If relegation to League Two is the dark cloud for Gillingham FC, then the long-awaited departure of manager Mark Stimson is most definitely the silver lining.

As a season ticket holder for the past 15 years, I can honestly say the last two-and-a-half under this sorry excuse for a football coach have been my most miserable.

One glorious afternoon at Wembley aside, Stimson’s reign of terror at Priestfield will be remembered more for his lack of humility and tactical awareness, and, ultimately, his inability to win matches away from home.

And never were these three points highlighted more than during, and after, last weekend’s disastrous 3-0 defeat at Wycombe – the result that dragged the Gills back down into the bottom tier of the Football League.

One area in which Stimson does deserve some credit is in the squad of players he has built up.

On their day, men like Simeon Jackson, Andy Barcham and Curtis Weston are good enough to fit into any Championship side, and at times this season each has shown flashes of pure genius and helped us win big games in front of our home fans.

Unfortunately, when it came to away games Stimson seemingly had no idea how to motivate them nor how to make changes when things weren’t going his way.

Considering how important a clash the Wycombe game was, the performances put in by the majority of the Gills players last Saturday were nothing short of disgraceful.

No passion, no effort and no desire equals no points.

So at 2-0 down and with his job on the line, what did our managerial mastermind do to turn the game around?

The answer is absolutely nothing, despite chants of “Stimson, sort it out” from the 2,300 away supporters who had made the trip to Adams Park.

Changes were only made when the third goal went in and it was far too late. One of these substitutions was Chris Dickson.

Remember him? That’s right, he’s the man Stimson chased for more than two years before telling anyone who would listen he actually wasn’t good enough to play in the first team.

The other sub was talented youngster Luke Rooney – a player most supporters agree should have been in and around the first team all season.

But Stimson saw otherwise and shipped him out on loan to non-league Eastbourne, who probably couldn’t believe their luck at signing such a star.

Such bizarre decisions seemed to be a trademark of Stimson’s during his time at Priestfield.

If he wasn’t upsetting the fans by mistreating much-loved veterans like Nicky Southall, he was confusing his own players by dropping them from the first team squad for weeks with little or no explanation.

Favouritism was another big problem. Whereas hard-working pros like Mark Bentley and the Southall bounced in and out of the first team, lesser talents like Barry Fuller and Dennis Oli seemed to have no problem impressing the man who signed them from the non-league ranks.

Fuller in particular had lavish praise heaped upon him after almost every game, despite his questionable ability to mark his opponents or pose any sort of attacking threat.

Stimson even went so far as to describe his captain as being “absolutely phenomenal” in the Gills’ away match against Millwall – a frankly ridiculous assessment considering we lost the game 4-0.

But of all his many character faults, perhaps the most damaging was Stimson’s inability to connect with the fans.

Whereas men like Roy Hodgson and Steve Coppell are well-liked by neutrals for their humility and graciousness in defeat, Stimson seems more concerned with massaging his own ego and hard-man image.

He told us on numerous occasions that he was honest and never backed down from a challenge because he was “from the East End”.

Why supporters would care that Stimson was neighbours with Ronnie, Reggie and Phil Mitchell is anyone’s guess. All we wanted was for our team to win an away game or two.

Stimson’s sarcastic applause to angry supporters at the end of the Wycombe defeat just about summed up why the majority of us couldn’t stand him.

Come back Andy Hessenthaler. Gillingham needs a man who can mend its broken soul, and you’re the legend to do it.

I agree that Hess is the right man for the job at just the right time.

I have read that some people are against this and to be honest I just cannot see why.

Hess has league management experience, that he will have learned from, and his time at Dover (an almost unparalled success) will also have taught him a lot.

However, most of all he knows and loves the club and the fans and that, more than any 'name' manager, is what we need right now!

NO, TO HESSENTHALER. IT WOULD BE A TERRIBLE DECISION TO GIVE HIM THE JOB. I REALLY CANT UNDERSTAND WHY THERE IS SO MUCH SUPPORT FOR HIM. HEESENTHALER WALKED AWAY ONCE BEFORE WHEN COULDNT GET ANYMORE OUT OF HIS SQUAD AND HE WOULD DO IT AGAIN.

At least with Hess we'd win an away match and I can't see too many managers of his calibre lining up for the job. He gets my vote.