Premier League cult hero Anichebe, 37, slammed by National League captain as takeover bid leads to ‘club meltdown’
FORMER Premier League star Victor Anichebe has been criticised by Gateshead captain Greg Olley after the club failed to reach the National League playoffs.
Anichebe, 37, has been linked with a takeover of the fifth-tier club for over two months.
It was initially claimed that a deal was imminent, but a full agreement is yet to be reached.
Although a deal has not been completed yet, Anichebe has made his presence known around the Gateshead International Stadium.
The ex-forward has already spoken to key figures within coaching and recruitment.
Anichebe has also held several meetings with first team head coach Carl Magnay.
However, club captain Olley believes his presence has had a negative impact on form.
As a result, Gateshead missed out on a spot in the National League playoffs.
In an explosive interview after the final match of the season, Olley said: “The takeover situation has been lingering over us for four or five months now.
“We were told it was going to be the fastest takeover in football history, which obviously if you hear rumours of a takeover your interest spikes.
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“The club managed to hide all of that and no-one really found out until a month ago and you talk about contributing factors why players aren’t playing well, why the club’s not thriving, it’s a massive factor.
“After two or three months of hearing whispers and it’s still not happened, you’ve got new owners bringing lads in, speaking to players and you’ve got the people at the top right now trying to potentially stay on.
“You hear so many rumours and potentially being lied to about what’s happening or is it going to happen soon.
“To then, the new owner coming into the changing room when he hasn’t officially taken over, talking to us as a team, saying what he expects, what he wants – but the fact of the matter is he hasn’t taken over yet so how has he been allowed to come in, unsettle the dressing room, to then talk about who he is wanting to keep on next year, who he wants to build around?
“There has almost been a little bit of a divide in the camp until the last few weeks when we’ve tried to resolve it and bring us all back together. It’s been tarnished for a while, for a few months.”
Anichebe retired from professional football in 2017 following spells with Everton, West Brom and Sunderland.
He was also capped 11 times by the Nigeria national team.