Martin Allen thanks Chairman Paul Scally for his help this season
Martin Allen has praised Chairman Paul Scally for his continuous co-operation which has enabled him to put together a promotion winning team.
The Gills secured their rise to npower League One with a 1-0 victory over Torquay on Saturday, and the Manager thanked the Chairman for his efforts throughout the season.
He said: “I knew it was going to happen – Mr. Scally allowed us to get certain players in, there was a period in the middle of the season of transition so we had a couple of tricky and testing weeks.
“He has been good as gold to me, I speak to him early in the mornings when I get in to work sometimes.
"He has let us get on with it and he has respected what we do and he doesn’t interfere, he doesn’t ask me why we are changing the team, he doesn’t ask why we are making five changes to a winning squad.
“He gives me full backing and support and when we have changed it he just says `great, well done.` And he has done that every time, some people probably thought I was mad but we have put that to rest which is good.
“Certain players hadn’t played for a long time at first team level so they weren’t quite at match sharpness. Right from the summer we knew with the facilities, the players and the budget that we could do it.
“Kane Haysman is only 18, Bradley Dack is only 19 – we had a 17 year old on the bench recently so it’s great with the youth team players in the squad.
“We have rotated the strikers – Adam Birchall and Myles Weston, who was injured at the weekend. It’s fantastic for Danny Kedwell and it’s fantastic for the whole squad, they are very, very close.
“So are the staff that Mr. Scally has allowed us to put together – it’s a work in progress, we are not finished yet that’s for sure and there is a lot more work to be done.”
For the thoughts of Chairman Paul Scally click here.
For a promotion celebration photo gallery click here, and to find out more about the club’s promotion history click here.