Kevin Phillips has vowed to use the experience of his Sunderland play-off heartache as inspiration to turn around South Shields' fortunes. Phillips watched on as his Shields side crashed out of the Northern Premier League play-offs on Tuesday night with a penalty shoot-out defeat at home to Warrington.
The former England international was brought in by the club in January to steer the Mariners over the line as they sought promotion to the National League North. But despite taking over from Graham Fenton with Shields second in the table and just a point behind the leaders, Phillips was unable to gain automatic promotion, and then saw his players battle to a 1-1 draw in the play-off semi-final before losing on the dreaded lottery of spot-kicks.
Phillips, of course, was part of the Sunderland side that suffered shoot-out agony at Wembley in 1998, when Michael Gray's miss consigned them to another season in the second tier after a thriller against Charlton Athletic. Sunderland bounced back the following season, however, and romped to the First Division title with a then record points haul, Phillips himself scoring 25 goals in 32 games as he fired Peter Reid's side to the Premier League.
READ MORE: League One final-day scenarios as play-off battle goes to the wire
And he says he has a similar aim now in his first managerial position. "Experiences like this, you have to learn from it," said Phillips. "I have to learn from it, and I will.
"From my experiences, and I use the Sunderland play-off final as one of them, you've lost a football match but there's nothing you can about it now. You have to learn from it, you have to come back stronger and you have to come back with the mentality that it's not going to happen again, and we go again."
Phillips has only brought one player into Shields since his arrival, Sunderland youngster Sam Wilding who joined on loan last month. Phillips said when he joined the Mariners that he would look to tap into his contacts at his former club, and he could return to the Stadium of Light for more signings ahead of what promises to be a huge rebuild in the summer.
"There will be players in that dressing room who won't be here next season," he said. "There will be players who will be, but there will be new players added - it needs an overhaul. I've got big decisions to make this summer and I'm not afraid to make them. I'm actually looking forward to it."
We want to hear your thoughts, so LOG IN and leave your comment below
