Meet the Neighbours: Gillingham

We were awful. It was possibly the most depressing season of football I've seen since...the season before! We've been utter garbage for two seasons - and despite a brief recovery, we couldn't get out of the considerable hole dug for us by the previous manager (Hessenthaler) and we went down. Best moment had to be beating Wigan 2-1 at our place. We played superbly against an on-form Wigan side and scored two superb goals through Darius Henderson. Worst moment was probably Eugen Bopp's 25-yard volley (with his first touch, after coming on as a sub) with five minutes of the season to go. Before he stuck that shot, we were safe. After he struck it, we were down. That said, the majority of the rest of the season was pretty awful, too.

Now we have a new manager in Neale Cooper - and there are plenty of comings and goings likely this summer, I'm far more optimistic. He's said we're going to play proper football (rather than hoofball) for a start, which has got us Gills fans drooling already. We've not seen that at Priestfield in years! I'd put us down for a top 10 finish this season, with anything in the top 6 as a successful season. It's likely to take a little while for the players to adapt to the new manager's style, so how high up could depend on how quickly they can settle into his new way of playing. If we can do so early in the season, we might be dark horses for an automatic promotion place, but I think that may be a touch optimistic.

As I write, the squad is small. Very small! We've lost four senior players already - and others could soon follow (no bad thing in many of their cases). So far, we've signed two promising left-sided players, plus Dundee United's English goalkeeper Tony Bullock, taking our keeper quota to four. I expect us to sell Jason Brown for a few grand, then use the money to buy a player or two, while scouring the market for some free transfers. It's likely to be a vastly changed squad from what we had last season - and that can only be a good thing as far as I'm concerned.

The one good point to come from our abysmal season last year was the emergence of a couple of quality young players. Andrew Crofts is an all-action midfielder, who gets stuck in, moves about the pitch well and can score goals. Matty Jarvis is still in his teens, but is our most exciting prospect. A pacy, nippy winger, he's likely to get more playing time under Cooper this season and could become a real star for us.

We've only just got him, so we're yet to see just what he's all about, but the reports are good. He's build successful sides at Ross County in Scotland and at Hartlepool United in England. He played in Aberdeen's European Cup Winners' Cup side back in the 80's, under the management of a certain Alex Ferguson, so he's learnt from one of the best. Most importantly, he wants us to play football, which I know I mentioned earlier, but I can't overstress how pleasing that is to us Gills fans who've endured hoofball for the past four or five seasons. Will he still be here at the end of the season? I certainly hope so - and unless we do so well that a Premiership club comes in for him, I'd hope to see him with us for a good few seasons. He could be the man to lead us to bigger and better things.

The chairman is often viewed as a controversial character. Most football fans have heard of him - and that usually isn't a good thing. His PR skills aren't the best, but he has the best interests of the club at heart and has done a superb job of running the football club since he took over and saved us from extinction in the mid 90's. He puts his foot in it from time to time, but overall, you can't argue with what he's done at Gillingham. I'm happy with him. The backroom staff situation is undergoing something of a change at the moment. Ronnie Jepson is our new assistant manager - and he impressed as Stan Ternent's number two at the end of last season, so he'll be a big motivational asset to the squad this year. Andy Hessenthaler is amazingly still at the club. He'll be 40 in August, yet still has two years left on his playing contract (!) and seemingly is happy to stay. The trouble is, he's highly-paid and unlikely to figure in our first-team plans next season. He's also our former manager, which may prove a distraction for our new boss Neale Cooper. We can't afford to pay Hess off, so he'll have to find a move elsewhere. The thing is, we don't know if he wants to go. Iwan Roberts is also under contract as a player-coach. He's as genuine as they come and a consummate pro, but fell out with Ternent last season and was exiled to Cambridge on loan. He'd be a perfect candidate to help work with the young players as part of the new youth setup at the club - and personally I'd like to see him stay at the club in a coaching capacity. He's still contracted as a player, but whether he'll feature under Cooper is uncertain.

Swindon Town without a doubt. We've a huge rivalry with them after incidents in matches played back in the late 70's and mid 80's - and I think any Gills fan from that time will be able to tell you plenty about what went on. There are detailed recollections of what started our rivalry on the Gillingham Mad site. It was a bit before my time as a Gills fan, but having read what went on, I can see why we hate Swindon over any other team in football.

Champions: Bristol City

Runner Up: Tranmere Rovers

Playoffs: Oldham, Gillingham, Barnsley, Forest

Relegated: Southend, Port Vale, Chesterfield, MK Dons