Coleraine have hit back at St Mirren over comments made about Oran Kearney's exit from the Scottish club.
St Mirren's chairman Gordon Scott claimed on Tuesday that his club had "no control" over Kearney's departure .
He also claimed it was "pretty obvious" the former Coleraine boss was heading back to the Showgrounds.
Coleraine responded on Wednesday, voicing its "disappointment" at the comments.
In a statement posted on their website, the Bannsiders said: "We wish to set the record straight that Coleraine FC has at all times conducted itself in a professional manner, in accordance the rules and regulations of the IFA, and had no contact with Oran regarding the vacancy at the club until it was confirmed he had parted company from St Mirren.
"We had interviewed a number of candidates for the position and had been refused permission to speak to another candidate whom we had identified as potentially our new manager.
"Furthermore, the last minute cancellation of the friendly with St Mirren was a major disappointment to not only Bannsiders, but also to a number of St Mirren fans whom made the journey none the less to the North Coast.
"We look forward with confidence to the start of the Danske Bank Premiership season under the management of Oran."
Scott claimed on Tuesday that Kearney wanted to commute from his Northern Ireland home on a regular basis.
"I think he wanted to commute literally on a daily basis, which to me was unacceptable," he said.
"But we'd moved on and come to a compromise but that obviously wasn't enough for him.
"I can understand that and understand every reason why he wanted to go back to Ireland. The only disappointing thing for me was the manner in which it was done."
Kearney was unveiled as Coleraine's new manager last Thursday evening.
He hit back at the “conspiracy theories” around his much heralded return to the Showgrounds.
“I’d be bloody Houdini if I could set up half the things people have suggested," he said last week.
“Some of the conspiracy theories on social media are interesting to say the least.
“I just thank my lucky stars Dundalk wouldn’t let Coleraine speak to Ruaidhri Higgins - if it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t be sitting here.
“If you’d told me 10 days ago I’d be in this scenario, I wouldn’t have believed you, but football like life can change very quickly and circumstances change.”
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