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Steve Evans says the easy option would have been to walk away as Gillingham boss.
Amid a backdrop of other League 1 clubs spending big, Gills’ transfer activity has been restricted by a transfer embargo this summer and a tightening of the financial belt due to the impact of Covid at Priestfield.
It’s a different scenario to the one that Evans signed up for in 2019. But he has faith in chairman Paul Scally’s efforts to raise some funds so they can add another player to the squad before the end of the month.
“As a manager I will fight,” said Evans. “It was easy here to walk out a week ago. You look at the options, the standard in the league and that’s the easy option. You know what, I believe in my heart that Paul Scally tries so hard.
“We speak every day. The chairman said ‘we pay what we can afford, I cannot overspend, I cannot put the club at risk’. I’m a manager that ticks every one of those boxes but I still want to be competitive, I still want to win football matches.
“I don’t ask for 27, 28 players. I look at some of the clubs in this league, I think Ipswich have signed more players than we’ve got - and that’s not knocking Cooky (Ipswich manager Paul Cook) because I’ve also been there with a club with resources.
“But the one thing I do know by speaking to the chairman every day is we know exactly where we are. The minute we can do something, he’ll tell me to do it. He knows who I’d like to bring in if resources get opened up and he’s wonderfully supportive.
“How can I ever fall out with a chairman who is doing everything he possibly can? I can’t. He’s a good man, I know some fractions of the support have different views but he’s a good man, he’s trying desperately hard and as long as I feel in my heart that he’s trying then I’m in the trenches with him.
“If I felt he wasn’t trying then I’d have to leave because I have to try and win football matches, it’s in my blood.”
When asked if he might bring in more than just the Premier League loan player he hopes for before the transfer window closes, Evans replied: “I can’t at the minute as we don’t have funds to do so until the chairman tells us we’ve got some funds.
“I’m hoping the chairman is capable of finding the odd little bit that can help us but the one thing I know is that he is really trying. I know he’s trying and that gives me comfort to go to sleep, and come back in and fight. If I thought he wasn’t trying I’d just give him the car keys.
'How can I ever fall out with a chairman who is doing everything he possibly can? I can’t'
“I’ve always said I didn’t come to Gillingham (for) salaries and wealth, I’m not boasting when I say I’ve got enough to retire tomorrow but I’ll never retire. If we fight together then we can come through this.”
It’s been a tough start for Evans. Two breaks in pre-season due to Covid in the camp, a lack of resources to boost his squad numbers, and a late defeat at Plymouth last Saturday.
Tuesday night’s last-gasp leveller at AFC Wimbledon was a perfect lift but he’s falling back on all his years of experience as a manager to get through this testing period.
“It’s one of them when sometimes as a manager you have a little spell,” said Evans.
“I remember in my first season at Rotherham in League 2, I think we came to Gillingham on a Bank Holiday Monday and got beat, and went to 14th in the league. Tony Stewart (Rotherham chairman) sat me and Paul Raynor down and said let’s build for next season.
“We (then) finished second behind Gillingham in the league because we fought, we dug in during a period when we had injuries, we had suspensions, we needed bodies back and we got them.”
