Alun Armstrong is looking forward to getting to work at the International Stadium
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New Gateshead manager Alun Armstrong
New Gateshead manager Alun Armstrong(Image: Gateshead FC)
Alun Armstrong has insisted he is up for the battle as he looks to guide Gateshead away from a challenging period. Several key figures have left the International Stadium since the end of last season as the Heed missed out on a place in the National League play-offs following a final day draw with Southend United.
Chairman Neil Pinkerton, club captain Greg Olley, head of recruitment Luke Clark and manager Carl Magnay are amongst those they have departed over the last month - and former Darlington and Blyth Spartans boss Armstrong was confirmed as successor to the latter earlier this week.
The appointment means Armstrong returns to the dugout for the first time since leaving Darlington in 2023 and marks his first managerial role in the top tier of the non-league game.
With so much off-field change and a number of major departures from within the playing squad, there are some understandable concerns the momentum Gateshead have gained in recent years will be lost ahead of what already appeared to be a challenging season.
But Armstrong has stressed he will do all he can to rise to the challenge despite conceding there is a need to put more solid foundations in place after so much on and off-field change.
“It’s something I thought long and hard about and I had to think if I really did want to come back into it,” he told Chronicle Live. “I had a phone call and a chat with Bernard (McWilliams, Gateshead chairman) to try and explain what I thought needed to be put in place here and I knew exactly where the finances were at and where we can fix that.
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“We have put something to him, it’s a challenge but I love a challenge and what is football without challenges?
“If people are honest, you can get on with it and work together. That’s how it will be with Bernard, we will have everything up front, everything will be out in the open, to know where we are and how we can build on what we have and what we can achieve.
“After speaking with Bernard, I knew the task was going to be a difficult one but I never shy away from them,”
There have been questions marks over the futures of several members of the squad Armstrong has inherited following his appointment and a number of Gateshead players are believed to have interest from clubs in the EFL and National League.
One further departure was confirmed earlier this week when key defender Robbie Tinkler joined National League North neighbours South Shields after his contract came to a close.
Armstrong admitted the financial situation at the International Stadium means he will have to be creative in the transfer market - and revealed his aim to help the club rediscover their identity by looking for local talent from within the academy setup and beyond.
He said: “It will be a rebuild but I look at the squad and there are some top players in there that I want to stay.
"Finances will dictate a lot of that and that’s probably where I’ve earned a little bit where I’m quite clever in the transfer market, I bring people in, I move them on and hopefully that’s what has probably helped the chairman bring me in.
“I’ve had a lot of players where I have been successful with them and that’s what I’m looking to achieve here.
“On the flip side of that we have some good young kids that haven’t been utilised in the last couple of years and I want to get that back.
“I’ve seen the strength over there (within the academy and college setup), I’ve seen everything within the club in the last year and I looked thinking should I got for it?
“I love the work I was doing in the college, it’s been fantastic and I want to continue having a foot in there, helping with them because I want that progression from the college and the academy into the first-team.
“That’s why we talk about identity, the young lads from the area, we want to get that back.”
The appointment of the former Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Ipswich Town striker has caught some by surprise after a number of candidates with EFL and National League experience showed an interest in the role.
Chairman McWilliams described the decision to appoint Armstrong as the most difficult he has made - but he revealed the new manager’s familiarity with the situation at the International Stadium meant he was chosen as the man to carry the club into the new season.
“The other candidates were absolutely fantastic and it was probably one of the hardest decision I’ve had to make,” said the Heed chairman.
“It’s one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make. I’ve interviewed people in other roles but not in football and it’s a strange animal.
“But because I know what he (Armstrong) can do and I know that he’s more aware of where we are at, what’s behind the scenes, what’s been holding us up, the ambitions we had and we need to be realistic. I think Alun has the capabilities to handle that and put us back on course.
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“We chased a dream, the dream is still there but we just need to understand who we are and I think we have forgotten by chasing that dream who we are. I think Alun is the man to steady it and he knows exactly where we are at.”