Former South Shields captain expresses sympathy for Julio Arca following Mariners departure

South Shields legend Jon Shaw has admitted he has sympathy for former team-mate Julio Arca after his Mariners managerial reign was brought to an end.

The former Sunderland and Middlesbrough star made his first steps into management when he was named as successor to Kevin Phillips at the 1st Cloud Arena ahead of the Mariners first ever season in the National League North.

After a promising start to life in non-league’s second tier, Arca’s side were sat firmly in the title race and a push for a historic promotion to the National League looked a genuine prospect as the Mariners proved to be unbeatable on their home patch.

However, their away form during the first half of the season proved to be their downfall as defeats against the likes of Chorley, Southport and Rushall Olympic saw Arca’s men fall away from the title race ahead of their Boxing Day home clash with North East neighbours Blyth Spartans.

With Shaw watching on from the away dugout in his role as Spartans assistant manager, the visitors claimed all three points with a 3-1 win and inflicted a fourth consecutive defeat on South Shields as they fell out of the play-off places.

The two sides will meet again at Croft Park on Saturday but it will be Elliott Dickman and Lee Picton in interim charge of the Mariners after they confirmed they had parted company with Arca and assistant manager Tommy Miller less than 24 hours after their defeat against Spartans.

Ahead of Saturday’s game, former Mariners captain Shaw stressed Arca was always facing a ‘tough introduction to management’ after taking charge of his old club and expressed sympathy for his former team-mate after his departure.

He told The Gazette: “I do feel for Julio because he went into a big job without previous managerial experience and on the back of South Shields getting into the National League North for the first time.

“That meant it was a tough introduction to management, he’s had a bad run and unfortunately he’s paid the price. You never know if they would have turned it around or whether he would have been a success but anyone that knows Julio will know he is a genuine and hardworking lad and he would be giving everything he can to turn things around.  

“He had that history with the club and you know how hard he’d have been working to move things forward and make them successful.  But how do you gage success with them? They’d been building for a while to get into the National League North and they were sat in the play-offs before the weekend, which some would say was a good return in their first season at the level - but there’s a high expectation at the club and that’s understandable.

“From a friend’s point of view, I would have wanted him to get as much time as possible and I am sure he would say the same.”