Ken Gillard has taken charge of the Arsenal u18s, taking over from Kwame Ampadu after Thierry Henry poached the Arsenal man for his backroom team at AS Monaco.

Gillard’s appointment has now been confirmed by multiple sources after he led the u18s to a 4-2 victory over Reading on Saturday.

Jeorge Bird of Arsenal Youth writes that Ampadu’s assistant will step up into the role. Arsenal Media also reference the change in their highlights video, confirming that after Ampadu’s departure “Ken Gillard takes charge of the team”.

However, it appears that for now, this is only on a temporary basis. He could get the job permanently if he does well, but we’ll have to wait and see whether that’s the case. A win in his first game is certainly a good start. With the team’s form and the talent in their ranks though, you’d expect them to be beating Reading.

Gillard’s u18s don’t have another match until November 3rd when they face Swansea City away.

In the meantime, some of the u18s might have a chance to feature in the Checkatrade Trophy match against Cheltenham Town on October 30th. Normally, the u23s would fill the squad, but in this case, you’d expect some of them will be saved for Arsenal’s League Cup match against Blackpool the next day. We’ll see.