by Alex Hoad

Martin Allen was named as new Gillingham boss on Thursday afternoon, his seventh club managerial appointment.

Allen, who turns 47 next month, four days before the Gills begin their season at home to Bradford, was most recently in charge of Barnet for a three game spell at the end of last season - his third stint in charge at Underhill.

After replacing Lawrie Sanchez, Allen oversaw two wins in that time, including a final day 2-1 victory over Burton Albion which kept Barnet in the League.

Allen - known widely in the game as 'Mad Dog' and renowned for using unconventional methods - made almost 200 appearances in midfield for West Ham during his playing career, which began with five years at QPR, and also received two England under-21 caps in 1986/87.

He started out in management at Barnet in March 2003, guiding the Bees into the play-off places before departing shortly before the end of the 03/04 campaign to join Brentford.

After steering them away from the League 1 drop-zone in the final two months of the season, Allen guided the west London club to the play-off places in the following two seasons.

He left the club in May 2006 citing a lack of board investment and joined MK Dons in 2006/07, steering them to the League 2 play-offs, although again missing out on promotion.

At the end of the season he was appointed boss at Championship side Leicester City but left after just four games after a falling out with chairman Milan Mandaric.

After more than a year out of management, Allen returned to the hot-seat at Cheltenham in September 2008 but left a little over a year later with the side struggling in League 2 amid off-field financial difficulties.

After scouting for QPR, Allen's next managerial role was back at Barnet in March 2011, but after just three games he was recruited by Notts County and successfully helped them avoid relegation.

Allen also helped County to a blistering start to the 2011/12 season, but was sacked in a surprise move by the board in February, with County sitting 11th.

Weeks later he took over at Barnet to steer them clear of the drop.