GILLINGHAM chairman Paul Scally has said he will stand or fall by his decision to appoint Neale Cooper as the new manager at Priestfield.

Mr Scally has been in the game long enough to know that the buck stops with him. But he is also supremely confident that Cooper and his assistant Ronnie Jepson will not let him down.

He said: "If they go and win promotion next season it will be an inspired decision but if it all goes wrong I will take the blame for that. But I'm confident I've made the right choice."

Mr Scally revealed he had interviewed six candidates for the job - including Graham Rix, Ray Lewington and the former Aberdeen pairing of Steve Paterson and Duncan Shearer - but knew instantly Cooper was the man for him.

"I saw a lot of good candidates but sometimes you just know in your heart who the right one is. And I knew straight away with Neale, but I also knew I wanted Ronnie to stay on.

"We now have a very young, very ambitious management team with fresh ideas and good discipline."

Cooper and Jepson had not met until last week, when the latter flew to Aberdeen to see if he could work with the incoming boss.

And Mr Scally was delighted with the way the pair hit it off, giving him confidence that they will succeed in the job.

"I locked them in a hotel room for three nights and they hit it off and they are going to start a family now," he joked.

"They have very similar characteristics. They are both winners and they have a good sense of discipline and organisation."

The chairman also assured the new management pair they will have money to spend as they try and add to the squad before the League 1 campaign gets underway in August.

He said: "They will have a good budget, so there will be plenty of scope to bring in new players. Although I would think that the sort of players those two will want will be young, hungry fighters.

"I can't wait for the new season to start. In fact, I wish it was starting tomorrow."