Peter Taylor sacked

As of lunchtime on New Year's Eve, Peter Taylor was no longer the manager of Gillingham Football Club.

After a phone conversation with Paul Scally, the chairman made the decision that it was time for a change and Taylor was relieved of his duties.

Mr Scally, who had previously backed his man after the defeat by Chesterfield just prior to Christmas, and also stated that at the outset of this morning's conversation he had no intention of sacking Taylor, made reference to what he called "huge adverse public response and serious abuse."

Taylor had been in charge for 14 months and took over at a time when Gillingham were bottom of League One after a poor start under Martin Allen. Taylor was never universally accepted by Gillingham supporters, many of whom were not happy with the dismissal of Allen. Taylor guided the club to safety by the end of the season and overhauled the squad in the summer with the introduction of several younger players. Few of those signings have been what could be considered a success, John Egan being the exception.

Taylor's perceived negative style of football, heavily weighted defensively even at home has brought much criticism and, for my part, has been painful watching. Words such as turgid have been widely used, and it hard not to agree with those opinions.

Andy Hessenthaler takes over as the interim manager for the trip to Port Vale, but despite his legendary status, it is hard to see him as the way forward having now been a part of this particular regime.