, very interesting and with the right personal, I thought this would not only be a inspired managerial appointment, but also a unique appointment as well, rather then replacing one manager and his coaching staff, with another manager and his coaching staff, I had my own question marks over the personal we have brought in to go with the change of managerial structure.
Adrian Pennock was a real fans favourite at Gillingham Football Club, as A Player, Adrian Pennock made 168 appearances in a Gillingham Shirt, before injuries led to Adrian Pennock retiring from the professional game, a spell with Gravesend & Northfleet followed, which saw Adrian Pennock combine playing and coaching duties before starting his first managerial position with Welling United, before moving to Stoke City as First Team Coach and then promoted to Assistant Manager under Tony Pulis’s reign at The Britannia Stadium, in 2013, Adrian Pennock was appointed as Forest Green Rovers Manager, initially securing a top ten finish in The Conference National before securing back to back playoff position finishes, Fifth in 2014 / 2015, and Second in 2015 / 2016, however, after the The 2015 / 2016 season ended, Adrian Pennock was sacked, and there is this very interesting article which explained why Adrian Pennock had to go here: http://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/forest-green-rovers-opinion-ady-pennock/story-29189337-detail/story.html - which is well worth a read.
However, Adrian Pennock has No Football League Managerial Experience, he may well have coached underneath Tony Pulis at Stoke City in The Premier League, and had stints as Manager with Welling United and Forest Green Rovers, but one of the first things I saw on Social Media, and the first thing on the tick list for Gillingham’s Incoming Manager was A Proven Track Record in League One, which is why Kenny Jackett and Steve Cotterill were constantly being mentioned, as they have achieved success in this division, all be it with clubs with large resources, but nonetheless, they had The CV’s and the experience required to be inspiring managerial appointments, Adrian Pennock may well be A Fans Favourite, and a exceptional coach, but that lack of experience in League One, having just seen Justin Edinburgh relieved of his managerial duties at Gillingham is very concerning.
But while I have question marks regarding Adrian Pennock’s Appointment as Head Coach, Steve Lovell returning to Gillingham Football Club is fantastic news, as Steve Lovell was part of The Gang Of Four prior to Justin Edinburgh’s Appointment which steadied the ship after Peter Taylor had left the club, and Steve Lovell is a highly respected coach, and the players were gutted when Steve Lovell left the club in the summer and it is great to see him back again - http://bromleyfc.boards.net/thread/664/gillingham-sack-edinburgh?page=2 - Bromley Supporters speak very highly of Steve Lovell’s work at Bromley as Assistant Manager, and I don’t think Steve Lovell should have left Gillingham in the first place, so I am delighted that Steve Lovell has returned to Gillingham.
At Thirty Seven, Jamie Day is the youngest of the three coaching appointments and the least experienced, a difficult time at Ebbsfleet United sandwiched two spells with Welling United, the first as Player / Manager, and in his second spell, Jamie Day was doing a very good job at Welling United, a job he could have had for a long long time, but you cannot blame Jamie Day for making the jump into The Football League, as Jamie Day may well regret not taking the chance if he looked back and regretted not taking a coaching role at Gillingham, as the chance to move into The Football League From Non League Football doesn’t come around often.
I don’t think this managerial trio is the end of the coaching appointments, because I think there will be a experienced coach who will come in to work alongside Adrian Pennock, Steve Lovell and Jamie Day, I think we will find out later this week, or the start of next week, if there will be a experienced coach brought into the football club to work with our new coaching staff, but I do think that someone will come in to provide Adrian Pennock, Steve Lovell and Jamie Day with bit of knowledge and know how.
But that person won’t be Andy Hessenthaler, who will be given The Director Of Football Development Role Job - A Role that Andy Hessenthaler succeeded in during The 2012 / 2013 season, and a role that suits Andy Hessenthaler perfectly, as his passion for the club saw Gillingham convince Deon Burton, Myles Weston, Adam Barrett and Stuart Nelson to sign for the club, and if Andy Hessenthaler can get players with Proven League One Experience to sign for Gillingham in The January Transfer Window, then one or two marquee signings could given us as supporters some inspiration, to make up for the lack of enthusiasm for our current managerial appointments.
Andy Hessenthaler being given The Director Of Football Development Role hasn’t been officially confirmed, but we can expect a announcement over the coming day’s, all in all, this appointment is no-where near who Gillingham Supporters wanted to see, or expected to see appointed as our New Manager, there were calls for A Experienced Manager to come in with a proven track record in League One, and unless a experienced coach is added to this trio, then there is a lack of Football League Experience amongst Adrian Pennock, Steve Lovell and Jamie Day, and that is obviously our main concern, however, the fact that this is only a deal until the end of the season also suggests that this could be a stop gap appointment before Paul Scally either makes another change, or, this is a incentive for Adrian Pennock, Steve Lovell and Jamie Day to impress over the remainder of The 2016 / 2017 season to extend there stay at Priestfield Stadium.
Now for the positives, all three have worked in Non League Football, and considering that Gillingham have missed out on Alfie May at Hythe Town and Harry Smith at Folkestone Invicta, Jamie Day and Steve Lovell will be able to recommend players they have worked with at Welling United and Bromley respectively to sign for Gillingham, and if all three are still at the club in the summer, we may well see Gillingham go back to arranging pre-season friendlies in The Kent Non League Scene, having played Braintree Town and Billericay Town in Essex in the summer, friendlies which were difficult to get to on A Tuesday and Wednesday Night.
I was very disappointed with our Summer’s List of Pre-Season Friendlies, Brainteee Town, Billericay Town, Dartford, Barnet and Leyton Orient, Dartford was The Only Kent Non League Ground we went to in pre-season, and many supporters were disappointed with the lack of friendlies - just five games before the season started - the small attendances confirmed the lack of interest in these matches, so I do hope we arrange many matches against Kent Non League Sides in the summer.
But regardless of our opinions on The New Gillingham Management Trio, Paul Scally deserves a lot of credit for making a quick and decisive appointment, it is a huge regret that Justin Edinburgh has been relieved of his managerial duties at Gillingham, because everyone wanted to see Justin Edinburgh turn things around and to see Gillingham climb the table, but the manner of the defeat against Oxford United, the bizarre 3.5.2 system, the fact that Oxford United could have won by more goals, and when you throw in Justin Edinburgh’s comments about Gillingham having the fifth lowest budget in League One when Paul Scally has said time and again that this is our most expensive squad in our entire history, then there was only going to be one out-come, a out-come which resulted in Justin Edinburgh losing his job as Gillingham Manager.
In This Post - http://gillinghamdebate.freeforums.org/january-fixtures-big-month-for-gillingham-t2324.html - I said that January was a big month to define our season, Looking at these five fixtures, Sheffield United away is by far our most difficult league fixture, but it is the matches against Oxford United, Oldham Athletic, AFC Wimbledon and Shrewsbury Town which will tell us if Gillingham are going to mount a playoff push if we get a very good points return from these matches, we will consolidate a solid mid-table position, or, we're nervously looking over our shoulder after a bad run of results, and The 1-0 home defeat against Oxford United is a horrible way to start 2017 for The Gills.
January is also a big month when it comes to incoming and outgoing players in The January Transfer Window, unlike in previous season’s, there is No Emergency Loan System out-side The Transfer Window, which possibly explains why a quick and swift appointment was needed, not only does this appointment of Adrian Pennock, Steve Lovell and Jamie Day give all three coaches time to bring in the players they want to bring in, but they can work with the entire squad for a whole week before our up and coming league game against Oldham Athletic, and it is time that The Trio will need, as Gillingham will have three league games in eight days, with A Tuesday Night Home Fixture against AFC Wimbledon sandwiched in-between two long away trips to Oldham Athletic and Sheffield United.
It my final paragraph, I will look to end this article on a high, perhaps other manager’s would have seen The Role as Gillingham Manager as another job and a job that pays the bills, but because Adrian Pennock and Steve Lovell have connections with Gillingham Football Club, and Jamie Day making the jump from Welling United into The Football League, these three are going to work extremely hard to be successful at Gillingham, as all three live locally, they know the area, they know all about Gillingham Football Club and they will do all they can to push Gillingham as high up The League One Table as possible, I am not exactly enthralled by this appointment and the lack of Football League Experience does concern me, but I am hoping that this appointment turns out to be an unlikely success story and we will see Gillingham put in better performances and get the results that we didn’t see from Justin Edinburgh’s Gillingham Side at the end of his reign as Gillingham Manager.