Neale Cooper to lead the Gills in 2005/2006

Cooper joins the club just a couple of weeks after being sacked by Hartlepool United - and judging by the comments received from Hartlepool fans this week, it seems we've got a superb manager, who has all the attributes required to help take us back up to the Championship.

Ronnie Jepson continues as assistant manager - and will no doubt help Cooper decide the fates of the ten out-of-contract players.

At his first press conference as Gills manager, he said, "We have to have targets and promotion is our target. A lot of people will be hoping and expecting us to bounce straight back into the Championship and we will certainly be trying to do that.

"But I know from my experience that it’s a tough division and we’ll have to fight hard. A lot of teams will think, because we’ve just come down, that we’ll be on easy street and want to turn us over. We’ll have to guard against that."

For Cooper, his career has taken a rollercoaster ride in the last couple of weeks, which have seen him depart Hartlepool despite leading them to the playoffs, and spend a fortnight out of the game before getting a phone call from Gills chairman Paul Scally.

"It’s been a hard few weeks for me after leaving Hartlepool so I was quite surprised when I got a call from the chairman while I was on my way back to Scotland.

"So I turned around and came to Gillingham and was impressed with what I saw. It was my first visit and the whole set-up was great. It’s a superb stadium and the chairman is obviously ambitious."

We at Gills365 wish Neale Cooper the best of luck as our new manager.

For a full profile of Neale Cooper, click here.