Keith Football Club part company with managers Andy Roddie and Tommy Wilson with Saturday's 10-0 thrashing at Buckie Thistle being the final straw for the Kynoch Park bosses
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A 10-0 thrashing at Buckie Thistle prompted the resignation of Tommy Wilson and Andy Roddie as Keith joint-managers on Saturday.
Wilson said the call to pack in wasn't a snap decision after the heaviest defeat of his football career, as the writing had been on the wall after a difficult start to the campaign.
The former Inverurie Locos co-boss said increased work commitments and family time contributed to his departure.
Saturday's double-digits loss came on the back of a 6-1 humbling at top junior side Banks o' Dee in the Aberdeenshire Cup in midweek, and proved to be the final straw for Wilson and Roddie.
Keith's director of football Michael Brown has taken over as interim manager and will be in charge for next week's match against Inverurie Locos.
Wilson said: "It's been there for a wee while now. I couldn’t take getting beat 10-0, it bears really bad on you and it was a hard one to accept so it was time to move on.
"You could see heavy defeats coming. It’s no surprise to me but you don’t see a ten and your own personal pride takes a dunt as well when you are a part of that.
"I’ve been feeling like this for a wee while, this hasn’t come overnight and we knew it was coming. It wasn’t an overnight decision to go, we’ve held on for a bit longer than I personally would have done but it’s not been a snap decision.
"It was a shocking result but there were a lot of players missing and it was a young, young team.
"I’ve never been on the receiving end of a 10-0 in my career and it became difficult to deal with. We did see this coming, it's no surprise to us. We have known this for the last wee while that this could happen to us.
"It’s just unfortunate. We were up against a strong Buckie team and so many of our players have very little Highland League experience so it was always going to be difficult.
"I’m not going to blame any of them, we had to try and coach the boys to play football and not just go route one.
"We wanted to keep the score down as much as we could but unfortunately it was just one of those days."
Wilson and Roddie succeeded current Turriff United boss Dean Donaldson in the Keith job last November.
After losing their opening match at Inverurie Locos, the pair steered the Maroons to four consecutive wins including Scottish Cup successes over Fort William and Hill of Beath Hawthorn, before exiting at the hands of League 1 Clyde.
The management duo lost vice-captain Ryan Spink to Formartine United over the summer and club record goalscorer Cammy Keith announced his retirement from football, while several other players moved on.
Wilson and Roddie recruited a number of new signings, but Wilson said Keith are not in a financial position to recruit high quality replacements for their departing stars.
"We had four or five guys not there, boys injured and that’s unfortunately what can happen to you especially when it's just kids.
"Some of them have only played juvenile football and no Highland League experience. To be honest it’s too big a jump for them and it’s been very difficult.
"We lost Cammy Keith when he announced his retirement and he's is a big miss and (Ryan) Spink at the back who went to Formartine, you can’t replace boys like that. There’s not so much money at Keith to go and replace that.
"We were well beaten against Banks o’ Dee, they are a decent side but you don’t like getting absolutely thumped and if a Highland League gets beaten like that against a junior side, we’re not the first team to do that.
"It was very disappointing and it has been hard going, you always go in with the opinion that you think you can win but some people don’t seem to have the same mentality so it comes against you sometimes.
"After this defeat, that's us finished. It's not pleasant for me but unfortunately some places you go, things are for you and some places they are not, and it wasn’t for me.
"We made the decision after the game, we spoke to Muggsy (Michael Brown) and Troupy (chairman Andy Troup) and let them know.
The hunt now begins for Keith to find their next boss.
"It is with regret Keith FC announce the resignation of co managers Andy Roddie and Tommy Wilson," Keith said in a club statement
"The club wish to express their thanks to Andy and Tommy.
"Michael Brown will take charge of the team until a replacement is found.
"Applications are invited for the role of first team manager and should contact Michael Brown directly on 07583439627 or football@keithfc.com."
