Paul Dipre insists it was a case of sack Francis Vines or see Carshalton Athletic get relegated after the Robins boss was dumped via telephone on Wednesday night.

Director of football Dipre stepped in as Carshalton prepare for their relegation crunch clash with Tonbridge Angels this weekend.

And with the club only out of the Ryman Premier drop-zone by virtue of goal difference, Dipre was not about to stand idly by.

He said: “The recent results left me with no alternative.

“We have won just one of our last 12 league games and that is just not acceptable.

“Show me anybody who would stand by and say that type of form is OK.

“If we had been showing signs of improvement that would have been different, but the truth is the performances in the last two games were the worst I have seen for some time.

“The form we were showing at present would have seen us relegated and it got to the stage where enough is enough.”

Dipre has revealed Ian Hazel will take the reins until the end of the season, with no new appointment likely to take place until the summer.

And as far as the director of football is concerned, the season starts now.

Dipre added: “We have 17 games left to save ourselves and you have to ask the question how many of those would we have won if Francis remained in charge?

“Of course I have thought about relegation, and the truth of the matter is it depends on the club’s outlook.

“If relegation is part of a long-term progression in terms of moving a club forward in a new direction then it can be a good thing, but does not mean we will be happy to go down.

“We have massive games ahead of us and I am confident Ian will get the best out of the players.”