Legendary defender Ray Stewart is heading for another change of career direction after quitting Scottish second division Forfar Athletic earlier this month.

"Tonka', who left Stirling Albion to take over at Station Park in early 2003, resigned after a disappointing run of results culminating in a dismal 5-1 defeat by lower league local rivals Montrose.

Forfar had started the season in impressive style but the general concensus north of the border is that the players had let themselves down in the past couple of months.

Ray's record there reads: won 31, drew 19, lost 32 - but that doesn't tell the story of life as manager of a small, part-time Scottish club struggling to make its way on very limited resources.

He had experienced much the same at Livingstone before continuing to cut his managerial teeth at Stirling.

Restless Ray is unlikely to be idle for long and would no doubt relish a full-time role at a club with the potential and ambition to match his own.

Stewart told EX: "Aye, I'm going to take a wee break and see if another job comes up. But it's very hard now, there's not that much about.

"I felt I'd done all that was expected of me at Forfar. In the past two years I've cut back on their expenses by 50%, saving £10,000, which is a lot to a club of their size.

"We reached the semi-finals of the cup and were in with a shout of promotion last season. We started this season very well, too, but I wasn't happy with the way things were going in the weeks leading up to the cup defeat by Montrose and then that performance just finished me. My pride was hurt.

"They are a good bunch of lads but I felt they needed someone new to give them more fire, so I spoke to the chairman after the game and decided it was best for me to stand down".

Ray revealed that one of the first to call and offer him words of support and encouragement was his old Hammers boss, John Lyall.

"John phoned me to tell me not to get too down and to keep bouncing back, which was very nice and typical of him,'' says Ray, who will be returning to Upton Park as Phil Parkes' guest in the hospitality lounges for the home game against Sheffield United on January 3.