Gillingham boss Neil Harris on what he likes about new head of recruitment Nicky Shorey

Gillingham will be able to tap into all levels of the game following the appointment of Nicky Shorey as their new head of recruitment.

Manager Neil Harris has already worked with Shorey during his days at Millwall and knows what he is going to get from the former England international footballer.

Shorey has played in all four divisions of English league football, earning a couple of caps for his country along the way. Harris feels he’s ideally suited to start picking his way through the thousands of footballers that will become available in the summer.

It will be a rebuild job for Harris in the summer, with many of his current players on expiring deals, and now he has a man to help him through it.

“He is a fantastic appointment at the football club,” said Harris, who previously described the club’s recruitment as a shambles.

“I think in the modern game, in the football industry, having someone that knows all levels of football, and we are talking about younger players coming out of Premier League teams and players out of contract at League 1, 2 and Championship level, you have to know the non-league scene and you certainly have to know under-23 football. Nicky knows all players at all levels of football and is going to be a huge help for us, in a summer when we have so many players out of contract.

“Recruitment is going to be a big part of the next five months of our lives. Nicky is a football man, he is trustworthy, he is honest, he is hard working and he has got an array of contacts at all levels of football that will help us recruit the right characters and the qualities in players that we need.”

Harris has been hindered at the Gills with so many players picking up muscle injuries. The club weren’t help by a disrupted