By Chris Wright
As hard as it is to believe, this outfit is not the prank in question
Amid the flurry of polyphonic ringtones and the gentle hum of antiquated fax machines snarling up, Gillingham manager Martin “Whatever you do, don’t call him ‘Mad Dog'” Allen put aside a bit of time to do a funny on transfer deadline day – pulling his chairman’s leg with a ripsnorter of a prank.
This from the BBC Sport’s deadline day live feed:
Gills boss Martin Allen also reveals he left a phone message for his chairman Paul Scally about a ‘Premier League’ club making an offer for one of their players.
“Mr Scally called my mobile 1.7 seconds later asking who it was and which club it was? I let him know it was from Lewes (Ryman Premier). The phone line went dead and I must say I laughed and laughed and laughed…”
Which, if you know Martin Allen, is almost certainly true. He’s probably still laughing now, bless him.
Not that he’s a Mad Dog or anything. Christ no.