Having lost his job as manager of Gillingham Football Club, we take a look at where and how it went wrong for Mark Bonner.

The former Cambridge United boss was appointed at Priestfield in May 2024 following the departure of Stephen Clemence and his progressive style was just what the club seemed to be looking for as they aimed to be promoted from League Two.

With owners Brad and Shannon Galinson going down the laregly inexperienced route for their new manager, some fans could be forgiven for not knowing an awful lot about Bonner before he came to Priestfield.

By the end of September and the fans of Gillingham thought they had found a real gem as their side sat top of the league having won six of their opening eight league games, drawing one and losing just the once.

At that point, everything was rosy and the fans started to dream about running away with the league, even though the goals weren’t flowing.

Little did they know that their side would win just three more games between the end of September and early January, seeing the side plummet down the league into 14th place.

So where and how did it all go wrong for Bonner?

Injuries have certainly played their part in why the side have dropped like a stone. A lack of a settled starting eleven hurts even the best of teams and for Gillingham, not being able to field their best side started to show the cracks in the squad.

Bonner was also keen at times in shuffling the pack, looking for that winning formula and there was a brief glimmer of light in early December with wins over Salford and MK Dons, but they really did just paper over the cracks.

That win over MK Dons on Saturday 14th December was the last time Bonner’s side picked up three points in the league, losing three of the next four games, after a 2-2 draw with Cheltenham Town at home.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was the 3-0 loss at home to Bromley on January 2nd and that proved to be Bonner’s last game in charge.

Sunday’s postponed game at Chesterfield seems set to have been Bonner’s last game regardless of the result, but in the end it was academic and by Sunday evening he was gone with John Coleman installed as his replacement just an hour later.

In the end, the statistics will show Bonner’s Gillingham won just 9 of their 23 league games he was in charge of and with just three draws, they lost eleven, meaning his time came to an end with the side sitting 14th, ten points adrift of the play-offs.

On Wednesday Bonner released the following statement via the League Manager’s Association:

“I would like to thank Brad and Shannon Galinson and the Senior Management Team for the opportunity to manage Gillingham Football Club.

“After a summer of hard work and setting the foundations to build a culture of success, we enjoyed an outstanding start to the season. Since then, results and performances have been disappointing, and we have been unable to find the level and consistency we all wanted.”

“As many of the players are now fit and available, I expect a consistent team to emerge and have a strong second half of the season. I hope the new management team will continue the work of creating a team and culture that will bring about the success that the club deserves.

“I leave grateful and proud of the quality of work and professionalism from the whole backroom team. Your loyalty, endeavour and commitment has made for an outstanding working environment. I extend these thanks to the committed and talented players in the squad.

“I am also grateful to the supporters and Club staff for the way I have been welcomed since the summer and wish John Coleman, the squad, and everyone connected with Gillingham Football Club the very best for the future.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I look forward to using the lessons learned and energy gained in future roles.”

Fans will all have their own opinions about where it went wrong for Bonner at Gillingham. Bad luck with injuries, changing the side too often, not knowing his best side, changing formation too much, playing just one striker up top… the list goes on.

One thing many managers are always judged on is did he or she make their players better. You could argue Jayden Clarke’s career has gone forwards under Bonner, but not many other players have.

Jack Nolan, Max Clark, Josh Andrews and others have come in for criticism from the fanbase for failing to live up to expectations and many have suggested that they have got worse under Bonner’s stewardship.

With senior players like Bradley Dack, Jonny Williams and Max Ehmer all on the books at Gillingham, on paper the squad should be more than good enough for a play-off place at the very least, but it’s just not happened under Bonner.

Questions over whether Ehmer will retain the captaincy under Coleman will be answered by the weekend when Fleetwood come to Priestfield. Many fans have even questioned whether Bonner was right to have the German in his side, let alone wearing the armband.

Armani Little should be one of the first names on the teamsheet and commands respect on the park, so Coleman may be tempted to go in a different direction.

The one thing we in the media see that most fans don’t is how the manager is face to face and when the cameras and dictaphones are off. Bonner was always polite, forthcoming with his opinions, maybe too honest for some fans at times, but always willing to talk and kind to us.

It’s the measure of the man that he emailed our team today to thank us for all we’d done for him in his time at Priestfield. That’s never happened before and given many of us have been going to Gillingham for 40-50 years, that speaks volumes.