IF A WEEK is a long time in politics, it’s even longer at the Vale.

Last Saturday manager Mikey Wilson resigned in the wake of a 9-0 home defeat to Tynecastle in the 2nd round of the South Challenge Cup.

Wilson took charge in March after leaving neighbours Peebles Rovers to replace Grant Sandison. And at that time Vale were stranded at the bottom of the Lowland League, but despite an improvement in performances the club was relegated.

After a successful pre-season a number of injuries to key players culminated in Vale dropping to the foot of the of the East of Scotland Premier Division.

Wilson lead the team to their first home game in three years last month by beating Hill of Beath Hawthorn, but they quickly returned to the foot of the Premier Division following a defeat to fellow strugglers Oakley United.

The club issued a statement on Monday night which read: “Following the defeat from Tynecastle FC the club football manager, Michael Wilson offered his resignation, and it was accepted by the committee.

“The club would like to thank Michael for his efforts during his tenure at the club and acknowledge the fact that he has not been helped by the horrendous injury list the club has suffered.

“Our new coach Joe Murray has agreed to take over the managerial position for the time being. Joe has extensive experience with regard to playing and coaching and is well known within the East of Scotland leagues.

“Over the last couple of months the club has been working tirelessly to bring in new players without much success, mainly due to our recent performance history, the location of the club and financial restrictions.

“Since the commencement of the Scottish Pyramid System, which has led to a lot of major Junior Clubs joining the system, many clubs like ourselves have struggled to compete financially with regard to the recruitment of players.

"However, the club is in a very stable position with many good sponsors and supporters and will endeavour to improve the playing side of the club in the near future.”

Wilson said: ““I just thought it would be better if somebody else took over and tried to add a bit of fresh impetus. There is a good core of players there and they deserve that so I fell on my sword.

“We had a really good pre-season and if we’d had the full complement of players available we’d have been fine but we’ve been going to games with only 12 or 13 players.

“I spent Saturday morning I was in the office uploading player registration forms to make sure we had enough players. But the problem is that the players we wanted to sign were reluctant due to our results over the past few years.

“Against Tynecastle I lost the plot a wee bit at half-time which is not like me and although it was constructive I just thought to myself ‘why am I doing this?’

“I wasn’t enjoying it anymore and I just thought it’s not worth it and I should take a step back and let someone else to come in with some fresh ideas and hopefully kick on because the club have got a huge potential.

“It’s been difficult because we’ve had so many players injured and so many players missing through suspension or holiday, so I’ve never had a consistent team.

“But I’ve no regrets and I have nothing negative to say about the club. I will always be a fan and will still go along to support them when I get a chance.

“Joe’s got really good contacts, he’s been playing football for a long time, and has the respect of the boys. He’s played for loads of good teams and he’s won lots of things, and I wish him every success.

Murray (38) started his professional career at Falkirk and has enjoyed success at a number of junior and East of Scotland clubs such as Musselburgh, Tranent, Haddington, Edinburgh United and more recently Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale.

He said: “I’ve been asked to take card of things at the moment until the club figures things out and I was happy to do so. If it becomes permanent, then that would be ideal as I’m looking to get into management.

“I’ve only been here three weeks and results so far have been pretty poor, but I think that’s due to a lack of numbers with players playing out of position.

“We have a free weekend then it’s a tough start against Jeanfield Swifts then Sauchie but hopefully I can use my contacts to bring some experienced players in.

“I have had some experience as assistant manager at Tranent and I like my teams to play football although I realise that in certain games you have to play over the top. But as long as my players work hard and play for the team, I’ll be happy.”