Headley: There's a new sheriff in town

However, I attended the FOGFC meeting on Saturday and during the question and answer session, I had the opportunity to put a question to Ronnie. I wished him luck, told him I thought he had his work cut out at present, as there is no financial assistance for him other than this FOGFC fund, and asked him what mark he would make on Gillingham FC and the current team.

Anyone in the room at the time will have been left in absolutely no doubt that Jeps will be doing everything he can in his attempts to be a success in his first managerial position.

Looking me dead in the eye as he answered, he told me that there were players at the club that he did not want there - and that there were players at the club who didn't want to be there. He then said that there were a number of players at the club who were just picking up their money without putting in the required commitment - and that the aforementioned players would be weeded out as soon as possible, most likely in January.

He talked about the game at Burscough being the most embarassing game of his life - and said that had he been a Gills fan at the game that day, he'd have wanted to get into the dressing room. Luckily for us, Jepson IS in the dressing room - and as the top man, he's taking no prisoners whatsoever.

Ronnie has worked under Neale Cooper and Stan Ternent at Priestfield, but he's also worked with Brian Horton, Neil Warnock and John Rudge and while he has learned from all of them, he was keen to state that he was not going to copy any of them - and that he would be very much his own man, doing things his own way.

The overriding feeling that came across from Ronnie was his total determination to be a success - and nobody giving less than 100% will be tolerated at the club.

He paid tribute to the fans, but not in a patronising way. He spoke with passion, with understanding of the frustrations we as fans have felt - and he's clearly of a similar opinion to those of us who have criticised the players for their lack of commitment and application recently.

Sometimes when you hear managers speak, you get the impression that they are just giving you soundbytes, or telling you what you want to hear. This wasn't the case with Ronnie. He was deadly serious, told it how he sees it, and laid it on the line in very clear terms.

With that sort of attitude, that single-minded determination to succeed and the refusal to accept anything less than 100%, I think Ronnie Jepson could well be just what we need at the helm of this football club.

So, I was in doubt about the prospect of him taking over, but after talking to him first hand, those doubts were dispelled. The three points that followed, and the commitment shown by the players today, throwing bodies in front of the ball in defence of our lead, showed that Ronnie's influence is already making a difference to the team.

Our club needs a strong leader, someone who can really sort out the team, bring in players of character and get rid of those who are letting us down. In Ronnie Jepson I think we might well have the man we've been looking for.