Benno: "I want to get into the Championship."
Bentley has put pen to paper on a deal to the summer of 2009 and is delighted to make the commitment to the Gills: "I am delighted to sign a new contract. Ronnie Jepson offered me a new deal about three weeks ago and I am delighted to have got it sorted. I believe I am at the right club for my football to progress. I have spoken to the Chairman too and his ambition is unbelievable; he wants to get this club back into the Championship. I believe we can do it. With the start we have had to this season, it is difficult but there is still a long way to go. I'd like to think that we can climb up the table and reach the playoffs or higher. There is no reason why we cannot do that as there is still a long way to go. When I was at Southend, we won one of our first six games and we ended up winning the league.
"The deal was pretty much done and dusted as soon as I was offered it. I knew where I wanted to be, I live fairly local and I have really enjoyed my time here. I think I have done well for the club and I want to continue doing well for the club. I want to get into the Championship and if I didn't believe we could, I wouldn't have signed a new contract here. I turned the chance down with Southend, that was my decision but I still want to get there and it would be great for me."
This week has been overshadowed by the resignation of Ronnie Jepson and Bentley admits the players feel responsible for the departure of their former manager: "I have always had a lot of respect for Ronnie and I think he had a lot of respect for me as well. He was a very hard working manager and for me personally, it was quite sad to see him go. I don't think people realise how hard he worked for this club and the amount of effort that he put in. Unfortunately, as a lot of people have said, it is a results business and Ronnie has had to pay the price.
"It's been a tough week and something like this doesn't happen very often. As a player, you don't often see a change of scenery with a manager going so on Monday and Tuesday the lads were disappointed as they felt responsible for not bonding on the pitch. Iffy Onuora and Mick Docherty have been trying to get the lads going in training with a bit of fun and games but we have trained extremely hard, nothing has changed there, to make sure we are right and organised for Saturday.
"The mood has been strange. The players feel mainly responsible for Ronnie's departure and we have got to go and show people that we are up for it, we want to play for Gillingham and we want to do as best as we can. We've been training extremely hard and have a lot of respect for the Doc and Iffy. We want to do it for them now. They are honest fellas and we have a lot of respect for them. They'll tell you to your face about what you are doing. The Doc and Iffy are very good coaches but they are fighting for their jobs now and we certainly don't want to see another two members of the coaching staff leave especially ones where we have a good rapport. The Doc was here last year and Iffy has come in this year. They both know the club and if the Chairman wants to give them the job permanently, it is his decision on the way that the club goes forward. If it means that a new manager comes in, the lads will certainly be willing to work for him as well.
