Last minute agony for Deveronvale, and caretaker boss Craig Stewart speaks about Steve Dolan's departure and his own future at the club
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DEPARTING Deveronvale boss Steve Dolan wants his former assistant Craig Stewart to be his successor, and Stewart has spoken to the club about his ambitions.
Like Dolan a hero with the Princess Royal Park support during his vale playing days, Stewart began his role as caretaker manager last weekend.
The Banff men were keen to bounce back from their Scottish Cup defeat to Camelon Juniors but lost out to Keith in a Highland League clash at PRP.
Stewart said the 2-1 defeat, brought about by a last-gasp Michael Selfridge winner for the Maroons, was harsh on his side.
He also spoke about his own desire to be Deveronvale manager, and said he has already spoken to chairman Jim Mair about the position.
"I’ve let the board know my feelings on it but I can’t say too much at this stage," he said.
"I’ve given my thoughts and my opinions to the chairman and the board so hopefully we can see what direction the club’s going to go in the next wee while.
"I’m a local lad and I know the club very well and I want the best for Deveronvale, whatever that may be.
"As it stands I am standing in and I will give my all until anybody tells me different.
"It’s important for the club to make a decision sooner rather than later for various reasons. Trying to strengthen the team and get players to sign new contracts is important, and players are not going to do that if they don’t know who the manager is going to be.
"It’s not a case of being offered the job, there’s a lot to think about.
"Deveronvale’s a club I’ve always wanted to manage but the timing and the circumstances have got to be right as well."
Stewart asked his squad to respond to their Scottish Cup exit and said he got a strong reaction against Keith, even if the result didn't reflect that fully.
Vale had the better chances in a goal-less first half but fell behind to Cammy Keith's 350th Highland League goal which edged Keith in front.
The home side's push for an equaliser was rewarded with a penalty award on 80 minutes, which Robert Scott converted to set up a grandstand finish.
However the winning goal came at the wrong end for the Vale fans as Selfridge netted with what proved to be the last kick of the game.
"It was so disappointing, more so with the fact that we’ve put so much into the game and for me we were the better team throughout," said Stewart.
"I could only see one winner even when we were 1-0 down. We weren’t panicking despite recent results.
"We got the goal back and I thought we would kick on from there and win the game, but it was not to be.
"We actually did kick on and we were going for the winner, and even our shape at the back for their second goal was OK, we weren't left wide open and we didn’t go gung ho for it.
"We kept playing the way we had been playing throughout the game but thy just got a break and scored.
"After last week we wanted a bit of a reaction and I feel we certainly got that. Their work rate was magnificent and some of the general play was really good."
Fraserburgh loan pair Greg Buchan and Ryan Sargent impressed Stewart and said they will be good additions to the squad.
The caretaker boss admitted Dolan's departure was a devastating blow to him and his squad.
"Obviously they were gutted that Dippy went, nobody more so than me.
"It’s frightening how long he’s been with the club so it’s been a strange week with him not being there.
"You get into habits and there’s the times we were on the phone to each other which, to be honest was probably every day.
"I said from day one if Dippy goesm I would do as well and certainly last Monday there were conversations back and forth between us where I was saying to him that I was just going to follow him out of the door.
"But after speaking to him, he said to me ‘ you need to try and go for it’ and I said I would stand in just now and weigh up my options and have a proper think about it.
"He’s openly said that he’d like me to go for it and I respect him for that but I didn’t expect anything else from him."
Vale's Scottish Cup exit means they have no game on Boxing Day and their next outing is a league derby at Buckie Thistle on January 2.
