Julio Arca outlines his South Shields vision after taking charge plus key appointment made

The Argentinian was named as successor to his former Sunderland team-mate Kevin Phillips last week and has spent the last seven days putting plans in place for next season.

The first appointment to his backroom staff was confirmed on Wednesday afternoon as former Hartlepool United midfielder Tommy Miller was named as Arca’s assistant manager and work over further additions is an ongoing process.

Arca is yet to speak to the Mariners squad but is hoping to address them over the coming days as he begins preparations for his first season in management and the club’s maiden voyage into the National League North, where they will come up against the likes of Scunthorpe United, Hereford and Kidderminster Harriers.

There have been suggestions Arca’s lack of managerial experience may be exposed in a notoriously challenging division that has proved to be a significant test for many an experienced boss - but the new Mariners boss is confident he can prove himself and repay Thompson for handing him a ‘great opportunity’.

He told The Gazette: “He has always been good with me, we have a good relationship, we have been talking for many years about when I could get back into the club and in what role that would be. I remember saying hopefully one day I will get to manage the team but that was a long time ago and the opportunity didn’t present itself.

“It was a case of waiting for the right time and the right opportunity. This is what happened, the manager last season did really well and got them promoted. The job became available and I believe I was the first one to know but I am sure there were plenty of names out there. I want to thank the chairman for believing in me and giving me the opportunity,” he added.

In previous seasons, the Mariners target for each year and their definition of success has always been promotion and further progress up the football pyramid. Yet the new season will provide a new outlook for the club as they head into a campaign not viewed as a favourite for promotion for the first time during Thompson’s eight-year tenure at the club.

Adding in a novice manager - albeit with an experience assistant - has led some onlookers to suggest the Mariners supremo has taken a major risk in appointing the man that helped his club to three promotions and six trophies during three remarkable years at the end of his playing career.

Arca is paying little attention to any discussions over his lack of experience in the dugout and cited one recent example of a novice manager achieving success on the grandest stage football has to offer as an inspiration ahead of his first season in management.

He said: “It’s a strange one because I know what the fans expect. They are used to getting promotion, promotion, promotion, and obviously the higher you go in the leagues, the harder it is to achieve things.

“But at the same time, the club is getting two former players that have a lot of knowledge of football. Tommy has been in this league working for many years, so he knows the leagues inside-out.

“It’s a new challenge, a new career, I know what people are saying because clubs like this normally go for managers with experience - but Kevin (Phillips) came over and hadn’t managed a team, apart from working as an assistant coach and he did really well.

“I always used the example of Lionel Scaloni, he went to the national team working as a coach, then an assistant coach and he was given the freedom of working with the players, with good people alongside him and it’s three titles in two years. Everyone deserves an opportunity and hopefully things can work out for us here too,” he added.

As a player with the likes of Sunderland, Middlesbrough and South Shields, Arca displayed the fiery nature needed to succeed at the top level, but combined that with an ice-cold demeanour that enabled him to cope with high-pressure situations.

Such emotions will be required as he steps into the lead role in the dugout for the first time and deals with the many roles and responsibilities that fall under his remit as he prepares for what will be yet another historic season in South Shields’ remarkable rise up the non-league pyramid.

Arca is already fully aware of the pressures that will come his way as he takes his first tentative steps into management but insisted he is prepared to what lies ahead during a hectic period.

“It’s a big responsibility and I know it’s going to be stressful. You have to spend a lot of time watching videos, talking with my assistant, talking with the club, talking with the recruitment team. Can we bring in this player? Can we bring in that player?

“Then it’s dealing with the players here as well. So I know it’s not going to be easy, it will be a busy few weeks now, probably five or six weeks and then things will calm down and then you know what you’ve got and you work with what you have got,” added the new Shields boss.