Buckland offered resignation after defeat but will stay at YMCA for time being

Horsham YMCA FC. Peter Buckland. Pic Steve Robards SR1627534 SUS-160926-165217001

But after a meeting with the chairman it was agreed Buckland would stay on.

YM are currently 16th in the Premier Division and have only won three of their nine games so far.

After a Williams Peauroux penalty condemned them to 2-1 defeat on Tuesday, Buckland said it was the lowest he has felt in football for quite a while.

He said: “I offered my resignation after the game because of results and after a meeting with the chairman it’s agreed I would stay put and if I still feel the same at the end of the month we will do it properly and professionally.

“We will interview and recruit a manager and phase them in alongside me and then I will move upstairs. They aren’t going to get rid of Bucks that easily.

“Immediately after the final whistle people want to talk to you and ask you this and that and I was just so down about it all. It’s the lowest I have felt in football for a while of course after a night’s sleep the world can be a different place.”

And Buckland knows a couple of wins will put them back on track to be in the top half of the table.

He said: “It’s been frustrating. I know I am a better manager than what I am producing and I know the players are better than what they are producing.

“But of course they are married and at the moment we are going through divorce negotiations. It’s got to be a happy marriage for it all to click together.

“Ultimately if you get three back to back wins the world’s a different place. It is a tough time which is why it would have been silly to just walk away now.

“We’ve got to be more professional in our approach and it was selfish of me, stupid really to be honest, to do what I did. For me to resign like that is bonkers. I know many managers before and in the future have done and will do the same thing.”

Buckland believes his side should have been 3-1 at half time against Crawley Down but they missed two gilt-edged chances before they did equalise through Ollie Gill.But a second half penalty gave the visitors the three points.

YM face Saltdean United on Saturday and Buckland said: “We’ve got players back and we should have, for the first time since pre-season, have a full squad available from Saturday onwards. That will impact on things.”