Paul Fisher has overseen arguably six of the most difficult months in the history of Gillingham Football Club.

But after the recent takeover of the club, the Chief Executive Officer – now the Chief Operating Officer – is again enjoying his work and as a massive fan of the Club, has renewed optimism.

In an exclusive interview with Mike Green which we will bring you over the next couple of days, Fisher has been reflecting on changing life and moods around Priestfield.

“It really does feel like a new beginning for the Football Club,” Fisher said, “and when my alarm goes off in the morning, I’ve noticed that I seem to get out of bed a bit quicker…”

“It’s been a tough time!” he conceded. “When I joined the club. I looked at the playing side of things and thought we’d do better than we actually have done this season… so it really has been difficult.”

“Difficult because the team hasn’t been doing very well and it’s been difficult because when I came back to the Club in June/July time, the Club hadn’t really rejuvenated from COVID.”

“There was hardly any staff; there was hardly any structure in the business; there were lots of things that needed doing around the place – it’s been bloody tough actually!”

The takeover went through just before Christmas, and Priestfield is now a different place. “It’s been great because I think the Gillingham supporters – and I know them well being a local lad – Brad and Shannon have given us all hope; they’ve given the Club hope and they’ve given the community hope, and I think that that energy is now coming across on the pitch.”

“We’ve made some good signings as we’ve seen on the last two Saturdays and I think it’s given us hope to get out of the position that we’re in.”

“I’ve got a really good relationship with Neil (Harris). I think that Neil and his team work extremely hard – I’ve tracked them every day; they’re in at 7:15am every day and it’s not for want of trying that there hasn’t been success on the pitch, but I think it all comes down to the fact that the resources simply haven’t been there and I think we’ve seen in the last two games, with the addition of the new players to see what a difference it is and has made to the team.”

“The fact that no team has actually given us a hiding is something that we must all remember despite the position.”

“Neil and I have spoken about it and it showed to me that we haven’t been far off this season and with the addition of new players we could be there and the Cups runs have shown that this season.”

“But it’s also fair to say that we’ve been playing a defensive style of football because that’s been the resources that we’ve had to hand with the squad.”

“I think the addition of Tom (Nichols) and Oli (Hawkins) against Hartlepool showed that with an improved forward line what a difference it makes to the whole side.”

“We’re still in talks with a number of players as football really isn’t as easy as the fans always think. The guys will have a Plan A, but more often than not you end you settling on Plan B or Plan C as many factors come into play.”

Picture supplied by Gillingham Football Club.