IAN Maxwell says that he feels responsible for the part he played in Partick Thistle’s relegation before swapping his managing director’s role at Firhill to become the chief executive of the SFA.

Maxwell’s last day in charge of Thistle coincided with the second-leg play-off final defeat to Livingston on Sunday, before he started in his new role at Hampden just a day later.

But he insists that he wouldn’t change anything about the way he went about things last season as the Jags dropped into the Championship.

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“I think you have to take that responsibility,” Maxwell said. “I don’t have any regrets. The decisions we made during the season were the right ones for those particular times. If I had to do it again I’d make the same decisions.

“It was horrible. Everybody was devastated. It’s the only real low point we’ve had in the time that I’ve been there. It’s one of those things, it’s just the nature of the game — teams get relegated.

“Finishing the top six the year before was an incredible achievement. It probably raised expectations and put extra pressure on everybody. I’m not saying that’s the reason we got relegated. It’s not.

“But, I tend to look at the clubs, if you go from St Johnstone in the Premier League down to Raith Rovers in League One. We’re all very similar. There’s not a huge amount between any of us. Dunfermline, Falkirk, St Mirren, Motherwell, Killie — we’re all very similar in size.

“We managed to get promoted five years ago and had stayed in the division. You get everything that comes with that, in terms of driving the club forward and make changes.

“The good thing is I’m leaving the club in a good place structurally. We run it for the size of club we are, we don’t run it for the division we’re in.

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“So, I can’t see there being wholesale changes. It’s not like Gerry was going in Monday to have to make loads of people redundant. We don’t have anywhere to go with the staff because we keep things so tight.”

While Maxwell now has to remain impartial, he admits that Thistle will always hold a special place in his heart.

“Listen, it’s been a huge part of my life,” he said. “It’s always a club whose results I’ll look for. I enjoyed my time there, but things move on.

“And the timing couldn’t be helped. Everybody knew I was starting this job on the Monday and the play-off game was on the Sunday. If it went one way it was the perfect day to leave, and if it went the other way then it was the worst day to leave.

“Unfortunately, it was the worst day.”