Steve Bruce encouraged Stephen Clemence to take the Gillingham job having started his own career at Priestfield

“Go for it!” was Steve Bruce’s advice when Stephen Clemence first told his old boss there was a chance to be head coach at Gillingham.

Manager Bruce and his long-time coach Clemence were let go by West Brom a year ago, and after working together for over a decade in management, it was time for the young assistant to go it alone.

Bruce started his own football career at Gillingham in the early 1980s before going on to play and manage at the top of the English game. Clemence is starting out his own career as a head coach at the same club.

“I am really excited,” said Clemence, ahead of his first game in charge. “I have been very loyal to Steve and like he has to me.

“I would never have left his side for something else, I have had opportunities in the past, but when we came out of our last job he said to me: ‘It’s your time now, go and do it, you’re ready’ and that’s what I decided to do.

“Steve is a great man, he has done so much for me and when I first started working for him, I was one of his old players, he saw something in me to want to take me on.

“Our relationship has grown over the years, we have got closer and closer. The main reason I think he has taken me around is because I am good at my job, I like to think that.

“When he heard about this interest he said to me: ‘Go for it!’. He said: ‘You are more than ready, it’s your time now’. It is quite special because he started his playing career at Gillingham and I am now starting my head coaching career here.

“We have been speaking a lot on the phone over the last couple of weeks and I know he will always be there if I need advice.”

For his own assistant, Clemence chose 43-year-old Robbie Stockdale, the former Middlesbrough defender who went onto have experience in the