John Coughlin has revealed that his 'part-time' role as Berwick manager simply couldn't continue if he is to devote the time needed to successfully turn the club around.
The 53-year-old penned a two-year full-time contract last Friday following an excellent run of late-season form which saw his side record six clean sheets in seven games, a feat which was extended to seven in eight after Saturday's 3-0 win over promotion-chasing Clyde.
And with speculation about his future now over, Coughlin responded to those who may have questioned the full-time appointment, explaining the tough nature of balancing a job with being Shielfield boss and said it had got to the stage where something had to give.
He said: "The part-time role just couldn't continue, I'll be perfectly honest. I've got a full-time job and there were a lot of demands which meant I couldn't devote the time that this club needs. It was never going to happen.
"This club needs to be turned around I feel. We've been in a situation where we haven't threatened the top four very often for the past seven or eight years and to do that, it needs to have 100% of your focus and not 50%, which is what was happening with myself.
"I know people are asking questions about why there's a full-time appointment at a part-time club but what I've said to the board is that we have to break the mould.
"The club has been in a situation, which a lot of part-time clubs are in, that at the end of the season the manager goes out and takes somebody else's players, we swap them around and you just don't know if you're getting the best players because very often, you haven't seen them because you can't physically get to matches.
"So it's trying to find that flexibility that enables me to go out and make judgements for myself and I've felt that if I'm going to do well in my career and make decisions, they've got to be my decisions, not ones that have been foisted on me.
"The club have backed me on that so this is the first step in doing that and hopefully we can put a structure in place that makes us that bit more successful."
Martin Inglis
