BURY chairman Stewart Day insists he did not hit the panic button when appointing manager Lee Clark.

The former Kilmarnock boss signed a two-and-a-half year deal at Gigg Lane yesterday after the Shakers agreed a compensation package with the Scottish outfit.

Chris Brass and Ryan Kidd were placed in temporary charge after David Flitcroft’s sacking in November, but three months on Day is happy he took his time with appointing a successor.

“It may have had an element of surprise but it was not done on the back of the result against MK Dons,” Day told the Bury Times.

“Chris Brass and Ryan Kidd were always a temporary thing while we bided our time to find the right man.

“It was never a case of hitting the panic button. I always take my time to make sure the decision is the right one.

“When Kevin Blackwell left I put Ronnie Jepson in temporary charge and took my time before appointing David Flitcroft.”

Clark is now tasked with keeping the Shakers in League One – they are currently fourth-bottom, two points from safety, and face a crucial clash at second-bottom Chesterfield on Saturday.

The long term plan is to allow the 44-year-old to build his own squad in the summer – but first he must drag the current crop out of the drop zone.

“The remit for Lee is to keep us in the division this season and then build on that next year,” Day added.

“We have 14 players out of contract in the summer so it will be up to him what he wants to do with it.

“I approached Lee to get him here, not the other way around. Lee didn’t apply to become the manager of Bury, I went out there and approached him because I think he is the right man for the job.

“Lee had a compensation clause in his contract but we felt we could not meet that clause.

“We approached Kilmarnock and they agreed to terminate his contract for a compensation package that we negotiated.”

The Bury chairman also revealed former Burton and Birmingham manager Gary Rowett was never a possible candidate.

He said: “People were saying to me why not Gary Rowett but the last job Gary Rowett was linked to before us was Swansea.

“We’re not Swansea – we had 2,000 fans on Tuesday night and had the third lowest attendance in the entire Football League against Swindon on Saturday.”

Meanwhile, Day has confirmed Kidd will return to his former role as under-18s manager, while a new position will be offered to Brass, but the specifics are still to be ironed out.

Clark is due to meet the players at Bury's Carrington training ground this morning before taking his first press conference as Shakers boss at 10am.