Izale McLeod is looking forward to coming up against his old boss Martin Allen next season following Gillingham’s promotion to League 1.
The striker was first paired with Allen at MK Dons in 2006/07 when a 22-year-old McLeod set League 2 alight with 21 goals in a season which saw him named the division’s Player of the Year.
Martin appeared to get the most out of the Birmingham-born forward and was a father-figure to McLeod during a time in his career when discipline was his weakest trait.
The duo were reunited at Barnet when Allen took charge of the Bees in 2011 for a month and again a year later when Martin, combined with McLeod’s goals, saw them climb out of the relegation zone and to safety.
Since then, the pair have gone their separate ways but McLeod admits he was delighted to see Allen achieve his first promotion as a manager when the Gills won the League 2 title, which now means the Dons will come face-to-face with their old boss’ side in October next season.
Speaking to mkdons.com McLeod said: “I am really pleased for Martin; I have a lot of time for him. He is honest, what you see is what you get with him and I am delighted that he has gone to Gillingham, done well there and won the League quite easily.
“It would be good to come up against him, I’ve played against his side once before when I was on loan at Millwall and he was at Cheltenham, which is the one time I have played against him. I was re-united with him at Barnet for a while and I have always enjoyed my football under him.”
