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'It’s not my call', insists Gillingham boss Steve Evans as he continues to be linked to the vacant manager’s job at Stevenage.
The Gills rejected an initial approach from the League 2 club last week.
Evans has led the club to two top-10 finishes in his first two seasons at Priestfield but the squad has been crippled by a succession of injuries since the 2021/22 campaign kicked off, leaving the club hovering above the relegation places in League 1.
Before the weekend Evans said that the Gills chairman “knows where I want to go in the summer.” His current deal expires at the end of this season.
Commenting after Saturday's 2-0 defeat to Crewe, Evans said: “I am hopefully in charge Monday and Tuesday but I don’t ultimately make that call, chairman Paul Scally makes that call.
“All I know is what the chairman briefed me, that he turned down an approach from another club, he was honest and told me, but we didn’t have a lot of discussion about it, as a manager you don’t, you get told you can speak or you can’t speak, simple as that.
“The chairman made his position very clear, very professionally, it was a good meeting (on Thursday) and in many parts we were open and honest and in many parts it was constructive. Our chairman made it clear he turned down that approach and I respected his decision as it's his right as the owner and the chairman of this club to do that.”
Gillingham and Stevenage have been in a similar position before, but that time it was Mr Scally doing the chasing. He got his man when he chose Mark Stimson to manage the club in 2007.
Stevenage didn’t want Stimson to leave but Gills negotiated a deal, to the frustration of the Hertfordshire club’s chairman Phil Wallace.
A decade or so on and it’s Stevenage who are now looking at the current Gills boss as the answer to their problems. They are 21st in League 2 but their chairman has promised additional funds to spend in January.
“We have funds available to strengthen the squad in January if a new manager feels that is necessary,” said Mr Wallace.
They beat Colchester 1-0 at the weekend thanks to an Elliott List penalty. The former Gills forward was allowed to leave Priestfield during the early stages of Evans’ tenure at the club, joining the League 2 club for an undisclosed fee.
On his future, Evans added: “The first thing we do is analyse the loss on Saturday, we regroup and be organised for Tuesday." The Gills host Cheltenham in the league.
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