Gateshead ready for busy January after Elliot return

Rob Elliot has stressed Gateshead are working hard to add to their squad over the coming days and weeks - and insisted the club already feels in a better place after a week of change.

The former Newcastle United and Republic of Ireland goalkeeper agreed to return for a second spell as Heed boss last week as part of a restructure of the National League club that has saw Alun Armstrong move into a newly created role as head of football development. Both former and current Heed managers have worked to bring new faces into the squad in recent weeks and the fruits of their labour brought the return of Louis Storey in a player-coach role, a loan deal for Scunthorpe United striker Mark Beck and the free transfer addition of defender Brad Nicholson.

There have been outgoings too as loan signings Ibrahim Bakare, Kian Pennant and Kyle Hurst have all returned to their parent clubs and their departures are expected to herald the arrival of further new faces. A defender and another striker are believed to be on the agenda for Elliot with talks ongoing over other potential additions - and there are high hopes new signings can be completed in time to feature in Tuesday night’s trip to Southend United. One further deal was confirmed on Tuesday as on-loan Oxford United wing-back Aidan Elliott-Wheeler extended his spell on Tyneside until the end of the season.

Elliot warned any new arrivals must be willing to work towards his main aim of helping Gateshead regain some of the identity he feels they have lost and insisted his squad will ‘get better in time’.

When asked if adding more players to his squad was a priority, Elliot told The Echo: “Absolutely, we aren’t making a big thing of hiding that fact. We are going to be bringing more players in and that doesn’t mean the players here currently won’t have a role to play because there is a lot about this squad and this squad will get better in time. But it is clear to me we need to bring in more players that will fit the model we will be using going forward.

“Not having a game does and doesn’t help us to be honest. There are things we need to do at the club are not focused on the games, that doesn’t mean we don’t care about the games or the results but it’s the process, the identity, moving towards where we want to be as a club and we will be working hard. Despite losing against Tamworth, the club is in a better place today that it was before the game.”

Conversations

January tends to bring nerves and caution from Gateshead supporters as clubs higher up the football food chain look to secure key talents from the International Stadium. Despite their struggles during the first half of the season, scouts from EFL clubs have been regular visitors to Tyneside and the likes of goalkeeper Tiernan Brooks, talented midfielder Fenton John and top goalscorer Kain Adom have come under their gaze.

Elliot knows only too well how the first month of a new year can play out for Gateshead after he lost the services of Stephen Wearne during the first January transfer window of his previous Heed reign. However, a mid-season rebuild was also sparked as Elliot secured a loan deal for Derby County striker Dajaune Brown and Cardiff City attacking midfielder Kieron Evans as both players went on to play key roles in the club’s FA Trophy final win against Solihull Moors just months later.

Elliot admitted some members of the Gateshead squad could be moved on this month but stressed new arrivals will be secured over the coming days and weeks.

Process

“I think so (players could go),” he explained. That’s the positive, we have players that other clubs want and as long as it is right for the club and it’s right for the player, we will always be a club that will help players develop and give them an opportunity to go higher - but it has to be right for the club. If we can get a player to Gateshead built on the opportunities we can provide them, then that’s a positive for me because that was always the identity we had.

“We developed young and hungry players, who ultimately left the club and met their remit of leaving the club in a better place than they found it. That’s my conversations with the lads now, if they do leave Gateshead, they have a responsibility to leave the club in a better place than they found it. I am sure there will be outgoings and I am sure there will be incomings. I think it’s all about us setting a process in place to get the club on its way to being where we want it to be.”

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