Forfar chairman Ken Stewart has revealed that the decision to part company with manager Gary Bollan was not a knee-jerk panic reaction to Saturday’s derby drubbing by Arbroath.
The 5-0 loss at home to their Angus neighbours “put the tin lid” on things for the Station Park board who sacked the 44-year-old former Dundee United and Rangers player yesterday.
It was just the latest in a long line of disappointing results this season – Forfar have only won once so far after 11 competitive games and have lost their last six matches in a row, a miserable run that has seen them plummet to the foot of the League 1 table.
All of which simply compounded the unease felt at the end of the last campaign after the Loons blew their chances of winning the League 2 title, only going up through the nail-biting play-offs.
Stewart admitted that while the decision to let Bollan go was a difficult one to take, the directors felt they had to act.
The chairman said: “The tail end of last season was pretty iffy.
“We had a wonderful spike in the play-offs but we had thrown away the championship.
“We went again with Gary at the start of this season with a new team effectively but results have been poor.
“We have only had one win so it has been disappointing for a while.
“I have been speaking with Gary off and on so it has not been a panic reaction but Saturday past really put the tin lid on things.
“We just didn’t see a way forward.
“I like Gary as a person. One to one I got on really well with him.
“He gets a lot of stick from the fans for not showing emotion which is unfortunate.
“The guy is full of emotion but he just doesn’t show it on the touchline.
“But at the end of the day, results speak for themselves and if we can’t get them then the board has a responsibility to do something about it and we believe now is the right time.
“We need something to happen on that park but we are desperately sorry for Gary.
“We don’t want a reputation as a hire-and-fire club.
“That’s Dick (former boss Campbell) and Gary away in two years. It is not where we want to be. We want long-term stability and success.”
The search has now begun for Bollan’s successor with assistant manager Stuart Balmer and youth team manager Barry Sellars overseeing first-team duties for now.
Stewart admitted the duo have a chance to become the management team on a permanent basis but he expects there will also be a lot of quality applicants from elsewhere.
He said: “We are not going to rush things as we want to get the right team in place.
“For now Stuart is staying on and Barry is moving up. They will run the team for the foreseeable future but we want a permanent replacement as quickly as we can.
“Stuart and Barry have the chance to prove they can do the job as well.
“They are definitely up for it so we will have to see what happens.
“They are on the inside so they know what’s there, they know the resources.
“I am not saying they will get it but they have every chance to throw their hat in the ring.
“But we do want things resolved sooner rather than later.
“We are expecting to get a lot of applicants and that’s great.
“Hopefully we will get a quality response.”
Applicants in the first instance should email: secretary@forfarathletic.co.uk
