Jamie Watt revealed he leaves Banks o’ Dee with a sense of pride at what he has achieved at the club, but also disappointment at how things have ended.
Manager Watt and assistant Roy McBain were relieved of their duties by the Spain Park club on Monday night following Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Nairn County.
Dee are sitting second bottom of the Breedon Highland League after being hit with 24-point deduction in October for fielding an ineligible player in eight matchday squads.
The same offence also saw the Aberdeen outfit thrown out of the Scottish Cup having won their first round tie.
Watt joined Dee as a player in 2016, and two years later he became co-manager alongside Tommy Forbes.
When Forbes stepped down in 2021, McBain joined as assistant manager.
Last season the duo made history, leading Banks o’ Dee to the Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup and Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield for the first time – the first time a Junior side had one either competition.
They also reached round four of the Scottish Cup for the first time and gained promotion to the Highland League.
Watt said: “I’ve got a lot of pride in the job we did. We built a great team, they’re a terrific bunch of lads.
“I was lucky enough to play with a few of them and then come right through.
“I was grateful to get the chance to manage them and the history we created last season was phenomenal.
“We won the Aberdeenshire Cup and Aberdeenshire Shield for the first time, reached the fourth round of the Scottish Cup for the first time, won everything in the Juniors and made history going up to the Highland League.
“Last season was the culmination of everything we’d been working on for years, so I take a lot of pride in that.
“But for me, to be leaving, it’s such a disappointment – it feels like there’s unfinished business.
“We were finding our feet this season and there was always going to be a bit of bedding in.
“When we got the points deduction we were sitting fourth and in the hunt at the top of the league.
“The deduction has clearly had a massive effect and there’s big disappointment that I haven’t been able to see the job through.
Official Club Statement: Watt and McBain Depart Banks o' Dee
Full Statement: https://t.co/QLTm5TZkcD pic.twitter.com/nJlHQMuFJn
— Banks O' Dee FC (@banksodee_fc) January 9, 2023
“I thought I deserved that chance, but the powers that be have decided differently, which is disappointing.
“I managed to get a chat with the players and I told them I still believe in them big time and think they can succeed at this level.
“They’re a great bunch of lads, there’s not a bad egg among them, they’re all driven and they never let me down.”
‘I’ll need to take stock’ – says Watt, before deciding next move
With a vacancy at Inverurie Locos, Watt could apply for that job in a bid to make a swift return to management.
But when it was put to him, he added: “I’ll need to take stock of things, it’s very raw at the moment and I’m trying to get my head round what’s happened.
“I haven’t given anything else any thought, but you never say never in football.
“You never know what’s round the corner, I leave with disappointment but also pride at what we achieved.”
Dee chief Winton on decision
Banks o’ Dee president Brian Winton said: “We had a board meeting and the consensus was that we needed to move forward in a different direction.
“We’ll start the recruitment process now, we’ve still to finalise who will be in interim charge.
“We’ll take time to decide what we want and what we need.
“Results in last four weeks haven’t been good and we need to address that on Saturday.
“Jamie and Roy have been great servants to Banks o’ Dee and we thank them for their efforts, but we feel we’re at a stage now where we need to do something different.”
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