Gillingham have ended weeks of uncertainty by appointing Neil Harris as their new manager.

The 44-year-old joins a club that are in a battle to avoid relegation and just hours before the transfer window closes. Gills are 10 points from safety in League 1.

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It's a big ask for Harris - who spent a season on loan at Priestfield as a player - to rescue the Gills now but after a year out of work he's decided to give it a go.

He has agreed a two and a half year deal with Gillingham along with assistant David Livermore. The pair are taking training for the first time on Monday.

Harris' last managerial position was as the boss of Cardiff City, leading them to a play-off place in his first season but was sacked in January 2021 after a six-game losing streak, 15th place in the Championship table.

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Prior to his time in Wales he spent four and a half years in charge at Millwall, promoted to the top job after starting out there as under-21 manager and having several caretaker stints. As a player he is Millwall's all-time leading goalscorer.

He was unable to save the Lions from relegation as caretaker boss in 2015, having been handed a near impossible task, but was given the job permanently and repaid that faith by leading them to a League 1 play-off final in his first full season.

The following year they were at Wembley again, this time beating Bradford City in the 2016/17 play-off final and in the same season reached the FA Cup quarter-finals with wins over Premier League sides Bournemouth, Watford and Leicester City.

Back in the Championship, Harris' side finished eighth in the table in 2017/18 but only just finished above the drop zone in the following campaign. In November 2019, he resigned from the club with them sitting 18th in the table. At the time the Millwall chairman John Berylson said: "Neil's achievements ensure that he is listed alongside some of the club's greatest-ever managers, furthering his legendary standing at Millwall."

He went onto manage Cardiff City in the Championship and once again made it to the play-offs, losing to Fulham in the semi-finals. Harris left the Bluebirds in January 2021.

Gillingham have been looking for a manager for the last three weeks following Steve Evans' departure.

Former player Neil Smith was the early favourite for the job having been a regular visitors to Priestfield, as a friend of a club sponsor, but it was his successor at Bromley, Neil Woodman, who was targeted by the Gills, only for the non-league manager to say his focus was on the National League side.

Former QPR player Marc Bircham was keen while Steve Lovell was hoping a caretaker stint would bring him the job - a 7-2 weekend loss scuppered those hopes - but Harris was always a name in the frame as Mr Scally considered his options.

Harris has now accepted the challenge and it's a massive one. His first task is to decide who he wants in and out of the squad as the January transfer window is about to close, shutting at 11pm tonight (Monday).