Forfar vice chairman Alastair Donald has expressed the club’s ‘delight’ at Ray McKinnon’s decision to stay on as manager.
McKinnon held talks with English side Forest Green Rovers after spending several days with the League Two side.
But he decided against a move – just hours before his close friend Duncan Ferguson left his role as manager of Forest Green.
McKinnon was back in the dugout on Tuesday night as Loons had a comfortable 6-0 friendly win over Lochee United.
And, in an interview with Forfar Athletic TV, Donald outlined his club’s thoughts on the return of McKinnon.
“It’s been quite a 24 hours on the back of an uncertain week,” said Donald.
“We always had an agreement with Ray that if a full-time offer came in then we’d allow him to speak to the club.
“We spoke with the other club and gave him permission and he went down to spend some time with them.
“He was in constant contact with the club and we knew perfectly well what was going on.
“After a few days, it became obvious to him that his first choice was to stay here.
“Over the last 24 hours, we continued the dialogue and yesterday (Monday) he decided to jump in the car and head home.
“As a board and a group of players – who were pleased to see him come back in – we are absolutely delighted.”
Ray McKinnon ‘a big part of Forfar’
McKinnon took over Forfar in November when they were anchored at the bottom of League Two.
A run of six wins out of seven over the New Year lifted Loons out of trouble and they narrowly missed out on the promotion play-offs.
Donald added: “Ray is a big part of this club. Everybody needs to acknowledge what he did since he came to us in November.
“We were in trouble, he turned it around and had a fantastic January window. He has been doing really well for us.
“It’s natural that he has attracted attention. That’s a compliment.
“But he’s back and you can see from the performance in the friendly with Lochee that the players have had a massive lift.”
