Arthurlie have announced Duncan Sinclair as their new manager with the former Larkhall Thistle gaffer the man chosen to ensure the ‘Lie successfully bounce back from relegation at the first time of asking.

The club received 10 applications for the role and they interviewed three candidates this week as they searched for Billy Ogilvie’s replacement who resigned from the post in the wake of Arthurlie’s loss in the play-offs to Irvine Meadow XI.

New boss Sinclair said: “I’m relishing this challenge. As I said to the club when I was interviewing, when I was growing up and playing football there was only two clubs you wanted to play for in the Central League and that was Pollock and Arthurlie. So to get the opportunity to manage Arthurlie is a massive compliment.

“There’s no denying it’s going to be a hard task as there’s not many players left. We’ll need to get to work on putting together a brand new team and making sure it’s a team that’s competent and capable of winning games so we can challenge at the right end of the table.”

The ‘Lie lost their top flight status last season, the first time in 35 years, with just two wins from 22 matches and 11 points but Sinclair is under no illusions how difficult a task he has taken on as he looks to start the rebuilding job immediately.

He said: “Getting the Arthurlie job is massive. It’s not a thing you take lightly because of how big it is.

“I was phoning people at 10pm after meeting the club at 8pm, so the process of meeting players and getting interest has started.

“When you mention it’s Arthurlie you’d like to think that they’re very interested. I’ll be doing that over the weekend.

“I will be contacting players that I know are capable enough to play in this division, make sure the interest is there and then go meet them.”

With pre-season getting ever closer, club president David Blakey was determined to not only get through the interview process quickly but come away with the right man for the job and he believes Sinclair is exactly that after a positive meeting.

He said: “We had a hard week of interviews but at the end of the day the decision has to be made for the good of club. We met Duncan last night with his assistant and it was very, very positive. After the meeting and hearing his plans, everyone came out with a smile on their face.

“Part of the feeling when we first spoke to him was that he knows this league. It’s different to what we’re used to in the Super.

“It will be different teams and places that he’ll know about that we won’t. His experience will be invaluable for next season.”

Blakey has admitted that relegation for a club like Arthurlie was a disaster but he insists everyone at the club - from the board to the fans - are now focusing on bouncing back.

He said: “We’re hoping to go back up. That’s the plan. If we didn’t hope for that we shouldn’t be where we are to be honest.

“Our supporters are very demanding and they’re used to success. They won’t let us away with anything less. The fans won’t accept that.”