You will not find Gavin Skelton among those football people who insist that management is the toughest game of all. Now spending Saturdays at home, with five-month-old son Henry, the newly unemployed Cumbrian has a more grounded perspective.

"Before, I was leaving the house at half-five in the morning and coming back at half-six at night," he says. "I realise now how hard it must have been for my wife, with the baby. That really is the hardest job in the world.

"I've got no excuses now. In the last two weeks my nappy-changing has gone tenfold."

Parenting skills are coming more routinely to the 35-year-old since his surprising departure from Queen of the South after just 20 games this season. Football development manager and club legend Jim Thomson has since taken caretaker charge and Skelton's fate - described officially as "for personal reasons" - invited curiosity.

Speaking for the first time about the episode, he is happy to stress there was no private crisis behind the news. "Normally, people can't wait to ask you what's gone on," he says. "But maybe because they saw 'personal reasons', they've been a bit cautious with me. They don't want to rock the boat if they think it's something serious.

"But I can assure people I'm all good. I love where I live, my family are fantastic; there's no problem there at all."

Skelton says it was a meeting with Queens chairman Billy Hewitson, two days after a 4-1 defeat to Dundee United at Palmerston Park, that brought things to a head 19 days ago. He does not divulge what was said, out of respect for the "private" nature of the conversation, but insists he left without a grudge.

"We discussed a few things, there were some factors on my side, but we were respectful to each other," he says.

"It was a good, open conversation. Whether, over the period, there were things I'd have done differently, and things they'd have done differently, I don't know. We all have our reasons. But we parted on decent terms."

Appointed at the end of last season, after a spell as No2 to James Fowler, Skelton - formerly Workington Reds manager - steered the Doonhamers to an impressive 10 wins from their first 12 games from mid-July. But the next 10 saw just one win and six defeats.

Skelton says he sensed "about a week before" his exit that something may have been in the air. Reflecting on his spell overall at the Scottish Championship club, he adds: "I was delighted with how we started, but we probably over-achieved and, in hindsight, it would have been good to get some [extra] bodies in.

"We had a consistent team playing week-in, week-out, but I lost three or four with injury, and a couple of players who had been flying went off the boil a bit.

"There are small margins in football. Games we were winning, people said we were playing brilliantly when maybe we weren't. And games we lost 1-0 were probably our best performances of the season.

"That's football. But I did enjoy it. When you reflect, you start looking at facts and figures, and my win ratio from league and cup was 55 per cent. I gave plenty of young players their debuts - half my squad was usually made up of players who'd come through the academy - so I'm quite pleased with what I achieved, even though it was short-term."

Without criticising the management structure he worked in, Skelton says this was different to what he had experienced before. "I didn't have a first-team coach or assistant manager. I had a director of football operations [Thomson], who was the link between the chairman and myself. On a day-to-day basis it was fine, but it was a new role for me.

"He has been at the club a long time and will be there a long time. His wife works for the club as well. They've got the club at heart. And the club's the most important thing, not individuals. Managers and players...you're passing ships.

"I'm sure they will appoint who they think is right and, with the players they've got, they can have a good season. I certainly never had any problems with the players. I've heard from every single one of them since I left, which was a nice touch."

Before results dipped, Skelton had some memorable days with Queens, such as a 3-1 comeback victory at Hibs in the League Cup during a seven-game winning streak.

The experience of managing against Rangers at Ibrox, albeit in a 5-0 defeat, was also educational, likewise the further period when he couldn't buy a win. "Some managers blame their players, but I always looked at myself first," he adds. "And you learn more when things don't go so well. Some coaches and managers keep a book for making notes. With the defeats, you're filling page after page. The good games, you're just drawing smiley faces."

His unexpected break enabled Skelton to clear his head and enjoy some time with his young family. But now there is a void. "Since I've been 11 or 12 I've always been involved in a game on Saturday or Sunday," he says.

"This is the first time I've not been attached to a club. For the first week, I stayed away from looking at any sort of football results, and that first Saturday was quite a nice break. But then your head clears. The last couple of weeks Saturday has just been another day, which is strange.

After a fine playing career with Gretna, Kilmarnock and Barrow among others, management deepened the feelings Skelton now finds himself chasing. "When I got the [Queens] job, it was 24/7, full-on. It sounds silly, but even with the travelling, and having a new-born, I never felt tired. I was running on adrenaline.

"I realise now what it means when people say the game's in the blood. I imagine it's like a drug. Although it gets to you at times, you cannot be without it. That's the feeling at the moment."

In the short-term, Skelton has dropped to England's ninth tier for his fix. Last week he signed for his local club, Appleby AFC, in the Westmorland League.

"My mates run the team, a couple of them still play, and it's a minute from my door," he says. "Although I'm doing some work on Radio Cumbria, I'll play if I get the opportunity.

"I'm proud of my town. When they won the league a couple of years ago I was really pleased for them. I played there when I was under-12 and they've made me feel welcome."

It is, naturally, a much lower level than he has been accustomed to. But Skelton does not mind. "I actually get a greater love for lower-league football than, say, the Premier League, which is a bit predictable. I'd rather go and watch a non-league game, or be kicking a ball around."

Despite his positive reputation in the professional game, he admits he does not know what longer-term opportunities might await. Nor does he presume there will be a quick route back. "It sounds corny, but I absolutely love football, whether that's playing, managing or coaching. I'm 35, and I don't think I'm pigeon-holed into any one area.

"I feel I've got a lot to offer. But football doesn't owe you a job. I've worked outside the game before, at college, and I've spoken to a couple of mates about different projects.

"I've always tried to have one eye on that, because the game is unpredictable. You never know what's around the corner, as I've found out. So I'm not worried - if I have to go and get another job, I feel more than capable of doing it."

Perhaps fatherhood brings this realistic perspective, but Skelton does not sound like he is scarred by the recent past. "All it's done is make me hungrier," he says. "You cant feel sorry for yourself. Clubs move on, I move on.

"My family doubt it, sometimes, but I am quite a positive person in my own head. So I just look forward."