MATT GILL might not have been a name many Rangers fans would’ve been familiar with before today.
But the Light Blues’ new assistant head coach actually has his own place in English football history – not that he’ll want it though!
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Gill has been installed as the new No2 at Ibrox after Russell Martin was confirmed as the club’s head coach.
A former midfielder, Gill has been with Martin throughout the new Gers boss’ coaching career, working as his right hand man at MK Dons, Swansea and Southampton.
Asked about his coaching team during his first press conference as Rangers manager, Martin was full of praise for Gill.
He said: “He’s been my assistant manager all the way through and he brings technical expertise as a coach.
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“Brilliant coach who had to play a huge role in developing a lot of players at Norwich since he had the 21s.
“We played together very briefly and then I worked with him when he had the 21s.
“When I was on my way out as a player at Norwich and I realised then what an excellent coach he was and how much care he had for the players and how much they loved him.
“Guys like Max Aarons, Todd Cantwell and the Murphy twins, some brilliant players under his tutelage.
“And we’re very different personalities, so he’s a bit more calm and introverted than I am, so it’s good for me and it’s a good balance.”
Rhys Owen, a physical performance coach, is the only other confirmed new member of Martin’s backroom team at this stage.
As the new Gers boss mentioned, he was briefly teammates with Gill at Norwich.
Gill joined the Canaries from Exeter in 2009, but made just 16 appearances across two seasons as he struggled to make an impact.
Martin was still at Norwich as a player when Gill returned to the club as an academy coach in 2015.
But it was during his Exeter days when Gill, 44, etched his name into the history books for the wrong reasons.
He was part of the Grecians side that faced Morecambe in the 2007 Conference play-off final at Wembley.
England’s new national stadium had only just opened a matter of weeks before and the game was one of the first competitive fixtures to be held there.
Exeter fell to a 2-1 defeat and missed out on promotion to the Football League and there was even more disappointment for Gill.
That’s because he was sent-off during the game – in the process becoming the first player to ever be dismissed at the new Wembley.
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It was a moment of real frustration in the dying seconds of the game, with Gill shown a red card after aiming a HEADBUTT at Morecambe’s Craig Stanley.
Years on, Gill admitted it was a real low point of his career but reckons referee Michael Oliver called it correctly on the day.
In an interview with the Exeter City website, he said: “In terms of the sending- off at Wembley, I think that was a fair decision.
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“I have come across Michael Oliver the referee a few times since and we can laugh about it now, but at the time it was a bit raw.
“It was one of lowest moments of my career, but I would say it was the correct decision and, again, a little bit of red Ross from me.”
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