Andy Hessenthaler has had a number of different positions at Gillingham over the years. From player to manager and now Head of Recruitment, following his move back to the Gills. Our very own Alex Pooley sat down with him to discuss the club and his new role.
Firstly, I want to say it was an absolute pleasure sitting down with Hessenthaler to discuss the club. I don’t want to give too much away Gills fans but we discussed some pretty exciting stuff.
It’s widely expected among fans for the club to spend big yet again in the summer, after a very busy January window.
We start by discussing Hessenthaler’s decision to come back to the Gills and take a step out of management before moving into a discussion about the owners and Paul Scally.
AP: “Firstly Andy thank you for taking the time to speak with me today, we’ll jump straight in, what was it that enticed you to come back to the Gills?”
AH: “To be fair, it looked like an opportunity that I could come back in the summer, cause I’ve known Neil (Harris) the manager a while now, played with him when he came on loan to Gillingham back in the day.”
“We kept in contact, when he was at Millwall, I went into Orient (Leyton) as assistant to Ian Hendon and I got a call they (Millwall) were looking for a Senior Coach, to go into with him (Harris) and David Livermore.”
“But listen, I had already committed myself to going to Orient with Ian, so that didn’t materialise but we’ve always kept in contact.”
“I had a conversation with Neil in the summer about a role, problem was the uncertainty of the club, I had spoken to Paul Scally. Obviously I’ve known Paul many years now and he was a big part of getting me back to the club.”
“So it didn’t really materialise in the summer, because of the precarious position the club was in financially, but luckily for me obviously the new owner Brad has come in. Paul has worked miracles to get someone like Brad to come and invest into the club.”
“Again to be fair to Paul, he had spoken to Brad about a structure in the football department, in terms of Director of Football and Head of Recruitment, the club needed it in terms of going forward.”
“Kenny Jackett came in as Director of Football and then I got the call from Paul to meet Brad and was able to come and fill the position of Head of Recruitment. So it was like all your Christmas, Birthdays coming at once, you know to come back to the club that I love, this is my club, I see it as my club.”
“This is exciting times, there’s a journey now, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, that’s where we want to go with Brad”
“I just look around the place, I’ve seen a few games this season, it was a little bit down and everyone was down, the position we was in was tough, but we’re on a journey now”
“I’m really pleased for Neil, it couldn’t have been easy for him, the way things were going you know I’ve been a manager. When you’re not winning games it’s tough and that’s what you’re judged on as a manager”
AP: “Apart from the new owners or the new players of course, what was it that changed so much to see such a turnaround?”
AH: “Well I think it’s just that feel-good factor, again the structure and I think the players that we managed to bring in yes they did make a difference(on the pitch), but I think it’s that lift of them coming in.”
“Again it’s not just down to the players, Neil’s got to take a lot of credit as well for the way he’s managed the group.”
Andy briefly touched on Paul Scally and Paul Fisher’s amazing work to find an owner like Brad Galinson. Before moving back to the current squad and ambitions for the club.
“I haven’t got a bad word about Paul, I’ve worked with him for a long long time, he saved the club the first time and he’s saved the club again bringing Brad in, him and Paul Fisher obviously Fisher’s got a lot to do with that as well.”
“I think the players are realising it now, the ones that we’ve bought in and the ones that were here before, can actually see that journey now.”
“We want to get back to the Championship where we was before, that’s going to be tough to do but why not with Brad and Shannon because that’s what they want”
“We’ve got a big time ahead of us, we will stay up, 100% we will stay up, and we want to go up. The pressure for Kenny, myself and Neil is to go and get the right players to go with the current group, to make us even better”
AP: “A lot of fans have said, they expect the club to be pushing for automatic promotion next season, the realist in me says we need a couple of summer windows to compete for that. I see us up there next season but maybe playoffs, maybe at a push for automatics I just wanted to get your thoughts on that?”
AH: “I get that, and I get your feeling on that, I think for us, we’ve got a number of targets who are on our radar. I think what we bought in that window (January) we’ve got to better that now.”
“What’s interesting about the next batch of games is that most of them are against teams in that top area, so we can judge ourselves against that, so that’s going to be a good indication of where we need to get to. I still think we’ve got to put pressure on ourselves, in terms of where we want to be so as a club and a management team. We’ve got to put that pressure on ourselves and say look that’s where we want to be, in the top three”
AP: “We spoke coming up the stairs about the game last night (against Crewe) I thought we played really well against a low block in that game, we would have lost that game earlier in the season. You thought it was a game of two half’s can you just tell me a little more about that?”
AH: “A few months back, we’d have lost that game, I’ve got to agree with you on that just looking at the game”
“I’ve watched us a lot this season at home and I think other than Tranmere, that’s the only real game where we’ve played over 90 minutes consistently. It’s always the day way at Gillingham, even when I played, it seems to be a bit sour going towards the town end but the other way it’s a lift, the Rainham suck it in.”
“They’ll be some nice games here coming up (at Priestfield) you know the Stockport’s and Orient’s they’ll bring big crowds and it’ll be a great atmosphere.”
“The fans will be out there in their force, right behind the boys as they always are. I’ve got to say the fans are phenomenal here, I’ve got so much respect for them they’ve seen some tough times and they’ve seen some wonderful times.”
“As much as I played at Watford and had a good relationship with the Watford fans, these are the fans that I’ve sort of grown up with and respect them massively.”
We move on to speak about the summer and the targets for the club. I start by asking the question about if we will see Jake Hessenthaler back in a Gills shirt.
“Probably no, unfortunately for Jake, he’s got himself injured now, he’s got an operation next Tuesday and will be out for the rest of the season.”
“It’s difficult and it was difficult for him when he was here and I was here because the cynics of the world say he’s only here because of his dad. Well we’re totally different players and he earnt the right, I mean you’ve only got to look at his CV, he played a lot of games for Gills. Do I think would he fit into Gillingham’s team, I think he would but do we need another midfielder player? Probably not.”
AP: “Fans are expecting a big summer, I’m assuming we can expect another window like January?”
AH: “Well yeah, there are a few projects in place for that but I don’t think they’ll be as many as January, as I said what we bought in January we have to better in this window. We’ve got a number of targets, it’s never easy.”
“With Brad coming in, people talk so sometimes, people are trying to get a little more out of the deals. But there’s a ceiling we work to and obviously, you’ve got financial fair play”
“There are decisions to be made on the players that are out of contract at the club first, which will be made soon.”
“Once that’s made (Decisions on current players), it will be what we need to bring in positions-wise to add to the group, we are looking to do a 21’s next year, which is good news.”
“I think this club, needed a 21s, it’s not confirmed yet because it will come down to facilities.”
“We’re on it now because we know what players are out of contract and can we sign players that are under contract at other clubs yes, whereas maybe it would have been different before”
“I don’t see us bringing in 10 or 11 but 5 or 6 maybe coming into the squad”
AP: “What’s the main position we need in the summer?”
AH: “I think we need to improve in a few areas, it’s not rocket science we need competition for places, I think we need a natural goal scorer.”
“Look squad planning is important for us, it’ll be nice to double up on positions, if we can and keep it under those financial fair play rules”
Finally, we discussed what’s different for Andy in this role away from management.
AH: “It’s a lot of travelling which I enjoy, a lot of watching games and players which I certainly enjoy, it’s something I’ve always thought I’d like to get involved in. I think I have got a strength in terms of finding a player, as a manager I did well over the years with the likes of Gazzaniga and Matty Jarvis”
“The one thing I want to do is look at the whole picture, and I’m talking from the youth teams up, maybe find some of that local talent that we have been missing out on, I think it’s important for the club that we don’t miss out on that.”
“It’s a different role, do I miss coaching? do I miss managing? No, not at the moment, I’ll tell you what I do miss, I miss playing, playing is better than anything, push that all to one side you can be 26 again and playing I’d bite their hand off. You know if Neil said to me we’re struggling can you be on the bench tomorrow, at nearly 58, I’d get my boots out and sit on the bench for him”
“As a role, there’s pressure because we’ve got to find the right players for the club, Neil’s the manager we work with him(to identify targets), there’s an identity that we are starting to get back. I think we lost that identity as a club I really do over the last few years. We’re getting that back now you can see that with the fans now, no one wants to play Gillingham at the moment”
“I’ve always said we’re a League One club, I believe we’re a League One club, we’re aren’t a League Two club and I believe we’ll get back there”
Writers View
What an honour it was to speak to Andy, honestly I had to pinch myself to make sure it wasn’t a dream, as a Gillingham fan to be able to sit down with a club legend and discuss our club I don’t think many things will top that.
It is so interesting to hear about Andy’s new role and the plans for the club moving forward, especially the possible introduction of an under 21s.
It certainly feels like a great time to be a Gills fan and long may it continue.
Lastly, Andy thank you so much for your time and I hope to speak to you again soon, be it in a formal or informal way.
