MORTON chairman Crawford Rae says Ray McKinnon and Darren Taylor have breached their contracts after joining Falkirk.

McKinnon and his number two Taylor had been in charge at Cappielow for just three months when they signed two-year deals with the Bairns last Friday.

After McKinnon had held training as normal, events evolved quickly, and just hours later the pair were announced on two-year deals at Falkirk.

The former Dundee United boss appeared at his first press conference yesterday with the Bairns and stated Morton gave him permission to speak to Falkirk.

In a statement released exclusively to the Tele, Mr Rae said while they were given permission to speak, he was not allowed to leave unless a six figure fee was paid by Falkirk.

Mr Rae told the Tele: “I did say to Ray during our interview stages in May that we would never hold him back if a bigger club came in for him.

“When Falkirk asked to speak with Ray on Friday I told Falkirk that Ray was contracted to Morton, we were delighted with the progress that had been made and that we would only give permission if they came back to us with a six figure sum.

“I was told that this would be put to the Falkirk board and that they would get back to me.

“Ray contacted me within 45 minutes of that conversation to tell me that a reporter had told him that Morton had refused an approach from Falkirk.

“I found the timing of this development rather concerning and I couldn’t work out where this leak could have come from.

“I told Ray at our meeting that I was planning to tell him of the approach but only after our game against Partick Thistle the following day.

“I thought it important that given the importance of the fixture that we didn’t want his focus taken away from the game in hand.

“Ray told me that he had put together a great squad, he had a great relationship with all the players and had no desire to go anywhere. He simply wanted to listen to what Falkirk had to offer.

“Falkirk were not allowed to contact Ray directly, but because circumstances had changed and Ray was now aware that Falkirk wanted dialogue, I felt given our close relationship, that I couldn’t deny Ray this opportunity.

“Whether or not we permitted Ray to talk to Falkirk is not the issue, the issue is that Ray and Darren were not released from their contracts, we intimated that their resignations were rejected and that they remained under contract to Greenock Morton until the end of May 2019.

“It appears from the press that Ray and Darren have signed new contracts with Falkirk FC, we believe that Mr McKinnon and Mr Taylor have acted and continue to act in breach of contract by entering into this new agreement.

“We believe this is wrong and we are currently seeking the best counsel in the hope of a beneficial settlement between our clubs.”

McKinnon admitted yesterday it was a ‘tough decision’ to move to Morton’s Championship rivals, but one he felt he had to make.

He said: “I have a great relationship with Crawford Rae, I have huge respect for him as a chairman and as a human being.

“He gave me permission to come to Falkirk to hold talks and we had a very emotional conversation at 6pm that night. It was a tough decision to come here and he said to me, ‘Good luck, sometimes you have to make tough decisions in your life’.

“This was a very unusual set of circumstances, you don’t think you will be offered a new job after three months.

“I just felt that I would probably have a better opportunity to achieve my ambitions at Falkirk. It was purely a football decision and that’s why I’ve moved.

“Loyalty goes both ways. Football is a brutal business, it’s a volatile business, and anything can happen at any time, as has just been proven in the last couple of days.

“You only get one shot at life and if you don’t make decisions you might regret it. I’m not going to regret anything in my football career.”