The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Club pledges to act fast in search for new boss
BRECHIN: Chairman wants Barry Smith’s successor in quickly
Brechin chairman Ken Ferguson admits he is determined to have a new manager in place sooner rather than later following the departure of Barry Smith by mutual agreement on Monday night.
The 45-year-old former Dundee, Alloa, Aldershot, East Fife and Raith Rovers boss took over at the Glebe last November but was unable to prevent the Angus club suffering their second relegation in just two seasons, dropping down into League 2.
Smith stayed on but initially struggled to put together a new squad this summer and even had to come out of retirement to play against Forfar in the Betfred Cup.
He finally had a full roster to choose from on Saturday but Brechin slumped to their third successive league loss, going down 3-0 to Queen’s Park at home to leave them sitting bottom of the table.
That led to Monday’s announcement with assistant manager Stevie Campbell taking over on an interim basis while Brechin begin the search for Smith’s permanent replacement.
Ferguson said: “I am good friends and get on very well with Barry but at the end of the day we know we have to get off to a good start this season.
“It is a dog-eat-dog league, every single one is.
“But this league has a certain character to it that makes it even more perilous.”
Ferguson admitted that while the club are determined to get the right man for the job, they cannot afford to take too long to do so.
He said: “Absolutely. Obviously, the football world is well connected and moves fast in these circumstances.
“So we will invite applications for the role.
“We have been here before so we want to get everything resolved as quickly as we can but we have to make sure we make the right decision and give it due process.
“We have a full committee meeting on Thursday night which was planned in any case, not as a reaction to the situation.
“That’s when we will progress our plans.
“We normally work to a process where we invite applications. We then decide who we want to discuss further and then we set up interviews.”
When asked if in hindsight there should have been a parting of the ways with Smith at the end of last season, Ferguson replied: “That’s a question folk will naturally ask.
“But we are an honourable club and we had a very honourable manager – and assistant manager – who had complete conviction to make amends for the previous season.
“That was something at that time we wanted to support them in.
“We wanted to build a new team, we wanted to come back out fighting.
“I think that is a natural human reaction.
“There was some tough talking done at that time – Barry would be the first to admit that.
“There was some soul searching at the end of the season as we had obviously had two relegations on the bounce.
“That’s not a position anybody wants to be in but there was a very strong commitment from Barry and Steve that they wanted to stay and rectify the situation.”
Ferguson added: “We don’t have anything to hide here.
“We had a year in the Championship – and I am fed-up using these words – but it left us with a massive hangover that we honestly believed we would shake off last season but we weren’t able to.
“So we had another go at it and with this management team we built a new side.
“For one reason or another it hasn’t worked as yet. It may well have worked, who knows? That’s football.
“But people make decisions and the mutual decision here has been to try to freshen it up.”