Gateshead beaten at Wealdstone as Cattermole’s tenure comes under pressure
Gateshead lost at Wealdstone on Saturday in National League action, the visitors returning south without points, while Lee Cattermole’s first senior managerial spell continued to struggle. The defeat left Gateshead bottom of the National League with one win from 10 matches.
The fixture took place at Wealdstone’s Grosvenor Vale on the fringes of west London, a ground set in the middle of a housing estate and close to Ruislip’s high street. Wealdstone, last season’s FA Trophy finalists, are managed by Gary Waddock and are noted in the piece for their non-league history and for having launched the careers of Stuart Pearce, Vinny Jones and Jermaine Beckford. The article also raised a broader point about the National League’s lack of formal financial fair play or strict salary cap regulations and cited Wrexham, Notts County and Chesterfield as clubs that have taken advantage of those looser constraints.
Cattermole, whose playing career included 271 Premier League games collecting 88 yellow cards and seven reds, has adopted a so-called “bomb squad” approach, described in the article as similar to tactics used by Enzo Maresca at Chelsea and Ruben Amorim at Manchester United. Reports stated that eight players were training at alternative times to the first team and had been removed from WhatsApp group chats. The piece noted this policy had not yet produced positive results, referencing Gateshead’s six-goal-half-time deficit at home to Southend the previous week.
Midweek signing Alfie McCalmont, described as a Northern Ireland international lately of Central Coast Mariners in Australia, started in midfield and initially provided some bright moments for the travelling side. Gateshead had undertaken a 278-mile trip, with about 100 away supporters present. Despite positive early signs, McCalmont and his teammates were unable to sustain momentum.
Wealdstone took control before half-time when Olufela Olomola scored the first of two unanswered goals and Luke Norris converted a softly conceded penalty to make it 2-0. While the match was still level, Cattermole was reported to have shouted, “Make them work,” among other, more colourful, language. He then sat down before half-time, fiddling with a notebook and pen, delaying his return to the away dressing room.
The second half saw a third Wealdstone goal within two minutes of the restart and a fourth just before the end. Manager Waddock was described as relaxed on the touchline, leaning on a gatepost as the home side extended their lead, while sections of the away end chanted “sacked in the morning” and “time to go.”
After the match, assistant Ben Clark said: “We conceded a soft goal, and struggled from there on in. The lads are struggling a bit with their confidence.” The possibility of Cattermole being bombed out had heightened, the article reported, adding that such a departure would likely be signalled on the club website with a corner-flag image.
The piece also noted wider non-league context, including the Wealdstone Raider, Gordon Parmar Hill, whose “you’ve got no fans” war cry went viral in 2014 and whose novelty single “Got No Fans” reached No 5, and mentioned that the prime minister this week floated revocation of the 1985 alcohol statute, a change described as potentially a significant revenue driver for clubs of Wealdstone’s size. Should Manchester City fall down the divisions, the article concluded, it is already unlikely Cattermole would get the chance to face them, let alone manage them.