Gillingham have appointed Stephen Clemence as their new first team head coach, according to one national newspaper.

Chairman Brad Galinson revealed this week that they had agreed terms with a new man to replace Neil Harris, and according to the Guardian that man is 45-year-old Clemence.

It will be a first top job for Clemence, having previously worked as assistant at numerous clubs alongside Steve Bruce, initially at Sunderland.

His assistant is reported to be the former Rochdale boss Robbie Stockdale, who has previously had caretaker management roles at Sunderland.

Clemence is the son of the late England, Liverpool and Tottenham keeper Ray, and he had a playing career that started at Spurs and he went onto Birmingham City and Leicester.

Since retiring, he has become a trusted assistant for Bruce, enjoying roles at teams like Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Hull City. He has most recently been coaching at Manchester City but had declared his interest to take on his first managerial role.

He will join a Gillingham side sitting ninth in League 2. The Gills head to Hereford this Saturday in the FA Cup.

Earlier this week Galinson described the four key areas he was looking at when appointing a new coach. Experience in managing wasn’t one of them.

He said: We wanted to make sure the manager realises it is the players first, not the manager first.

“Specifically (that 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 be arm around, or 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, front-footed, expansive, entertains and wins at the same time.

“Obviously sometimes you have to use direct football but we want to build something that is a bit more brave and 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, I wanted the hardest-working guy in the stadium, the manager who stays late because he can’t 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 doesn’t need to be paid, that kind of guy.”