By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie
Marc Ellison and Karl Ross have agreed to take over team affairs during the interim at Ashington Football Club.
The move comes after manager Nick Gray and his assistant Liam McIvor left the club by mutual agreement last week.
Unfortunately the duo’s first game in charge turned out to be an anti climax as the Colliers’ away fixture at Blyth Town was called off on Saturday morning due to a waterlogged pitch.
Now the pair turn their attentions to Tuesday night’s home clash against Consett – a fixture which has already been postponed on two previous occasions.
Ellison and Ross are both members of the current playing staff – and both spoke at the weekend about having ‘no hesitation’ in taking on additional duties at Woodhorn Lane.
In Ellison’s case, a move into management had already crossed his mind: “I would be lying if I said it wasn’t something I hadn’t thought about anyway as age wise I’m 35,” he said, “I had no hesitation. My body doesn’t feel great so was it something I’d be looking at? Yes. Did I think it was going to happen now – no. I probably was going to be thinking about it at the end of the season anyway so from a selfish point of view I can get to dip my toes in and see if I like it. Will I be needed to play again this year? I don’t know.”
Apart from being skipper, Ross is the longest serving player in the squad. He is in his eighth season playing for his home town club after signing in November 2018 and making his debut in a 1-1 draw at Shildon.
The 27 year old said: “We had a little conversation about it and I had no hesitation in saying ‘yes’. It was a no brainer for me because I’ll do anything I can just to try and help the club which will give them a bit of time to get things into place.”
Hartlepool-born Ellison added: “Did anyone expect Nick (Gray) to leave the club on Tuesday? No – but quite simply, we haven’t been good enough from the start of the season to where we are now. It was disappointing that the match at Blyth Town was off because you always want to play on a Saturday. We’ve got a couple of games coming up where we play teams around us so it would have been ideal to have played today (Saturday) to try and get some points on board. On the flip side it gave us a chance to have a training session and work on things.”
Tuesday’s game against Consett has a 7.45pm kick-off.