In a podcast interview with Craig Telfer of Scottish lower league football website Tell Him He’s Pele which went live on Thursday night, Irons speaks at length about his time as Ton boss between February 2008 and September 2009.

He is scathing in his analysis of his relationship with club owner Mr Rae and insists there was a difficult working environment at the club.

Later the 53-year-old goes on to claim that assistant Collins let him down and that Grady and McManus undermined him as they angled for his position.

He said: “It wasn’t the most enjoyable club to work for, but I know I worked hard for them and I thought I did a decent job. But it’s probably not really acknowledged in that way.” In response to being asked what Douglas Rae is like to work under, Irons said: “Very difficult to be honest. He wants to control everything at the club.

“He wanted to be in the dressing room. He wanted to voice opinion in front of … I asked him not to do that.

“He was a difficult character to work for: demanding. But, you know I can understand why.

“It’s his club and he loves it, and he funds it, just like Brooks Mileson at Gretna.

“I don’t think he liked the way that I worked. I kept him in the loop at all times but I didn’t want him in the dressing room on a Saturday and I didn’t want him picking the team and he didn’t seem to like that. Nobody stood up to him at Morton; what he said went. The fact that I was prepared to stand up to him, I don’t think he liked it.

“I think he quickly made a decision that I wasn’t to be his manager for much longer, because I had the beliefs that I’ll pick the team.

“Yeah, I’ll give him his place, but ultimately I’ll pick the team and I’ll have the say in the dressing room.

“So he was a difficult man to work for, but I’m sure there’s other difficult chairmen to work for throughout football.

“I do think there are issues at Morton that will always be there as long as the chairman is around I would say.” On assistant Collins, he said: “At the time I took Derek, I thought it was the right thing, but I quickly realised I’d made the wrong choice in taking Derek. I mean, he wasn’t experienced in coaching; he had no qualifications. And Derek quickly used the job as a way of getting back up to the sort of Greenock area. He wasn’t overly dedicated in coaching and I found myself pretty much doing everything. That disappointed me in Derek.

“And Derek quickly became just a burden, to be honest. That’s maybe a hard thing to say but that’s the way it worked out.

“He didn’t have the love for the coaching I thought he had, and he admitted it when we lost our jobs, that he wasn’t really into the football side of things, that he just wanted to get up the road.

“So he kind of let me down in that respect, but as I say it was another lesson to be learned.” Irons also criticised managerial successors Grady and McManus for what he perceived to be a betrayal.

He said: “James Grady was a kid at Clydebank years ago.

“Clydebank were going bust as well and I got James Grady a move to Dundee, which kick-started his career.

“I got James Grady to Gretna, which gave him a new lease of life.

“I brought him to Morton, which gave him another new lease of life. I helped him at least three occasions in his career and I know for a fact that he betrayed me bigstyle by going behind my back to the chairman, running to the chairman with stories and all sorts of things.

“That’s an example of someone who was coming to the end of his playing career and who saw this as an opportunity.

“Along with Allan McManus, who was his pal, they did a good job to get me out the door. That’s something I’ll not forget. I know that’s all true. I know exactly what went on. He’ll not admit it, but I know exactly what went on because I had journalists who ran the story the previous week about things going on at the club … I knew where it had come from.

“But he stood up in the dressing room and denied it. That’s probably one of the most hurtful things, that somebody could blatantly lie to your face and all I’d ever done in his career was to help him.” He concluded: “I’ve moved on now. It’s a chapter in my life that’s been closed now and I’ve learned a lot of lessons from it.

“Morton seemed to be a particular club that there was so much in-fighting, and lack of support, lack of togetherness, and I think ultimately that’s why Morton’s where they are.” To hear the full interview, visit https://soundcloud.com/tellhimhespele/episode-three-david-irons