Gillingham have sacked manager Steve Evans in the wake of yesterday’s 4-0 defeat by the Blues at the Priestfield Stadium.

The loss left the Kent side third bottom of the table with the most recent of their three wins this season having come back in October.

A statement on the Gills official website reads: “Gillingham Football Club can confirm that the contract of manager Steve Evans has been terminated by mutual consent with immediate effect.

“The club wishes to thank Steve for all his efforts over the past two years in circumstances that have been significantly more difficult and challenging due to the Covid pandemic, and wishes him well in the future.

“His assistant, Paul Raynor, will also be leaving the club. The search for a new head coach/manager will begin immediately.”

Following yesterday’s game, assistant Raynor admitted the Gills had been well off the pace in the first half in particular.

“For 45 minutes we weren’t at the races and didn’t track runners. When you do that against good teams with good players, they punish you,” he told the Gills official website.

“Their manager has gone in there and got a real reaction from them. They played with intensity and quality and moved the ball very quickly. When teams do that, you have to be disciplined.

“You can’t get done by one-twos down the side and then get overloads in the wide areas and don’t track runners in the middle of the goal. That’s just basic football.

“There are no excuses. It was ill-discipline and people not doing their jobs. We weren’t defensively sound and you don’t need to give teams like Ipswich a helping hand.”

Photo: Action Images

Smithy63 added 20:20 - Jan 9 Cook or lambert should go for the job it will suit them Also its a shame Steve Evans was sacked but football don't need bully's like him
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dusth added 20:54 - Jan 9 My feeling is, it's all a Panto really and football needs it's Pantomime villains. Because that's what he is really. "Boooooo! He's behind 'yer!"
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ThaiBlue added 23:25 - Jan 9 Next managers job already lined up ive heard,Greggs!
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blueboy1981 added 23:57 - Jan 9 Whatever the view on Evans, rejoicing in anyone losing there job, least of all in these troubled times, is seriously pathetic and uncalled for. Remember, if you are working - you could be next ….. !!! It's not exclusive to Football Managers, with what is current, and lies ahead.
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blueboy1981 added 00:03 - Jan 10 fifeblue - I totally agree with you, such selfish vindictive attitude does not belong at, or from, anyone associated with Ipswich Town and Portman Road. Never did - and Never should !!
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Saxonblue74 added 06:54 - Jan 10 Blueboy, I'd generally agree with your sentiment and perhaps some of the comments have become personal. There is however an old saying of "you reap what you sow". If you choose to be controversial and generally unpleasant then this is always going to be the result. Watch and learn Novac Djokovic, there's a tidal wave of it coming your way soon!
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Europablue added 07:27 - Jan 10 fifeblue It really depends on the character. Paul Cook was trying his best and he wasn't behaving the way that Evans was, so while I was happy that the change was made it wasn't because I wanted Cook to be out of a job. The first thing is, financially I'm sure these sacked managers are doing fine. The second thing is that you reap what you sow, so when there is someone with a horrific ego who ruins your club like Keane did, then you can celebrate them being sacked, also when there is a horrible Character like Evans you can enjoy karma coming back around.

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Europablue added 07:35 - Jan 10 Saxonblue74 I agreed with you until you mentioned Novac Djokovic. I'm not sure what he did wrong. He didn't want to take a vaccine which is a valid and reasonable choice for an elite sportsman who has weighed up the risk, he applied for a visa and was allowed to travel to Australia, then the government looking for an outside scapegoat revoked his visa. You have to see that the Australian government is in the wrong on this one. Novac would not have much to complain about if they turned down his application from the start, but also the Australian government is ignoring science and instead are going for blind compliance. Having covid gives you immunity comparable to having the vaccine. What don't you like about Djokovic? Is it something else? I used to find him annoying because he beat Andy Murray a lot in the past, but a lot of players are doing that these days!

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Europablue added 07:42 - Jan 10 blueboy1981 People are not abstractly happy that a man has lost his job, they are happy that an incompetent foul-mouthed and unprofessional person is not in a position that they don't deserve. He can go and find a more useful job like being a lorry driver, we need more people doing honest jobs like that. I don't that people like you or I need to worry about people celebrating us losing our jobs.

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johnwarksshorts added 08:27 - Jan 10 I'll miss his touchline antics.
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uefa1981 added 09:51 - Jan 10 Good he has been a complete twonk to us over the years. Pleasing result leading to his departure. Great to see how ineffective Tom Dickson-Peters was too
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KernewekBlue added 09:59 - Jan 10 >fifeblue You can only respect people who earn it with their honesty, humility and the way they treat others... Steve Evans never earnt that right by the way he continually conducted himself. End of!
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uefa1981 added 09:59 - Jan 10 Good he has been a complete twonk to us over the years. Pleasing result leading to his departure. Great to see how ineffective Tom Dickson-Peters was too
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Barty added 10:05 - Jan 10 Music to my ears
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Linkboy13 added 10:15 - Jan 10 I would just like to say that the supporters of Ipswich town are utterly shocked and devastated by this news but i won't ha ha.
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gosblue added 15:02 - Jan 10 Nailed on cert for the next Norwich job: He hates Ipswich. lol!
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Monarch_Blue added 09:10 - Jan 11 In fairness he wasn't all bad! Like a lot of us on here he wasn't a big fan of Paul Lambert!
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blueboy1981 added 15:23 - Jan 11 Evans has had every right to hit back at ITFC Fans, he has taken more than a fair share of abuse from a section of ‘so called' Fans over the years. Every right and reason to respond in defence of himself and his Club. Much vindictiveness has crept into our Club, that was once unheard of. A Society change for sure, and not for the better either.
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