Jonny Williams praises Gillingham’s no-blame culture under manager Gareth Ainsworth after a strong end to their League 2 season

Experienced midfielder Jonny Williams has praised Gillingham manager Gareth Ainsworth’s no-blame culture that helped them go unbeaten in their final nine games.

After a frustrating 2024/25 campaign with limited minutes, Williams has opened up about his role, the impact of new boss Ainsworth and why their strong finish has sparked renewed belief.

The Gills finished the League 2 campaign with three wins and six draws in the nine matches under Ainsworth. It was a period that also saw Williams get back to playing more regularly.

Reflecting on their impressive end to the season, Williams said: “I think we were resilient. He did a great job in connecting the team with the fans and the staff. It started to feel like we were all together again.

“He wants to create a hard-working squad, an environment where you’re able to express yourself and take risks without getting battered or told off or blamed or having a finger pointed at you.

“I’ve experienced it in the past where people shout and scream at each other when you make a mistake, and that’s kind of accepted in football. It might work for one person out of 10, but, on the whole, throughout my career, when someone’s being positive and being more like, ‘don’t worry’, you then feel free to be able to take risks because you know people are going to respond and react and just work hard to win the ball back if that’s the case.

“There was no better example than when Sam Gale made the mistake [against Colchester, which led to a goal] and debate over whether the ball was in or out. It was a case of, ‘Don’t worry, Sam’.

There was still a belief we were going to go on and change the outcome of the game and almost dig him out of a hole. That’s honestly the perfect scenario I’ve always