00:00One out, and another in. The revolving door of Priestfield's manager's office is now set
00:05to welcome its fourth occupant in the space of two years, as Mark Bonner is replaced by
00:10former Aquington Stanley boss John Coleman after just seven months in charge.
00:16Bonner took the top job at Gillingham at the start of the 24-25 season, following the sudden
00:21sacking of Stephen Clements. Despite a strong start to the season, which saw the Gilles
00:26top of the League Two table for a brief period, a poor run of form over the Christmas break
00:31has left the Gilles sitting 14th and 10 points from the play-off places.
00:36However, losing to local rivals Bromley for a second time appeared to be the final straw,
00:42a third defeat in a row, with Bonner himself admitting things weren't looking good.
00:47What can you change from here to change the direction I suppose?
00:51Yeah, look, it's loads of things really. It's a mess at the moment. The team looks a mess.
00:56It's so many ins and outs, chops and changes, morale low, loads of frustrated people, me
01:04with the players' inconsistencies, the players with the inconsistency of coming in and out
01:08the team and not having runs and things changing. I don't think we are capable yet of being
01:15one of the top teams, but we're certainly capable of being better than we are at the moment.
01:19Thanking Bonner for his time at the club, Gillingham's managing director Joe Comper
01:23said we needed to make a change to give us the best possible opportunity of getting to
01:28where we want to be come the start of May.
01:31Moments after the announcement of Bonner's departure on Sunday night, the club followed
01:35up, officially appointing his replacement, former Accrington Stanley and Rochdale boss
01:40John Coleman, who's set to remain with Gillingham until the end of the season.
01:45John Coleman completely came out of the blue. He's got no connection with this club at all.
01:50And maybe that's a good thing, because he's going to come in with a completely clean slate
01:55as far as that's concerned. I think he's worked with Andrews and Nolan from his Accrington
02:01days, but that apart, I think he doesn't know the club at all, which is probably, as I say, a good thing.
02:07The appointment of John Coleman might come as a shock to some fans, but with just a few
02:11days until their next fixture and the transfer window firmly open, it's up to the new boss
02:16to prove he's the right man to steer this ship back into the waters of a promotion fight.
02:21Bartholomew Hall for KMTV.
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