Bairns Captain Darren Barr, “Eddie's a friend of mine and we go way back…He couldn't have done any more for the lads”
 

It's been a tough 24 hours for everyone at the club.
We are all hurting after the loss to Kilmarnock, then Eddie leaving has made it a double whammy.
Just last night he was asking people to judge the team at the end of the season, so the news has come as a bolt from the blue.
He called me today to talk things through. Obviously I can't speak for him and if he feels that it was time to go then fair enough, but I think he could have given himself more time. I think, in time, he would go on to back up my belief that he is a very good manager. Everyone here appreciates what he's done for the club, as a player, coach and manager.

Eddie's a friend of mine and we go way back. I just wish him all the best. He couldn't have done any more for the lads. We're the ones who go onto the park and didn't get the results for him. We let him down. He's come straight into a job when things weren't going right and it's hard to build a new team overnight. As players you just feel gutted, that you could have done more. He obviously has his reasons for going as he knows his own mind. That was, for me, one of his biggest strengths. Eddie always had the respect of the players because he always told it how it is.

"We just need to get on with it now. It's hard to take, but at the end of the day we can't afford to feel sorry four ourselves. All we can focus on is staying in the League.

"It's obviously not the way Steven Pressley would have wanted to take over, but he's exactly the right guy to take charge in a situation like this.
"Right throughout his career he's been a leader of men. He's had a big influence on the dressing room as a coach. He'll want to come in and get positive results and he's right - there's no way we are finished.

"The game last night summed up the season for me. There wasn't anything in it, the result could have gone either way but it's us that lost out. A few of us could have done better for the goal and we had a lot of the ball but it wasn't to be. It kills me that we can go away to Aberdeen, win and then fail to build on it. It's crucial that we start to string good results together.

"I'd like to finish by saying that I know it's tough just now but we all have to stick together. It's not the time for heads to drop or people to lose faith. There is a long way to go and we need everyone pulling in the same direction. The fans have got to get behind us. We all have same goal."

As told to Kenny Millar, The Sunday Post & The Weekly News.