Gillingham FC: John Coleman can lean on three things to make an instant impact | OneFootball

Gillingham will look to kickstart their campaign as they begin the second half of the League 2 season with a new manager, and a fresh approach.

Gillingham will look to kickstart their campaign as they begin the second half of the League Two season with a new manager and a fresh approach.

Following a disappointing first half of the season, the club opted to part ways with manager Mark Bonner, with former Accrington Stanley boss John Coleman arriving as the club's new manager.

Coleman will bring a different approach to the Gills, and three key factors could potentially help him as he looks to revive the Kent club's fortunes.

Everybody needs to impress new Gills boss Coleman

With so many players out of contract in the summer, getting in the new manager's good graces will be crucial to their continued stay at Priestfield.

What's happened already this season can't be undone, but it's no secret that the Gills' attacking players have failed to deliver so far.

With Coleman a strong advocate of high-energy attacking football, the onus will be on the team's misfiring forward players to impress in training in a bid to get into the side and benefit from a more attack-focused side under the new manager.

Coleman wants goals and wins, not stats, at Gillingham

Gillingham have played to contain, or nullify, the opposition, and at times have seemed over-obsessed with statistics when the product on the pitch just hasn't looked up to scratch.

From his early interviews as Gills boss, it seems Coleman isn't interested in that. The only stats he appears interested in are goals and wins, with the new boss telling BBC Radio 5 Live's 72+ podcast that "the only currency is winning".

That will be music to the ears of a Gillingham fanbase that, despite great promise and plenty of early-season optimism, has been starved of goalscoring, attacking, winning football over the last few seasons.

Despite being a manager who has been associated with the North West for the majority of his career, Coleman said he's seen plenty of parallels between Gillingham and the Merseyside area he grew up in.

That early affinity with the area, and his ability to relate to the fans in the stands, could be a huge benefit as he looks to quickly build a connection with the Gills' fanbase.

He's also highlighted the fact that he's a former non-league player who never quite made it to the pro ranks, and how that's kept him hungry, humble and full of passion for the pro game. That will also go down well with the Gills fans, who, above all else, just want to see a team of players who want to be at the club and are prepared to give their all for the shirt.

It all means the optimism level is already increasing at Priestfield following Coleman's arrival. And, with a plethora of social media posts from Accrington fans hailing their former boss, hopes are high that Coleman could be the man to turn things around at Priestfield.

It'll take time, and we'll get to see the first glimpse of Coleman's Gillingham at Priestfield on Saturday lunchtime, when they take on Doncaster Rovers.