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Gillingham head coach Stephen Clemence will be looking to get one over a former team-mate this Saturday.
Clemence was club captain at Birmingham City in the 2006/07 season as they won promotion from the Championship to the Premier League. A young full-back fresh on the scene at the time was Mat Sadler, now head coach of weekend opponents Walsall.
The pair were at different ends of their playing careers back then but are both now looking for success at their respective clubs in League 2 at the beginning of their time as managers.
Gillingham head into Saturday’s game at Priestfield two points off the play-off places while Walsall have more to do, five points worse off than Clemence’s side but with a game in hand.
“We will have a beer after the game and I am hoping I have a smile on my face and he hasn’t,” said Clemence, ahead of their meeting at Priestfield.
“We had some really good players in that group, people like Fabrice Muamba, Seb Larsson, Nicklas Bendtner, Cameron Jerome, Bruno N’Gotty, Radhi Jaidi, I could go on and on!
“We had two young full-backs in Stephen Kelly and Mat Sadler and it was a really good group to be a part of, you remember those groups when you are successful, it’s when you’re not successful they are the ones you tend to forget!
“Mat at the time was quiet, just feeling his way into the first team environment. I always looked out for the young players and he would probably say that I tried to help. I think that is the job of a senior player the younger players, they do need help on a football pitch when they are 18-21. It can be a brutal environment on a football pitch, in front of a big crowd. I always looked out for him.
“He is a great lad. I am pleased he has moved into management, he is definitely the right character, the right type to do it.”
As it stands – the League 2 table
Sadler got the better of the Gills last time out with a 4-1 win for Walsall at the Bescot Stadium in mid-October.
The Gills were managerless at the time, two weeks after Neil Harris had been sacked. Clemence was sat in the stand watching, hoping he could get the chance to revive the team’s fortunes.
“Nothing that day put me off,” said the Gills head coach - now three months into the job.
“Me and Robbie were sat there with our baseball caps on as we knew we might have a chance of coming in here.
“The result wasn’t great that day but I thought I could help these boys.
“I had already watched a fair bit of them on my computer but I wanted to see them up close and personal.
“When you are at a game, it’s a smaller ground and nearer the pitch, you can see how the players move, how quick they are, what their awareness is like, you get a better picture than you do on the TV so that was why I went.”
The Gills were seventh in the table after that defeat, Walsall 13th. Both teams have made a lot of changes since then, with four in and four out for Clemence during the January transfer window.
“They have beaten Wrexham recently and they have got some good players,” he said of their opponents.
“I have to say Walsall are a better team now, they have recruited well, they have had some decent results and it will be a tough game but we have to bring our A-game and make sure that we give them something to worry about too.
“We are at home, I know the crowd will get right behind us and we need to make sure we give them something to cheer about, that will be the aim.”
