For Gillingham boss Mark Bonner, Saturday’s first League Two game of the new season will be his first league game in charge at MEMS Priestfield stadium and he can’t wait. 

“It will be good to be able to rate ourselves against one of the favoured sides who have done good business in the summer,” Bonner told KSN this week at the first briefing session of the season.

“We want to be considered to be one of the good teams as well, there are enough of us but at the same time it really is a nice marker on day one to see where we do stand, what the works been like so far, what goes well, what doesn’t, where we need to polish up and work and I think that they process of this team improving will be a few months in.

“We are six weeks in and in an OK place, but we have only had ourselves really to judge ourselves against at the moment because of the games that we have played.

“It will be nice to start the League season as we have reached the stage of the pre-season where you only really want to play real and everything that brings. Everybody is excited and looking forward to the game.” 

“I think we will all see a change over the next few weeks as the League season begins partly because results weigh heavier, or you can get excited by good results and depressed by bad results more when the season starts.

“That may change as players play, or do not play or play a smaller part than they want to. We may see a shift there in the way in which they behave, but so far, they have just been the same group that we have worked with from day one.

“They are a really focused group of lads who want to do well and are buying into the ideas; they are working hard, trying to get better. I understand that many of them have played a decent number of games at this level and have played here enough to know what Gillingham fans expect to see from their team and what League Two needs.

“That’s promising firstly but also, I think that they all know that there is room for us to get better and grow and they are buying into that idea as well. We are ready to get started that is for sure, but I hope that the improvement in this team continues for months yet.” 

Reflecting on day one when he met his players for the first time, Bonner recalled, “I didn’t really know what to expect really as I didn’t know anybody.

“If I was a returning manager, you have a picture of all the players and you have a picture on all the players so that you know where people will come so it was a blank page for me.

“I can’t say that I was surprised with what came back and I can’t say no as what happens on Day One is that you see where people are at physically, you see who has had a good summer, you see who has done the work, you see where people rank in the fitness testing which does tell you a little bit about the individual’s personality, a little bit about their professionalism and ambitions for the season.” 

“For me the first few weeks have been about trying to find that out and that process of evaluating everyone’s character and the strengths and weaknesses of the team and where I think the holes are in the team that will continue especially over the next six weeks or so which will be a great lesson for us to see how we respond in games. It is a process that takes time, but now we do not have time as now we have to win games whilst the process is taking place.” 

“I have certainly enjoyed getting to know them and seeing where we are and now we are into the rhythm with a bit of fitness work behind us. We can really start now working individually with the players and the staff can try and help to develop them hopefully building trust with them along the way. So that when we do tell them that something is for the right reasons, hopefully they will know that we care about them genuinely and want them to do well.

“Once you have a bit of rapport which will continue to build, only then can you tell people the truth and they will accept it.

“That period of real honesty where we reflect properly with each other and tell people where we feel that they are at and need to improve, they will know that that comes from us from a good place, and the environment is safe for them to be in and have a conversation and not feel threatened. That is when the good stuff happens and that’s the point that we are now getting too.”