Exclusive: David Prutton reacts to big Gillingham FC news involving Gareth Ainsworth | OneFootball

David Prutton has spoken exclusively to Football League World about Ainsworth's decision to leave Shrewsbury Town for the Gills.

David Prutton has weighed in on Gareth Ainsworth's decision to leave Shrewsbury Town for Gillingham, and the chance that he has of taking his new club to promotion next season.

The ex-Wycombe Wanderers boss switched Shropshire for Kent at the end of March with Salop looking destined for a return to League Two, with his now former side rooted to the bottom of the League One table.

It emerged on Monday that a takeover had fallen through involving a potential American owner, and they are now being forced to look elsewhere, with Roland Wycherley looking to end his 29-year stay overseeing the day-to-day running of the club.

Nevertheless, Gillingham now have an extremely experienced manager in place as they look to put to an end a difficult few years that have seen them go from a steady third tier side to one that is struggling towards the bottom of the EFL.

There are hopes that by bringing in Ainsworth, somebody that has managed in the second tier in the past, they can find a way to get out of League Two and back into a more positive position.

Prutton backs Ainsworth to be a success at Gillingham

The 2010s was a much stronger decade for Gills compared to the 2020s, and they spent the majority of it in League One, although they were never able to take that next step to the Championship.

The last few years have been tough, with their nine-season association with the third tier coming to an end in 2021/22, and they have not been able to challenge for a return.

Owner Brad Galinson has failed to capture that feel-good factor on the pitch, with multiple managerial hires failing in their quest to take Kent's only EFL side into a position where they can mount a challenge for promotion.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, David Prutton has backed Ainsworth to turn Gillingham's fortunes around and begin the fight to take them to a better future.

"It was a very short spell that he had at Shrewsbury after a while out of football," he started. "So, he's managed to manoeuvre himself into a position with what they saw in real time at Shrewsbury, where he's been brought in by another side albeit in the division below.

"But Gillingham will have aspirations, of course, to be way above where they find themselves now. I think they’re about nine points above the bottom two, but, quite clearly, it’s a season that has underwhelmed across the board."

Prutton continued: "So, the fact that they made a play for Ainsworth at this stage of the season where he can have a good look at what he's got, who he's got and how he wants to go about approaching next season, he'll feel they’ve still got a point to prove.

"He's actually a combative and competitive manager, and the fact that he's come away from Shrewsbury shows what he wants to do and the fact that he's very openly capable of taking charge of his own career. The challenge comes from proving why Gillingham went in for him and why he left Shrewsbury."

Ainsworth has his own point to prove at Gillingham

Although he has experience of managing throughout the EFL, Ainsworth has only had true success at one club in his career so far - Wycombe.

He had an excellent time at Adams Park, taking charge of the club originally as the caretaker manager in September 2012 while he was still a player, before taking on the role in a full capacity ahead of the 2013/14 campaign.

The 51-year-old guided the Chairboys to promotion from League Two to League One in 2018, before winning in the play-offs in 2020 to push his former club into the Championship.

However, he has found it difficult to replicate those triumphs elsewhere, managing just 27 league games with QPR before he was sacked in the 2023/24 campaign, and then he had his troubles at Shrewsbury.

Ainsworth has a point to prove with Gillingham, and he needs to show that he is able to taste success with more than just one club, while the Kent outfit need this move to work for their own ambitions.