Carluke Rovers: Nine players quit after manager Derek Wilson is sacked

Wilson and Menelaws – appointed by the John Cumming Stadium team in spring 2018 – were fired before Saturday’s 1-0 home league defeat by Glasgow Perthshire.

“I’m totally shocked,” Wilson told the Carluke and Lanark Gazette.

“I have been treated shabbily. I’m totally disgusted as it’s a bitter pill to swallow.

“We got promoted in our first season and now we’ve been sacked.

“We have had a bad run this season but that is going to happen.

“Our budget was slashed as soon as we were promoted.

“Yet we were just two wins away from being in the top six.

“I thought Davie and me were a success at Rovers, not a failure.

“The players can see that.

“The Rovers committee told us we had been relieved of our duties because of the poor run of results.

“But there is a big gap between Rovers and the bottom teams.

“Consolidation would have been good for us this season.

“Under us there was no chance of the club slipping into the relegation zone.”

Despite quitting prior to Saturday’s match, Wilson said that some of the stars played against Perthshire so Rovers had enough players to field a team.

“The nine guys who have left are decent players,” he added.

“I signed all of them. They weren’t getting a game at other clubs, I brought them in, gave them a chance and that’s why we were promoted.

“They were gutted I was sacked.”

Wilson – who said he raised £5000 in sponsorship money for Rovers during his tenure – fears for his old team in the near future.

He added: “Rovers don’t have a new manager in yet but it is a difficult job for whoever comes in.

“Given the players they have lost, I can see Rovers being in a relegation battle.”