Gillingham have named former Birmingham and Tottenham midfielder Stephen Clemence as their head coach.

The 45-year-old, son of late England keeper Ray, has been part of Steve Bruce's coaching staff at Sunderland, Hull, Aston Villa, Sheffield Wednesday, Newcastle and West Brom.

Former Sunderland coach - and most recently Rochdale manager - Robbie Stockdale will be Clemence's assistant.

Neil Harris was sacked last month with Gills eighth in League Two.

Clemence will take training for the first time on Thursday, before his first game in charge at non-league Hereford in the FA Cup first round on Saturday.

After coming through the ranks at Tottenham, he made 91 appearances across six years at White Hart Lane before a move to Bruce's Birmingham and latterly Leicester.

His most recent first-team coaching role came under Bruce at West Brom, departing The Hawthorns along with Bruce in October 2022 after only eight months.

Former Gillingham defender Bruce had himself had been linked with the role, but Clemence will now take his first managerial position.

Gills' American majority owner Brad Galinson told BBC South East Today this week that the new boss at Priestfield needed to meet four key pieces of criteria - putting the players first, having a personality to fit in, playing brave, front-footed and entertaining football, and working hard.

Kenny Jackett, Gillingham's director of football, had led the search for Harris' successor while former chairman Paul Scally, who remains on the board, was involved in the process.

'Bruce said to have recommended Clemence' - Analysis
Ben Watts, BBC Radio Kent's Gillingham commentator

Stephen Clemence arrives at Priestfield with a wealth of coaching experience.

Having worked with ex-Gills defender Steve Bruce at Sunderland, Hull City, Aston Villa and Newcastle, he spent time coaching talented youngsters at Manchester City's academy after leaving West Brom.

Bruce is said to have recommended Clemence to his old club, to help the 45-year-old land his first head coach role.

His assistant Robbie Stockdale also has a wide-ranging CV, having coached at a number of EFL clubs.

The duo's task is to reignite Gillingham's League Two promotion push, which has stuttered since the departure of manager Neil Harris four weeks ago.

Owner Brad Galinson will expect not only results, but also a "front-foot" playing style, with Gills having currently scored the fewest goals in the division.

The American hopes Clemence's team "entertains and wins" at the same time.

Big game for the JTs tonight after the disappointment of losing the game at Ibrox last Sunday in the last 4 minutes.

There is talk of Martindale being linked to the St Johnstone vacancy so there may be slight unrest in the Livi camp.

Think the JTs will win and will go for a 3 . 1 scoreline.

Queens Park Rangers have appointed Hammarby boss Marti Cifuentes as their new head coach.

The 41-year-old replaces Gareth Ainsworth who was sacked on Saturday after a sixth straight Championship loss left them 23rd in the table.

Spaniard Cifuentes was in charge of the Swedish top-flight side for two years.

"Marti is an exciting appointment and we look forward to seeing the impact he can have," QPR chief executive Lee Hoos told the club website.

"Having a succession plan in place is a necessary part of football, irrespective of how the team are performing.

"Marti is someone we have been aware of so we are really pleased to have been able to secure his services."

Cifuentes has spent almost a decade in management and coached in the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

He arrives at a side with two wins in 14 league games and they are six points behind Huddersfield Town who are just outside the drop zone.

His first game in charge will be at fellow strugglers Rotherham United on Saturday.

Non-league Macclesfield have appointed Alex Bruce as manager.

Bruce, 39, the son of former Birmingham, Hull City and Newcastle boss Steve Bruce, worked under his dad during his time in charge of West Brom.

He will be assisted by former Manchester United and Burnley defender Phil Bardsley and ex-United academy manager Paul McGuinness.

Bruce starts his first managerial role with the Silkmen seventh in the Northern Premier League.

Seventh-tier Macclesfield are a phoenix club of Macclesfield Town who were wound up in 2020.

"Looking at Alex, Paul, and Phil and with my upbringing, the key values of coming through the system at Manchester United is a fundamental part of why we made these appointments," director of football Robbie Savage told the club website.

"The ethos and the morals and the principles which we want to integrate into the football club are vital going forward. Alex with his coaching experience at West Brom dealing with first-team players and his ability to handle a squad."

Bruce played under his father at Birmingham and Hull City, and appeared in the 2014 FA Cup final with the latter.

Steve Bruce started his managerial career with Sheffield United in 1998 and passed 1,000 games as a manager during his time in charge of Newcastle in 2021.

Gamball:
Newcastle - Arsenal

Others:
Fulham - Man Utd
Burnley - Crystal Palace
Everton - Brighton
Birmingham - Ipswich
Huddersfield - Watford
Millwall - Southampton
Plymouth - Middlesbrough
Stoke - Cardiff
Swansea - Sunderland

2 points for correct result
4 points for correct score
2 points for each correct scorer
Correct joker doubles your score   (correct score on a joker would give you 8 points)
Wrong joker result gives you minus 2
Correct Random Badger gives you 2 points

The random badger is used for any random prediction used once in each matchday sequence. For instance, a scorer at a particular match, the number of red cards in the matches or yellow cards or own goals or owt you want really within reason, I do need to be able to check whether it's correct or not. Please don't put stuff like....."Commentator says...."  
The joker   is played for one match in each sequence and if correct you get double points. So if you've predicted 1-0 and it finishes 2-0, you get 4 pts, but if you've predicted 2-0, that's 8 pts. But if you get it wrong, it's minus 2.
Jokers and badgers are optional. You don't have to play one if you don't want.

The prize for winning the league is one rep point.

Cup games: In the event of a draw, it's half the points if you've predicted a draw when it gets to 90 mins and the full points if it's still a draw after extra time. Half the points will be awarded for correctly predicting the winner of the match if it goes to penalties. Similarly with the badger, if your random prediction is affected by this, it'll be half the points.

Random score generator: I will be using the random score generator again for those who miss predicting, so we shouldn't get some people too far behind that after missing a couple of weeks they lose all interest, because I know it's not easy getting on here every week.
To be fair to everybody, this is going to be like, say if three people in one week miss their predictions, the first one in the table will be given all 0-0, the second one down the line will get 1-0 and the third will get 0-1 and so on, like if there's four missing the 4th will get 1-1, then 5th 2-1, 6th 1-2. and if there are so many missing, might as well pack in.
And if you miss two weeks on the trot, I'll stop until you come back on again. Not doing it for half a season like I did t'other year.  

End of season Play Offs: The one who finishes top of the league will still be champion, but after the season finishes there will be Play Offs between the top 4, with 1st v 4th and 2nd v 3rd. This will take in stuff like the EFL Play Offs, FA Cup Final, final day of Prima Donna League, European Finals etc. It will be one matchday for the semis and one for the Final. It will be the individual scores for each matchday against the allotted opponent, with some kind of tie breaker for a drawn match.

The prize for winning will be enormous. Another rep point.

1. St Charles Owl = 264 pts
   
2. Baggiebob(BBB) = 250 pts
   
3. neonfoxinthebox = 221 pts
   
4. jjamez = 217 pts
   
5. themaclad = 205 pts
   
6. theo_luddite = 204 pts
   

Friday November 3rd:
Leicester City v Leeds United

Saturday November 4th:
Town v Watford
Town scorers:
Watford scorers:

Bristol City v Sheffield Wednesday
Preston North End v Coventry City
Rotherham United v Queens Park Rangers
West Bromwich Albion v Hull City

Bonus matches:
Premier League:
Saturday:
Newcastle United v Arsenal (17:30)

Sunday:
Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa (14:00)

Scottish League Cup semi finals:
Sunday:
Heart of Midlothian v Rangers (15:00)

FA Cup 1st round:
Saturday:
Bradford City v Wycombe Wanderers
Chester v York City
Bromley v Blackpool (17:45)
Mansfield Town v Wrexham (19:45)

Sunday:
Crewe Alexandra v Derby County (14:45)

*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***

1. Lord Snooty = 235 pts
   
2. ritchiebaby = 199 pts
   
3. WakeyTerrier = 195 pts
   
4. Devongone = 194 pts
   
5. Amelia Chaffinch = 184 pts
   
6. SHEP_HTAFC = 164 pts
   

Saturday November 4th:
Town v Watford
Town scorers:
Watford scorers:

Birmingham City v Ipswich Town
Millwall v Southampton
Plymouth Argyle v Middlesbrough
Stoke City v Cardiff City
Swansea City v Sunderland

Sunday November 5th:
Norwich City v Blackburn Rovers (12:00)

Bonus matches:
Premier League:
Saturday:
Fulham v Manchester United (12:30)

Scottish League Cup semi finals:
Saturday:
Hibernian v Aberdeen (17:15)

FA Cup 1st round:
Friday:
Sheppey United v Walsall

Saturday:
Doncaster Rovers v Accrington Stanley
Marine v Harrogate Town

Sunday:
Chesterfield v Portsmouth (12:15)
Charlton Athletic v Cray Valley Paper Mills (17:30)

*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***

Hibs are offering heavily discounted tickets at £10 for adults as an Halloween Treat, a marketing Trick to be admired. No more scary stuff on the pitch, please, with hopefully the same team/bench as usual. Not that we have many options to do differently until our injury absentees are ready. A win against The Staggies would see us zoom up into 4th equal place in the table (for a day at least, anyway).

Ross County let a 2-goal lead against Motherwell slip away in the last 10 minutes yesterday, showing a late vulnerability. Ex-Hibees Ross Laidlaw and Simon Murray could have a big say in the eventual outcome on Tuesday.

Bristol City have sacked manager Nigel Pearson after two and a half years in charge, with the Robins 15th in the Championship.

The club have lost five of their past seven matches with Saturday's 2-0 defeat by Cardiff Pearson's final game.

The 60-year-old was appointed in February 2021, initially on a short-term deal, and was the second-longest serving manager in the Championship.

His contract was due to expire at the end of this season.

"This was a difficult decision to make as we recognise and appreciate how much Nigel has done for the club over the past two and a half years on and off the pitch," said club chairman Jon Lansdown.

"Nigel is highly respected by the staff and players and has been very supportive of the academy structure and our women's team.

"We all wanted Nigel to achieve our ambition to be promoted but, with our recent results, feel that now is the time to make a change to give the club the best possible chance of success."

Assistant manager Curtis Fleming will take on the role of interim head coach, while a new appointment is made.

Former Leicester and Watford manager Pearson signed a three-year deal until 2024, but after the loss to Coventry last weekend he said that he may be "fighting for his job" with the contract soon to expire.

"My position has not been secure, which irritates me," Pearson told BBC Radio Bristol.

The team finished 14th in the Championship last season and have won five of their 14 league matches during this campaign, with three draws and six defeats.

Pearson is the sixth manager to leave a club in the second tier this season, with Gareth Ainsworth sacked by QPR on Saturday.

First-team coach Jason Euell has also left Bristol City, along with head of medical performance Dave Rennie.

'A big, controversial decision'
Analysis - Richard Hoskin, BBC Radio Bristol sport editor

There's been a lot of 'noise' in recent days about the future of Nigel Pearson, ever since he expressed his "irritation" that the club hadn't opened contract negotiations about a new deal.

In his time at Ashton Gate, Pearson has trimmed the squad and wage bill - losing Antoine Semenyo and Alex Scott to Bournemouth, with the significant transfer fees received for these players not appearing to be reinvested in the squad.

He also gave youngsters like Sam Bell and Tommy Conway opportunities and they're now among key first-team players.

In recent weeks he's been walking with crutches, as he waited for more tests to diagnose a "neurological situation".

Against Cardiff on Saturday, the Robins were hindered by an ever-growing injury list.

It's a big, dare I say controversial decision by the Lansdown family - with a lot of City supporters backing Pearson.