Peter Taylor keen for permanent job at Gillingham

Gillingham have acted swiftly in appointing Peter Taylor as their interim manager following the sacking of Martin Allen. Allen was rather harshly axed on Sunday which came less than six months after winning the Gills their first title since 1964.

Allen paid the price for a poor start to the campaign in which his struggling side had won just two of their 11 matches on their return to the third-tier. Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Shrewsbury proved to be the final straw, despite Allen previously guiding the Gills to back-to-back wins. However, their latest loss left them down in 17th in the table with only nine points to their name, and chairman Paul Scally decided to take action and end Allen’s 16-month spell at the Priestfield Stadium.

Allen's assistant John Schofield was initially placed in charge but the club have since opted to bring in Taylor while they search for a permanent replacement. The 60-year-old previously led the Gills to promotion back during the 1999/2000 season in his one and only campaign in charge.

As a result of his appointment Taylor has been installed as the overwhelming 1/25 favourite with Stan James for the Gillingham Job. The former England U21 boss is reportedly keen to land the job on a full-time basis and if he impresses in the upcoming weeks then the job will no doubt be his. Meanwhile the likes of Andy Hessenthaler, Danny Wilson and David Unsworth are all now 33/1 long shots.