Departing Margate manager Mark Stimson has spoken of his frustration after the club’s Isthmian Premier relegation was confirmed.

Stimson was sacked by Gate after their season-ending 5-3 loss at Billericay on Saturday. They finished fourth from bottom.

The ex-Gillingham boss replaced Reece Prestedge in early December and, despite their much-improved form towards the end of the campaign, was unable to keep the Hartsdown Park club up.

“Frustrated,” said Stimson on how he felt after his Margate exit. “If I’m being honest, and I try to be honest with everybody, that’s what I feel.

“All managers ask for a bit of time. During my short spell at Margate, if you look at the last eight games, we have finally got a formula capable of doing what it was doing.

“The last eight games, we had four wins, two draws and two losses, and those losses were to the champions (Hornchurch) and Billericay. The last eight games show we were on the right track but, unfortunately, it was too late.

“You work extremely hard - and I know a lot of people have worked extremely hard behind the scenes at the club - so I’m just very frustrated for them as well.”

Stimson feared the worst for Margate’s survival prospects as winger Kadell Daniel headed off on international duty with Guyana in mid-March after a 3-0 defeat at Carshalton.

He said: “Losing 3-0 at Carshalton, having a player (Daniel) then go away on international duty and others unavailable, you think ‘Cor, we’re really going to have to put a shift in here’.

“That’s when I decided to bring some other lads in. I brought some youth over from Dartford and one in from our youth team, Gabriel Duo.

“He has been fantastic lately, along with Fyn [Rutherford].

“You get highs and lows with young ones but you get enthusiasm from them and I think a couple of the senior ones lost that.”

Another young Gate prospect, teenage forward Vinnie Bowman, is on trial with West Ham this week.

“He had a trial at Millwall - that didn’t work out,” stated Stimson.

“But young Vinnie, if he keeps going the way he is going, is going to have a good career.”

Trying to put his own stamp on the side, Stimson struggled to get his targets over the line during the festive period - albeit he did eventually get at least two in - Daniel and fellow midfielder Mo Kamara.

He revealed: “The amount of players I tried to sign in the first few weeks was incredible!

“But around Christmas time, people don’t really want to move. There’s a couple I tried to get in from Hornchurch.

“It took us about six weeks to get one of our targets over the line.

“One example - who we did sign in the end - was Kadell, who we must have been talking to for eight weeks. Kamara was another we wanted before we signed him.

“The support from the club and everybody around couldn’t be questioned. It was just the timing.”

It appeared Stimson’s time with Margate was set to end as the club released a statement last week.

Stimson recently cited a lack of regular training opportunities as a key factor behind their struggles - something the club’s hierarchy denied.

While the 56-year-old maintained his stance, he was eager to not add any further fuel to that particular fire.

Stimson explained: “Without it getting into tit for tat, because I have got respect for the club, the players were there and had signed to train once a week.

“We were able to get in at Dartford Football Club on a Tuesday and there were another couple of occasions we tried to do it but it got cancelled for different reasons.

“So, I can see where the club is coming from. But the players were already in their routine.

“I have spoken to the board and have wished them all the best.

“If they keep that group together, they will absolutely smash the league below!”

Gate’s loss at Billericay somewhat typified their season.

They found themselves 4-0 behind by half-time - top scorer Steve Cawley failing to convert a penalty at 1-0 - and they ended up on the wrong end of an eight-goal contest despite second-half strikes by Kamara, Ben Greenhalgh and Bowman.