Next Gillingham Manager Odds

Gillingham had a great start to the 2023/24 League Two campaign and were, at certain points during the season, sitting first in the league table. However, after a three-match winless streak, the club has decided to part ways with Neil Harris to the surprise of many.

Harris assumed charge of the team mid-season in 2021/21 with Gillingham still in League One. He managed to overcome a 10-point deficit in the following months but the team was still relegated on goal difference. In his full season in League Two, the Gills finished 17th.

In the official statement, the club confirmed their intention “take the team in a new direction” through the next managerial appointment. Meanwhile, the next Gillingham manager odds have surged.

Gillingham Next Manager Betting List

Young coach Karl Robinson sits atop the Gillingham next manager odds, with other exciting names on the list too. In the meantime, Keith Millen will combine the role of caretaker and academy coach at Priestfield Stadium.

Karl Robinson

Karl Robinson has been looking for a new job ever since he left Leeds United together with Sam Allardyce at the end of the 2022/23 Premier League campaign. His experience as an assistant coach in the top flight was short-lived and only lasted for 30 days.

Prior to that, Robinson worked with Milton Keynes Dons, Charlton Athletic and Oxford United across various levels of the English football system. His longest and most successful spell was with MK Dons, as he took the team to the EFL Championship in 2015/16 for the first time in their history, although he would only last for a few months in the second tier. At the time of his appointment in 2010, he was only 29 years old, the youngest manager in professional English football at that time.

Robinson is a modern coach that likes to improve the youth, which would make him a great long-term candidate to become the next Gillingham manager. However, it remains to be seen whether the 43-year-old is ready to go down to League Two.

Scott Lindsey

Unlike the other names on our list of next Gillingham manager odds, Scott Lindsey has a personal history with the Kent club as he worked as a youth coach for the Gills for a short six months back in 2009. However, he would then leave Priestfield Stadium to pursue a job in senior football.

Lindsey held different assistant, youth and manager roles at clubs like Lincoln City, Forest Green, Swindon Town in the 2010s. Unfortunately for the Gills, Lindsey is currently employed as he coaches fellow League Two club Crawley Town.

In fact, the Red Devils currently sit fifth in the league table, just three points behind league leaders Notts County. If both parties are happy with how things are going at Crawley Town, it is difficult to imagine Lindsey opting for a move to Gillingham.

Danny Cowley

Danny Cowley, on the other hand, is available for instant hire. The 44-year-old last worked with Portsmouth in League One but was sacked in January this year with his team sitting 12th. Previously, Cowley worked with Huddersfield Town in the EFL Championship and helped them avoid relegation, although he would be dismissed at the end of the 2019/20 season anyway. 

Cowley’s most impressive work, of course, came with Lincoln City between 2016 and 2019. He took a team in the National League – the fifth tier of English football – and achieved promotion to League Two in 2016/17 and to League One in 2018/19. He also led the Imps to an EFL Trophy win in 2017/18.

While the Englishman didn’t show anything out of the ordinary at Huddersfield and Portsmouth, his experience with Lincoln highlighted his ability to build a long-term project, which may be exactly what Gillingham need at the moment.

Leam Richardson

Leam Richardson, too, has been out of work for a while. The 43-year-old was last employed by Wigan Athletic in the EFL Championship but lost his job in November 2022, with the Latics in the relegation zone. 

Richardson made a name for himself when he won League One with Wigan in 2021/22, thus taking them back to the second tier. An impressive result in itself, we should also mention that Wigan was facing relegation to League Two at the time of his appointment in 2020.

Other than that, Richardson mostly held assistant roles at Portsmouth and Chesterfield, working under the guidance of Paul Cook and John Sheridan. His only other stint as a head coach was with Accrington Stanley in 2012/13.

However, we should also keep in mind that BetVictor considers Leam Richardson the top contender with 1.67 odds for the vacant position at Bradford City.

Dean Brennan

Dean Brennan is the least experienced coach on the list as he has never coached at professional level. The Irishman started his journey as a player-coach at Hemel Hempstead Town in semi-professional football before being appointed as their permanent manager. He would then go on to coach Billericay Town, Kingstonian and Wealdstone at various levels of non-league football (fifth tier and below).

Brennan’s biggest move to date came in 2021 when he was appointed Head of Football at Barnet in the National League under Harry Kewell. However, the Australian legend lasted just a few months at Barnet, and Brennan inherited the head coach role later that year. 

Barnet finished 18th in the first season under Brennan but improved massively in 2022/23, reaching the promotion play-offs. At present, the Bees are second in the league table, just three points away from the league leaders. 

While Brennan’s recent results have been impressive, his appointment may still be viewed as risky due to the lack of experience at the professional level.