Gillingham FC: Brad Galinson can respond to lessons learned with fresh approach to meet Gareth Ainsworth demand | OneFootball

Gillingham head into the summer looking to rebuild with a "quality, not quantity" ethos ahead of the 2025-26 League Two season.

It's shaping up to be a summer of change at Gillingham Football Club as the Kent side looks to rebuild and retool ahead in a bid to end years of underachievement and make a serious run at promotion from League Two.

Optimism around the club went through the roof when American businessman Brad Galinson bought them from its polarising former owner Paul Scally, but while the connection between the club and its fans has undeniably improved since, matters on the pitch have remained a cause for concern.

Despite Galinson investing significant sums into Gillingham, the club's somewhat trigger-happy approach to hiring and firing managers has meant that momentum has been hard to come by. That instability off the field has meant that results have been in short supply on it, with the team's lack of goals in recent seasons a major issue.

However, Galinson and managing director Joe Comper's hiring of Gareth Ainsworth as the club's new manager in March may have marked the start of a new era at the club.

Gareth Ainsworth's arrival sparks a new chapter at Gillingham FC

At the press conference unveiling the new gaffer, Comper explained that a two-year plan had been put into effect, with Ainsworth taking the reins for all on-field matters. Ainsworth has also stated that he demanded to be a major part of the club's recruitment process, which has come under criticism in recent years.

Now, with Ainsworth getting the chance to run the rule over the players currently at ME7, the new manager will sit down and work out his retained list for the summer, and decide which of the dozen or more out-of-contract players at the club he'll offer contracts to.

That summer reboot should also see a number of new signings coming into the club, with a proven goalscorer likely to be at the top of Ainsworth's list.

Gillingham owner Brad Galinson has learned lessons from initial transfer outlay

As Gillingham embarks on its summer rebuild, Galinson will almost certainly look to learn from the lessons of earlier in his tenure in charge of the club.

During a fan Q&A session on The ME7 Podcast, Galinson explained how he threw financial resources at the team in a bid to keep the club from relegation to the National League. But the hangover from that big expenditure has hamstrung the club since.

"When we first came in, we were 24th (in League Two). It was the January window. What we did is, on the one hand we stayed up, but on the other hand, we spent ridiculous amounts of money on players that had long-term contracts, starting that January.

"It saved us – we weren't in the National League – but it bogged down our flexibility to really do anything for two and a half seasons."

Galinson explained that the result of that expenditure was that 70 percent of the club's playing budget was held up in the players signed during that January window, but 80 percent of that money will free up in the summer as those contracts expire.

"This summer is the first time that we can actually have the flexibility to build a team that will actually win League Two, or get promotion in League Two, versus the team that was built to just stay in League Two," he explained.

"There's a big difference between those two, and you can't really pivot that quickly. In our case, it took two and a half seasons to get through that."

With that lesson learned, Galinson looks set to adopt a more controlled approach to expenditure, and the desire of his new manager to work with a smaller, tighter squad will only help him in that regard.

Gareth Ainsworth wants a smaller, but stronger squad for 2025-26

Ainsworth has repeatedly explained that he isn't a fan of working with big squads, and has stated that Gillingham's current playing squad is way too big.

The job for Galinson, Comper and Ainsworth this summer will be to streamline the Gills playing staff as they aim for quality, not quantity in their playing squad for 2025-26.

It's a tricky balancing act that will see several players – including a number of first-teamers – depart Priestfield. But it's essential that the books are balanced in the boardroom, and the team is competitive on the pitch.

It's a tricky balancing act, but Ainsworth is ready to start making those big decisions as soon as the season is done, as he explained in his press conference ahead of the Gills' final game of the season at Port Vale.

"We've got too many players here," he explained.

"When I came in, there's 30-odd players here. It's a ridiculously high number of professionals in the building. We've got to tailor that down. We've got to make that manageable, but also competitive.

"I think everyone who walks in the door in pre-season will be mine. I'll have made a decision, going 'Yep, you will be positive for us next year, you will aid us to get what we want.'

"But yeah, there's one or two that I'd probably want to keep, but maybe with spaces, budgets, everything like that, it will be tough to be able to do so. These are the tough decisions you have to make and sometimes you've got to go with the parameters of the club, and that's important.

"We can't overspend. We've done it for too many years. We've kept collecting players, and it's time it got cut back and a model was put in place that will not be when it's going wrong just buy more players. It doesn't work like that. Get the right players initially, and that's how you do it."