It has been a week of change for Kyle May, Penrith AFC and Workington Reds.

After Saturday’s 4-0 home defeat to fellow Northern League, Division One strugglers Whickham, the Bonny Blues announced player-manager May had left the Frenchfield Park outfit the following morning.

But the centre-back quickly returned to action as he agreed a short-term deal with Reds, where he has made almost 550 competitive appearances, on Monday afternoon.

“If I honestly thought that I had anything else to give that club to try to get them out the situation they are in, I would have stayed,” May admits.

“But I have tried absolutely everything I feel I could do. So, to be honest with you, the only thing I could do is step aside and let somebody else try because I don’t think I could do any more to keep them up.

“I have fallen short [this season] because it hasn’t been good enough, and I appreciate that. Maybe somebody else now needs the chance to do a better job to get them out the position they are in.”

Andy Coyles, first-team coach and also head coach of England men’s University’s team, has been placed in temporary charge at Penrith and this week brought Workington Reserves manager Billy Redden in as his assistant. Their first match in charge on Wednesday was abandoned due to a floodlight failure.

For May, having joined Penrith in November, he has had a real up-and-down 11-month stint with the club.

He revived their fortunes last season and steered them to Northern League survival, as well as reaching the Cumberland Cup final, where they were beaten 2-1 by Cleator Moor Celtic after extra-time. But May was left watching that final at Brunton Park from the stands after a freak injury left him being fed through a tube and needing an operation on his gullet. May was fit for the start of Penrith’s 2018/19 season but hasn’t been able to stop the club from again sliding to the foot of the Northern League.

“It started brilliantly but sometimes as a club like Penrith, who pay little wages, that’s what happens when you get success. People come looking and pick players up and things change very, very quickly,” May reflects.

“Obviously losing last year’s main strike partnership [Martyn Coleman and Andy Murray-Jones] has been probably as bigger downfall as any. The keeper situation has been very, very tough with Stu [Dixon] leaving a week before the start of the season [for Kendal], as well.

“When you look at that, that’s half the spine of your team already which I couldn’t replace, to be honest. I tried but I couldn’t replace it.”

May also reveals he was concerned the Bonny Blues would end up in this position - even before a ball had been kicked in the competitive 2018/19 season!

He says: “I had my doubts in pre-season.

“I made it clear to the board, with some of the things that had happened, that this was definitely a possibility that this could happen.

“They knew what the situation was. I warned them and they knew the dangers they were getting themselves into. They had massive warning signs last year and, unfortunately, they are in a position where they can’t really build on what they have got at the minute.

“Financially and with the players knocking about, at the minute, they [are competing against] quite a few clubs at a similar standard and then you have Workington Reds who are a bit above that. So, there’s a few clubs for people to choose from at the minute.

“At one stage, we could play a certain way and get away with it by grinding results out.

“But the Northern League is a good league and we have brought players in from lower-leagues. It’s been a struggle for them.

“I thought a couple of weeks ago that I’d give it one more try.

“Over the last month, I have been thinking about it and trying different things, but nothing has really worked. Then, I tried some dual-reg [loans] from Reds and that didn’t work.

“That was all my ideas used up so I felt, after Saturday, that was enough for me.”

Now having stepped aside from his first managerial role, May says the experience has given him “an insight” into what it takes to be a manager.

“It’s definitely given an insight into what managing is all about,” he accepts.

“There are a lot of changes from club to club, as well, [and] different expectations. It has given me an insight into how you manage players and things I probably need to work on if I was ever to go back into management.

“There is stuff I could improve on. It’s given me a great insight.

“I’m guessing it’s just like playing - playing for different clubs is different, so you have to take it as it comes.”

And despite his quick return to Borough Park, May was keen to stress the move hadn’t been pre-planned.

He adds: “I know a lot of people will think that was pre-planned but, actually, it wasn’t. If I was going to do that, I would have done that at the start of the season, or whenever really.

“I speak to Dabba [Dave Hewson, Workington Reds’ joint manager] quite a lot anyway. He was talking about a couple of other players coming along and stuff, so I said ‘You maybe better hold off until things settle’ because I wouldn’t like to take players and then not be there to look after them after giving him my word.

“So, that was the situation. He knew the situation and I said, if things go really badly on Saturday, that could be my last game. That was in my mind.

“He messaged me after Saturday’s game and asked if I had resigned, and then asked ‘Would you fancy doing a month at Workington’? So, I spoke to him on Monday and met up with him on Monday night. He obviously has Sam Smith and Josh Calvert out injured and they’re going through a rough patch themselves, so that’s how it’s come about, really.

“I feel very privileged to be asked back by Dabba and to go back to Workington where I spent a large part of my career.

“It has given me a massive boost. It’s something I didn’t expect to happen and, at my age, it has given me a chance to prove that I can still play at that level. It will be a big challenge.”