BY IAIN COLLIN – @CCP_sport
FORFAR chairman Alastair Donald has given manager Gary Bollan a vote of confidence and insisted he will remain in charge next season, despite the bitter disappointment of being relegated to League Two at the weekend.
A 3-2 defeat to Albion Rovers on Saturday sealed the Loons’ fate thanks to wins elsewhere for rivals Brechin City and Stenhousemuir.
The devastating blow comes just 12 months on from the Angus club coming so close to promotion to the Championship in their play-off final against Alloa Athletic.
A poor first half to the new campaign saw Dick Campbell sacked in December, after over seven years in charge and with the team third-bottom in the table, and he was replaced with Bollan.
The former Dundee United and Rangers defender has been unable to lift the Station Park side out of trouble but Donald has promised the 43-year-old the opportunity to bring the club back up from Scottish football’s lowest echelon.
Blaming himself instead, Donald said: “I’ve now got to take stock but one thing I am absolutely certain about is that the management team we’ve got is absolutely A1.
“I work with them every day, I see the work that they put in, I see their efforts, I see the players they’re speaking to, the squad they’ll try and build.
“I just think if anybody’s got to take responsibility for this it’s me, (but) I wouldn’t change a great deal of what we did.
“I think the fans just need to stick with the club, stick with the team and give the management a chance to build over the summer.”
Whilst he insists Bollan will remain in charge, the Forfar chairman has confessed alterations will have to be made elsewhere in the club to turn around fortunes.
In an interview on the club website, he added: “There will no doubt be changes, from top to bottom, I can assure you of that – and I mean top to bottom.
“We cannot go into next season without having made changes, because if you do the same things you get the same results.”
