They are like two Vegas gamblers playing the slots in a desperate bid for gain. On one hand we have Geoff Thompson, the owner of South Shields whose nosebleed rise through football's pyramid system has spectacularly stalled. He has taken a calculated chance on a big name front man who has literally no experience as a manager.
On the other side of the table Kevin Phillips, a much decorated goal plundering centre-forward from Sunderland's glory days and an England international, is risking his considerable reputation by taking a job buried in soccer's seventh tier which is completely foreign territory. While there is a big prize to claim there is also a considerable amount for both to personally lose.
And the stakes have been significantly heightened by the fact that a late coming together towards the end of last season failed to produce the hoped for promotion into the National League North en route to the ultimate target of Football League status. The pressure has also been jacked up in what is a make-or-break season by the fact that South Shields are the only full-time club in their division and as such hot favourites to be crowned champions.
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Yet when I meet with Phillips as a new season's avalanche of fixtures is already under way it is obvious that the path is far from paved with gold. Unbeaten maybe, but three draws and a win from four games has left the Mariners in ninth place on six points, four behind pacemakers Marske and Stafford. Early days of course.
It took an injury time goal to rescue a point in each of South Shields last two matches which indicates either superior fitness levels as full timers or an uncomfortable closeness to a shock defeat for favourites. Brave is one of the words that springs to my mind when considering the collective decisions of Thompson and Phillips.
"Yeah, I've heard that word mentioned more than once or twice," admitted a smiling Kevin as we sat deep within the Mariners stadium. "Maybe I've taken a chance - and the owner too - but I'm totally comfortable with it. I'm 50 my next birthday and I could be sitting at home twiddling my fingers wondering if the phone might ring. I love a challenge - people don't realise I began my playing career in non-league football - and most owners these days will only take a chance with someone in their mid-thirties like Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney at my old club Derby County where I coached.
"This is my opportunity. The set-up is great, the owner is ambitious, and the players full time. I desperately want promotion this season and, yes, I want to eventually take Shields into the Football League. If I mess up then it will be my fault and I will go back to being a pundit.
"The start has been steady rather than spectacular but I have warned the players to take no notice of social media. I want no negative thinking within camp. We have a job to do. I've fully committed. I've moved up lock, stock and barrel from Lichfield outside of Birmingham. I have left my children behind but they are all for me chasing my dream.
"I found a place to live outside of Durham. The landlord is a pal of Alan Shearer so he didn't take much persuading to help another former centre-forward trying to make his way in the game."
Phillips is part of Sunderland folklore of course and he stressed: "I know the passion of this area, not just for Sunderland and Newcastle United but here at South Shields where we have big gates and take a lot of fans away. Last season was a failure for me. It hurt when we missed out on going up and it hurt Geoff. But we underwent a root and branch review of absolutely everything this summer and on my side I've made changes. I let six or seven players go and have brought in nine with a mixture of Football League experience, youth, and pace. Players who are men hopefully able to handle the pressure and the task that lies ahead.
"We lost promotion because of our away form last season when I thought our mentality let us down on occasions and our fitness levels were surprisingly not good enough. We ought to dominate late in games being full-time."
How on earth did an owner of a Tyneside non-league club land an England international living in the Midlands?
"Believe it or not I got a text on New Year's Eve around eight o'clock," laughed Kevin. "I'd already had a couple of drinks and thought it was probably a wind up. However I checked with my best friend Keith who knew the North East and he told me that South Shields were going places. I had only been to the town once in my playing days for a curry - but I met Geoff, who was a big Sunderland fan, and it snowballed from there. I was blown away by the ambition and possibilities."
Phillips' pedigree before arriving on the southern bank of the Tyne stands up to intense scrutiny. A career playing record of 660 appearances and 282 goals includes Sunderland (235 games, 130 goals), Southampton (73-26), West Brom (81-46), Watford (65-25), Birmingham (82-22), and Blackpool (64-19).
The consistency is that golden nugget, goals. Good enough for Phillips to be awarded the European Golden Shoe in 2000 when he plundered 30 goals for Sunderland, still the only Englishman to ever win the coveted award. Even Harry Kane has failed to do it. Moving on to coaching he held high profile positions with Leicester City, Derby County and Stoke City before taking a punt on managing Shields.
All of which is an awful lot of heavy duty to carry down a new unexplored road with much expected. Especially when the club has a history of recent successes that have now stalled, temporarily they hope _ Northern League Division Two champions 2015-16; Division One champions and FA Vase winners 2016-17; and Northern Premier League Division One North champions 2017-18. Three promotions and a Wembley victory since Geoff Thompson took over Shields in 2015.
What was particularly crippling was that the Mariners were a whopping 12 points clear with only a handful of matches to go when Covid closed down football and the season was declared null and void. It had all started with another Sunderland hero Julio Arca on the field and then ex-Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa and Leicester striker Graham Fenton in the manager's office.
South Shields deal in high profile footballers and from that point of view Phillips perfectly fits a pattern. However both the club and manager need to get back to winning consistently. Easier said than done.
There are no guarantees. What lies ahead are challenges not certainties. There is no yardstick by which to judge Kevin Phillips - a wonderful ability to score goals at the highest level does not automatically translate to the manager's office. South Shields face a marathon not a sprint. Steady nerves are required - and perhaps a prayer mat.
