Heed boss Mills remains coy on future after final day defeat

[FF News]

Gateshead boss Gary Mills remained noncommittal over his future at Gateshead following his side's 2-0 defeat at Barnet.

The Bees clinched the Vanarama Conference title with a comfortable victory at the Hive, securing their return to the Football League following a two-year absence.

The 53-year-old held talks with fellow Conference side Wrexham on Wednesday, and revealed on Friday that a second club had approached him for his services.

However, with the season now complete, a decision from Mills appears imminent.

Speaking immediately after the game, he said: “At this moment in time, I think I know what I’m doing, but now isn’t the time to say it.

“I’ve done my job today, and now I have to go back and get things right for myself.

“If I am in charge next season, then we have to be stronger and better.

“If I am not in charge, then somebody else will hope to achieve more.”

A brace from Portuguese winger Mauro Vilhete saw off the Tynesiders on a rain-soaked evening in front of the television cameras from BT Sport.

Vilhete rose unchallenged to head home Sam Togwell’s free-kick midway through the first-half, and bundled home a second five minutes after the interval.

Although Carl Finnigan came close to pulling one back for the Heed, Mills’ side never truly looked capable of spoiling the Barnet party.

In what may prove to be his last game in charge of the club, the manager refused to be too harsh on his troops, however, and took time to reflect on the season gone by.

He said: “We were always going to be up against it today, what Barnet do – they do very well.

“They were the better team in the first-half, but we did come into it a little more in the second-half, and we had our chances.

“You have to take into context what this meant to Barnet today.

“I don’t think the occasion was too much for the players at all – it was going to be difficult for whichever side came here today.

“We haven’t been good enough performance-wise this season, but there are a lot of reasons why we have finished where we have, which some people perceive as excuses.

“We have picked up a lot of injuries, we have had a couple of cup runs which left us five games behind, and it isn’t always easy to catch up.

“And then – as has happened today – we have conceded goals that you can’t afford to concede if you want to be successful.

“Every member of the playing staff will look at themselves and wonder if they could have done that little bit more."

Source: www.gateshead-fc.com

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