Derry City chairman Philip O’Doherty said the way their players “surrendered” to Drogheda United was the final straw for the board and led to the dismissal of manager Peter Hutton.
City made the decision last night with the Candystripes just two points clear of the automatic relegation place with six matches left in the SSE Airtricity League.
Derry exited the FAI Cup at the hands of Cork City on Monday - a match which proved to be the final game in charge for Hutton - but it was the league result on 5 September that forced their board into action.
Former Finn Harps boss and current assistant at the Brandywell, Paul Hegarty, has been appointed interim manager until the end of the season.
O’Doherty told BBC Radio Foyle: “If you look back, we gave Peter a year and-a-half. The results speak for themselves. I had a long conversation with him yesterday. The final straw for me personally was the Drogheda game. We basically surrendered.
“It was probably the most important game of the season which if we won would probably have left us safe. I think you have to give a local person a chance. You could argue whether it could have been done sooner or if it could have been done later.
“We wanted to give him the chance to win against Cork in the Cup game. It would have got us into the semi-finals and it was our last chance for European qualification.
“We were left with no other option. With six games to go we have six Cup finals now over the next few weeks.
“It was a difficult decision and probably a 50/50. We have been toying with this for a few weeks now. I think the board had thought long and hard about it and everyone's opinion has been taken into consideration. I wasn’t convinced we could give him these last six games. Hopefully there will be a bit of a bounce.”
“Derry City is not that attractive a place. Irish football in general is very much Dublin-focused.”
The Derry board have come in for criticism after the appointment of Roddy Collins, prior to Hutton, also ended in failure. O’Doherty said the job is proving a hard sell and there is little interest in the post in comparison to other clubs in the league.
O’Doherty said: “All we can do is appoint the best candidate from the people that apply. We haven't had a lot of choice in terms of numbers. We've interviewed the applicants and made our best choice and they haven't really worked out.
“We get a very small number of applicants any time we do have a vacant managerial position. Derry City is not that attractive a place. Irish football in general is very much Dublin-focused.”
Hegarty begins his tenure as manager with a vital match against Shamrock Rovers on Friday and the Derry chairman is hoping to see supporters react positively to the new regime.
“Paul is in until the end of the season. He certainly got a response working with Peter with us for the last few weeks. I am hoping the supporters will get behind Paul Hegarty to try to make us safe in this relegation dogfight," he said.
"We have, at the minute, these six absolutely crucial matches and then we are going to decide. That is what Paul has asked for and that is what we have agreed. I am totally happy with him.”
