The EFL managerial merry-go-round has been going for a while, but in the last week or so, there have been a few unexpected departures.
One of them was the firing of Gillingham manager Neil Harris by owner Brad Galinson, despite the fact that his team was only a few points from the slots for automatic promotion.
Galinson stated that Harris’ dismissal was due to the club wishing to move in a “different direction.” The Kent organization is currently searching for a new head coach or manager.
How many games did Neil Harris win at Gillingham?
When Harris joined Gillingham in January 2022, the League One club was having trouble, but after five victories and six draws, they nearly avoided the relegation zone before the end of the year.
Harris was retained as manager despite the fact that they did indeed drop into League Two, although he was somewhat constrained by a lack of funding, which caused the Gills to fall into the bottom two of the fourth tier around the midway point of the season.
Brad Galinson, an American businessman, provided some much-needed investment, though, and with the help of his cash and transfers, Harris was able to get the team back on track, helping them finish 17th in League Two the previous year.
In spite of only being eighth in the standings last week following their 2-0 loss away at Crewe, the Gillingham hierarchy decided to fire Harris. However, after just one game under interim manager Keith Millen, the club is now third and in the automatic promotion spots after a 2-1 victory over MK Dons, which just goes to show that Harris may have been doing okay.
The Worst Managers in Gillingham History (Ranked)
Harris departed Gillingham with a win percentage of 34.4%, which wasn’t very remarkable but was still good.
Did Wrexham and Notts County have a role in Neil Harris being fired from Gillingham?
Former England international Carlton Palmer thinks that Harris’ unexpected departure had something to do with other promotion favorites like Wrexham and Notts County playing exciting football and scoring goals, and Galinson wanting a better style of football at Priestfield Stadium.
Palmer expressed his shock at Harris’ dismissal to Football League World, saying, “I’m absolutely gobsmacked yet again at the sacking of another manager doing an incredible job in my opinion.”
“Neil Harris lost his job, even though they were only four points behind league leaders Notts County while they were in eighth place in the standings.
“When Neil came over the club 20 months ago, he almost pulled off a miracle for Gillingham by trying to assist them avoid League One relegation.
His playing style has been suggested as the reason for his removal; certain groups of fans never warmed to him, and this prompted the owners to take action.
“Wrexham and Notts County may have an aggressive culture, yet both of these teams have suffered crushing losses when they played this style.
“Notts County are top and Wrexham have just come into seventh place – we all want to play attacking football, we all want to see attacking football, but managers feel under pressure to get results, so that influences the way that they play and the personnel they play.”
