Elgin City chairman Graham Tatters insists he tried his best to talk Barry Smith out of stepping down as manager.
Smith has moved on from Borough Briggs after just two months in the role, during which time he took charge of eight matches.
His departure came just 48 hours after the Black and Whites moved off the foot of the League Two table, courtesy of a 2-0 win over Bonnyrigg Rose.
Dundee-based Smith ultimately took the decision to resign, due to increased work commitments in his day job.
Tatters says Smith initially approached him last week, before agreeing to mull over the decision during the weekend.
Despite Elgin’s victory, the 49-year-old opted to stick with his initial decision to stand down.
Tatters said: “His job has changed a little bit, and he can’t give it the amount of time it needs to be able to sort it out.
“He was having to travel twice a week, as well as a Saturday. It became very difficult for him.
“He wanted the weekend to think about it. He was going to do it earlier in the week, because things were getting a bit too hectic for him. He’s a family man as well.
“We discussed it and we tried to persuade him to stay, but he felt he couldn’t put the commitment in that it needed.
“He was going to leave on Tuesday, but he came up and did training on Thursday, and took the game on Saturday.
“He said he would review it after the weekend, but he decided it was just too much for him and we agreed to part ways.”
Smith ended Elgin reign on a high
During Smith’s short-lived reign, Elgin suffered an embarrassing 6-0 defeat to Jeanfield Swifts in the Scottish Cup, as well as a league defeat by the same scoreline against Peterhead.
Former Dundee and Raith Rovers boss Smith had an undefeated record at Borough Briggs however, taking seven points from his three home games in charge.
After ending his stay on a high against Bonnyrigg last weekend, Tatters hopes Elgin have foundations to build upon when they travel to Dumbarton on Saturday.
⏳ What a start to a second half!
Rory MacEwan helps Elgin to a big win seconds after the restart
#cinchL2 | @ElginCityFC pic.twitter.com/Xa323XYMG8
— SPFL (@spfl) November 13, 2023
Tatters added: “It was an excellent performance on Saturday. They would have been disappointed they weren’t leading at half-time but Thomas made some good saves and we defended really well.
“We haven’t been doing that lately so that was good. We had to come out in the second half, and to play as well as we did was excellent.”
Draper to take interim charge
Ross Draper, who remained as a player-coach after Smith replaced him as manager, will now step back in as interim boss.
Following the trip to Dumbarton on Saturday, the Black and Whites will host Forfar Athletic three days later, but are out of action the following weekend after being eliminated from the Scottish Cup.
Tatters, who will be searching for his fourth manager of the calendar year, is keen to take stock of Elgin’s situation before making his next move.
He added: “Barry interviewed really well, he had a good CV but it hasn’t worked out unfortunately.
“Now is the time to try and sit back and let Ross take it for a few days, along with Stevie Dunn. That’s the plan at the moment.
“We have got two games, and then 10 days off. It’s an opportunity to go through everything, and work out where we are going to be at.”
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