Following Gillingham’s 4-0 defeat at home to Ipswich Town, they announced that manager Steve Evans and assistant Paul Raynor were to depart the club, with the club sitting 22nd in League One and with defeat to The Tractorboys making it 6 defeats in their last 7 outings in the league.
The Gills acted swiftly to bring in a replacement, on a temporary basis at least, with former manager Steve Lovell – who left Welling in September – taking over in a caretaker capacity while they went in search of their more long-term successor to Evans, with Lovell losing 3-1 at home to Burton Albion in his first game in charge.
And, it seems that The Gills have found their successor, with National League side Bromley confirming that manager Andy Woodman has begun talks with the League One side after an official approach was made. Woodman was reportedly in the frame to replace Dave Challinor at Hartlepool United, but now looks set to move across Kent to take up the hotseat at The MEM.
We take a look at why Woodman is the perfect replacement for Steve Evans, and what he bring to The Gills hotseat.
An eye for a player
One notable trait of Andy Woodman since he took charge of Bromley is his ability to find players that are doing well within the non-league scene and then give them the opportunities of higher, first-team football with The Ravens. Recently, we saw him sign Palace Francis from lower-ranked Walton and Hersham, and his ability to find players within the local non-league scene has been a trademark of his, as well as his ability to pick up young players that have been let go by local top flight and EFL academies. George Alexander and Harry Forster are prime examples of that. It is something that I think that The Gills could make better use of under Woodman, having not really done so during Evans’ time in charge.
The Gills are ideally situated to pick up youth players released Premier League sides such as Watford, Crystal Palace, teams in and around the Kent and London area, players that have real potential to be good performers at League One level certainly, but just need the opportunity of a deal and a coach that has the belief and trust in them to give them said chance, and I think that Andy Woodman is the perfect person to oversee such model. I have no doubt that at Gillingham, Woodman would be able to pick up a better quality of young player released by academies than perhaps he managed to at Bromley, and I think that the potential to be able to develop local young players and integrate that around a core of experienced players is something that is a) so exciting, but b) cost-effective and makes logical financial sense for a side like Gillingham.
Will make The Gills harder to beat
In Woodman’s somewhat limited time in management, Woodman has shown that he sets up sides to be difficult to beat and has got success from it. He took over Whitehawk when they were in relegation troubles and managed to shore them up to the tune of keeping them in the division, and then in the two seasons since when he has been in charge of Bromley, he went on a fine run to end last season to get them into the play-offs and then this season has them again sitting in the top seven. Thus, he has shown that he has been able to always set his teams up to be competitive.
I don’t expect Woodman to come in and tinker too much or try anything too elaborate. Instead, the use of a 4-4-2 is likely, allowing players to understand their roles and responsibilities much easier, allow them to be better defensively and more balanced both in and out of possession. During his time with The Ravens, Woodman has not lost many games in the National League, and that ability to set up a side to have a real go and have a credible chance of getting a result regardless of who they are playing against has enabled them to remain competitive at the top end of the National League. The step up to League One will no doubt be a much more acid test of those abilities, but if he can replicate the work he has been doing with The Gills and particularly have as good an impact with The Gills as he did when appointed manager of Bromley, he should do well.
Get the best out of the young players
One thing that has become prominent during Woodman’s time in charge of Bromley, particularly this season, is his willingness to blood young players into the first-team set-up. With The Ravens, he has overseen the development of a number of fine young talents, with Jude Arthurs, Harry Forster, George Alexander and Marcus Sablier perhaps the pick of those, and that has allowed him to put together a plentiful squad on a relatively smaller budget in comparison to the bigger-hitters in the National League, complimenting a core of experienced professionals with a plethora of young players who he can improve.
The Gills still under a transfer embargo and with limited resources and finances to be able to go and overhaul the side during the window to the extent of making wholesale changes. And, I don’t think that is Woodman’s style either, as he has shown during his time in charge that he enjoys working with a group of younger players who he can develop and improve under his leadership and using this as compliment to a group of more experienced players, and so I expect him to use a similar approach in charge of The Gills.
Gillingham do boast a strong group of young players, with Jack Tucker, Bailey Akehurst, Harvey Lintott and Gerard Sithole the pick of these, and I expect that Woodman will see this as a real exciting opportunity to continue the fine work that he has been doing with Bromley’s young players to now do that with The Gills’. Expect to see the likes of Sam Gale and Joseph Gebude also be given first-team opportunities, and I think that if Woodman is able to strike that balance between a core of experienced players and some promising youngsters, that could be key for The Gills.
A quick learner and not adverse to a challenge
When Bromley announced the appointment of Andy Woodman last term, many Ravens fans would have undoubtedly been skeptical of that decision to relive a manager who is one of the most experienced in non-league football in Neil Smith and replace him with a manager whose own previous managerial experience came at Whitehawk in the National League South – a role he held from February until the end of that same season.
However, what Woodman has been able to do is quite quickly demonstrate his ability to learn and adapt to a tough league such as the National League. He managed to oversee their push towards the play-offs last season, ultimately just pulling up to eventual winners Hartlepool United, and then this season has had them in the mix for promotion once again, and so any such concerns that would have surfaced in wake of his appointment would have now subsided, and in fact The Ravens would elude to the fact that they have found a manager that has quite quickly shown he is one of the best in the non-league scene.
The step up to League One is certainly a challenge, and an extremely difficult one at that given how cut-throat the third tier is proving to be this term, but Woodman has shown that he by no means shirks away from a challenge and indeed thrives in that environment, learning quickly in the process. He took over a side at Whitehawk struggling near the bottom of the table and ultimately kept them up. He adopted a Bromley side that had been stabilized at National League level and managed to take them forward to new heights in such a short space of time. And, with The Gills seemingly heading for the League One trap door, Woodman will see it as a challenge that he will relish getting his teeth into.
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