Raith chairman: We did all we could to keep McKinnon

McKinnon was unveiled as the new boss of Dundee United today after informing the Raith board of his decision to resign yesterday.

Young said the 45-year-old’s decision to leave was “disappointing” but added that the club had done everything in its power to retain the man who led the team into the promotion play-offs.

“Over the last three days Eric Drysdale and I met Ray on three occasions to discuss the position of Raith Rovers,” Young said.

“We made Ray the most attractive deal we could offer, within reason.

“It is disappointing that he has decided to move on, but we wish him well.

“At least we know we made our best possible offer to keep him.”

Young praised McKinnon’s handling of the situation and stressed that his resignation does not affect the Kirkcaldy club’s right to receive compensation.

“I’ve had a lot of contact with Ray over the last week and he has been first class,” he added.

“He has done a great job for us and it’s just a pity we couldn’t keep him longer.

“However, United has been his club from a very young age.

“We are in a much better place today than we were a year ago.

“We just need to ensure that we repeat our success of last year.

“The work on that has started.”

The Raith board are meeting today to start the process of looking for a new manager and to draw up a list of candidates.

The vacancy is sure to be an attractive proposition with most of the play-off team signed on contract extensions for next season.