Gateshead lost their previous manager Carl Magnay last week as he resigned from the National League side. This has forced the Tynesiders to pursue a new manager as they look to improve on their 8th place finish in England’s fifth tier in the 2025-26 season.
Many names have been put into the ring for the role with the DECK even reporting on what could be next for Gateshead following Magnay’s departure.
However, now, it has been reported that former Sunderland and Wigan Athletic midfielder Lee Cattermole is under consideration for the job. However, no final decision on who the new manager will be has been made yet.
Cattermole, 37, retired from playing football in 2020 following the COVID-19 pandemic. He made 258 appearances for the Black Cats over the course of a decade and became a favourite within the Sunderland fanbase during his time at the club.
Previous Coaching Experience
Although the 37 year old only retired 5 years ago, he would not be entering the role of Gateshead manager without any previous experience in the coaching world.
This is because he has had experiences with Middlesbrough as their under 18s lead coach, a role which introduced him to the coaching sphere and a role he did for a year before leaving the club.
Following on from this, in the later stages of last year, the former England youth international joined Bristol Rovers as a first-team coach. However, Cattermole specifically focused on set pieces during his time in this role.
But, his time at Bristol Rovers wouldn’t be just as a first-team coach, in fact the majority of his time at the Gas would be spent as a caretaker manager as he and David Horseman took over from Matt Taylor as joint caretaker manager. However, Cattermole left the club before his first game.
Pressures Of First Full-Time Management Role
Even with previous coaching experience, taking on the Gateshead job as manager would be his first full time management role.
This brings around a different pressure to being a coach due to the attention and levels of responsibility that get placed onto a manager’s shoulders when they are employed at a club.
This probes an interesting question. Would Cattermole be able to engage with success during his time with the Tynesiders or would he fall to the pressures that being a manager brings due to it being his first fulltime role?
Other Managers In Contention For Gateshead Role
Even with the 37 year old entering contention for the management role, there are still other candidates that are in the conversation to become manager of the National League side.
Whilst the official candidates for the role haven’t been revealed yet, many of the people who were in the conversation for the role in the back end of last year may come back into contention for the role.
This could include Gateshead candidate Ben Clark who initially ruled himself out of the conversation last year. As well as this, newer names may come into the conversation following the review of systems and departures of managers that we have seen both in the EFL and in non-league.
These candidates will come head to head with the former Sunderland manager in the process to hire a new manager for Gateshead.
A Crucial Time In The Hiring Process
With the club themselves expressing their interest to have a manager hired by the end of next week, the search for a new boss to take the club to the next level is coming to its most crucial time.
Will Cattermole be able to secure the management role or will another candidate in the conversation be hired instead?