Gillingham owner Brad Galinson is nearing the end of a search for Neil Harris’ replacement as the new boss at Priestfield.
Speaking to the Clubs official website, Mr Galinson intimated that the hunt for a new man is coming to an end and that the new man could be named in the next few days ahead of the Club’s trip to Hereford in the First Round of the FA Cup on Saturday.
“We think we have found the person,” said a confident Chairman has told the Clubs official website on Monday. “It is down to just documentation at this point. There have been multiple discussions, multiple interviews and terms have been agreed. It is just finalising the contract, tweaking it, red lining it, that sort of thing. We are pretty much there.”
“We wanted to make sure the manager realises it is the players first,” not the manager first!”
Mr Galinson continued, “Specifically, he cares about things like ‘are they married, do they have children, where do they live, how can they be a better player, do they need to an arm around them or do they need to be told directly,’ very much a player-first organisation.”
“Secondly, we wanted to make sure the culture and the personality of the manager fits very specifically with what we are trying to build at Priestfield; transparency, collaboration, communication, very open, very group setting, one club and one vision, and we happily and transparently work together. As well as honesty and personality, someone that can smile and joke and realise this is the best job in the world, that in the end we want to win but we want to have fun doing it. We wanted to make sure the personality and the culture of the manager really fits the kind of people we have.”
“The third is the playing style. We wanted to make sure that naturally, the person we appoint is above all brave, courageous, takes risks, is front-footed, expansive, entertains and wins at the same time. Obviously sometimes you must use direct football, but we want to build something that is a bit braver and more courageous. We wanted to make sure the manager naturally thinks that way and plays that way, without even being told, that is just the way they think.”
“The last one is very important,” Mr Galinson concluded. “I wanted the hardest-working guy in the stadium, the manager who stays late because he cannot stop thinking about his passion for football and formations and how we are going to take on the next team. He is the first one to come in in the morning and the last one to leave, because that is his personality, he loves the game, that is his life and he would do it for free, he does not need to be paid, that kind of guy.”