by Luke Cawdell

Gillingham start the season with a new manager at the helm but chairman Paul Scally’s objective hasn’t changed.

Having missed out on the play-offs in the last two seasons under Andy Hessenthaler, Mr Scally, pictured, is now putting his faith in Martin Allen to deliver the promotion he craves.

The Gills kick off their League 2 season – the 18th campaign under Mr Scally – with a home match against Bradford on Saturday.

He said: "Every season we start we want to get promoted. There is nothing else we could wish for other than that.

"We almost did it in the last two years but we didn’t. We made changes this year to try and alter that position and, so far, I am confident and upbeat on what we’ve done because the changes have been fantastic. The new management team and the structure we have brought in is the best we’ve had in the last 10 years.

"I feel sorry for people like Hess and previous managers when we didn’t have the funds to bring in these extra staff but now, with Hessy’s assistance, we have brought in fitness coaching, goalkeeping coaching and additional staff to help nutrition and that type of thing.

"It was obvious last season that we weren’t as strong and fit as we ought to have been, especially in the last quarter of games, and it’s one of the first things I talked to every manager I spoke with when I interviewed them.

"We needed to spend more money on health and condition coaching and strength and condition coaching and that’s what we’ve done. In three or four weeks, we’ve seen some results.”

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