Gillingham have parted company with manager Neil Harris after an indifferent start to the League Two campaign.

A statement released by the club on Thursday morning reads:

“Gillingham Football Club has today decided to part company with Manager Neil Harris, who has been in charge at Priestfield for just over 20 months.

Having joined the Club in February of 2022, Neil nearly kept the team in League One, getting relegated on the last day of the season on goal difference, making up a 10-point deficit in the process.

The Club has decided it now wishes to go in a different direction and will begin the process of identifying a Head Coach to take the team forward.

David Livermore will also be leaving the Club.

In the meantime, Keith Millen will take control of first-team matters on an interim basis with immediate effect.

The Club wishes Neil and David best wishes in the future and we thank them for their hard work over the past two seasons.”

The future of Harris had been cast into much doubt after Tuesday night’s 2-0 loss to Crewe Alexandra, meaning the club dropped to eighth place in League Two.

Having started the season well and after being top of the league for a spell, fans became unhappy by the standard of football that saw The Gills playing very defensively and struggling to score goals.

The appointment of Millen in an interim role will steady the ship ahead of Saturday’s League Two clash with Milton Keynes Dons at Priestfield.

New owner Brad Galinson must now decide who is the right person to take the club forward and get the best out of a squad of players that are clearly failing to live up to the expectation set upon them.

Harris will be remembered fondly by many Gillingham fans, but others will look back with less fondness and his time will go down in history that saw the club go through a rocky road and now hopefully back on the highway to success.