Gillingham boss John Coleman leaves club with departing Shrewsbury Town manager Gareth Ainsworth expected to be named as his successor

John Coleman has left his position as Gillingham’s manager.

His departure after less than three months in charge comes with the League 2 Gills widely expected to name the departing Shrewsbury boss Gareth Ainsworth as his successor.

In a statement confirming his exit on Tuesday afternoon, Coleman said: “Jimmy (Bell, his No.2) and I arrived at Gillingham at a difficult time, knowing we would be here for a short time, but hoping we could turnaround performances and work-rate. We believe we achieved this, particularly in recent weeks.

“While the results haven’t reflected the performances given at times, we are pleased to leave the team more stable and having improved, both in attitude and application.

“We believe this has been vital in repairing the relationship between the team and the fans.

“We’ve really enjoyed working at Gillingham and wish everyone the very best moving forward.”

Coleman, the former Accrington Stanley and Rochdale manager, replaced Mark Bonner - who had started this season at the Priestfield helm before his sacking - in early January.

Unlike many bosses, Coleman certainly wasn’t afraid to publicly share what he had felt of Gillingham’s performances.

After a 2-1 home loss to Notts County, he said: “People will say ‘it's a spirited show, second half much better’ and yes we were much better second half but were they coasting? You don't know either way, do you?

“There was a little bit more effort, we played the game higher up the pitch, which is a big thing. But I'm not going to sugar-coat it and say it was a spirited performance. We were unlucky and all that.

“We didn't deserve anything from the game, I don't think, and I don’t think it would have needed much more to have got something out of the game.

“At