When Mark Bonner was sacked by Cambridge last November, he found himself in a strange situation, facing the unknown.
Over the 12 years prior – his second spell at the club he had watched from the stands as a youngster – he had managed the academy, progressed from first-team coach to assistant, become head coach in his own right and then secured automatic promotion from League Two in his first full season in charge.
After starting last season with four wins from the first six league games, he signed a new long-term contract at the club. But 77 days later, he was sacked – and unemployed, not only for the first time in senior management, but for the very first time in his working life.
“I found it really difficult to begin with because I didn’t want to leave and I didn’t feel I should have left,” he tells Sky Sports.
“From being all in somewhere every day for more than a decade, to waking up the next day, not having to think about it and having no responsibilities for anything was really strange. It took me a bit of time to adjust.”
There was no doubt a touch of grief to process, but Bonner decided there was no option but to ride the wave.
He enjoyed Christmas and the rare chance to get out and about at weekends, dipped his toe into the media world and then, in the New Year, got back on the horse, visiting clubs across the country, gleaning valuable knowledge with each trip.
“That time took me to lots of different levels, academy and first team and a few other organisations as well, just to see how people lead, manage, prepare,” Bonner explains.
“I found it really refreshing because not only did I recharge my own energy and ideas, I was going to see what ‘good’ looked like at other levels. To do that without being busy doing my actual job was quite liberating.
“It came to a point where I came away with lots of ideas and I started to get more energy, but I didn’t think anything would come up, so I was planning a month in America to spend some time with some MLS and USL clubs, with that in mind as a potential coaching route.
“But then the season finished and, once the Gillingham job became available, it was something I was really keen on.”
One week after Stephen Clemence was sacked – just 10 days after the end of the League Two season – Bonner was appointed Gills boss on a two-year contract.
Time is the most precious commodity for a manager in modern football, but few managers are afforded the run-up he was ahead of the new season. Bonner moved down to Kent and jumped straight in.
“The timing of my appointment was really helpful because I had pretty much an eight-week off-season before pre-season,” he says.
“It’s all well and good having ideas of what you want to do when you go into your next club, but you’re formulating those ideas out of work and you don’t really know the club you are going to, the landscape, the resources, the squad.
“It gave me extra time to familiarise myself with the place, the people, the players in terms of watching lots of games back and to plan pre-season. That was a head-start that meant when the players came back for their day one, it was my week eight, week nine and I felt at home.”
He got involved with recruitment, too. The most eye-catching signing was that of Bradley Dack, who returned to Priestfield seven years after leaving for Blackburn.
He has so far only managed 45 minutes in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy and 14 in League Two, but he is on the comeback trail.
“We know he’s had his injury problems and the truth is, if he hadn’t had, he wouldn’t be back here.
“More importantly, if we can get him fit and available on the pitch, it will give us a greater chance of winning games. We shouldn’t expect that it’s going to be 46 games, but whatever it is, we think we can benefit from that and I’m really excited to have the time where he can contribute and help us.
“We’ve got one or two that have played at higher levels and he’s certainly top of the list with the pedigree he’s got, the level he’s capable of playing at and could still play at now, I believe.
“He can set standards and help us be a winning football team. We’ll certainly be expecting that from him and we need everybody else to go with it and find what level they can hit because the ceiling for this team and these players is a lot higher than maybe they appreciate.”
Reaching that ceiling, US-based owners Brad and Shannon Galinson hope, will see the club get back to League One after a three-season absence.
Since their takeover in December 2022, there has been no beating around the bush – the ambition to do so has always been clear.
It sits well with Bonner, but he is a realist.
“The club wanted to do it last year and so their aspiration now is to do it this year – and if it doesn’t happen this year, their aspiration will be to do it next year. The most important thing is there is an ambition and a willingness to invest to get this club back into League One.
“It will happen at some point because it’s well set to do that, but it’s also a challenging league to do it in and there are probably 10 or 12 teams that want the same and are capable of doing it.
“We want to be in the mix, we want to try and get ourselves into the league above, but we’re not alone in doing it. We have to handle that ambition and have the personality to ride it out.
“There’s a nice dynamic there in the hierarchy and everybody’s joined up and wants the same thing, which is quite a powerful thing when you can get that right.”
Comparing the start of the Bonner regime to last season, Gillingham are averaging less possession per game, creating fewer chances and conceding more shots – but also scoring more goals, conceding remarkably fewer and picking up more points.
In fact, in the top four divisions of English football, only Liverpool (2), Sheffield United (3) and Burnley (4) have conceded fewer than their five so far. Only Wigan and the Blades (both 7) have bettered their record of six clean sheets.
The initial success – which has kept the Gills inside the top two for most of the campaign so far – has narrowed Bonner’s focus.
“To start as well as we have with a new team and a new backroom team is really encouraging. It should give everyone confidence in the way we are working.
“The reality is that it’s 10 games out of 46 and, to have the season we want, we’ll need more months like we have had and more successful months where there are even more games to be played.
“We have to first be good, then be first if we can. We’ve got to concentrate on consistently being at a really good level and all the other stuff will look after itself.”
It is a sensible approach – and one that will no doubt help Bonner chase down a second League Two promotion before the age of 40.