BASILDON United manager Craig Gillam said he couldn’t turn his back on the club, after an overwhelming reaction caused him to reverse his decision to resign…hours after quitting.

Gillam sensationally quit as boss of the Essex Senior League side on Tuesday night, following a dispute with chairman Dave Maxwell, telling the players the news before a 4-2 victory over Stansted that took Basildon back to the top of the standings.

However, following a protest by the players in which 12 of the 17 squad members and Gillam’s entire backroom staff walked out, the Bees manager spoke with Maxwell and the two resolved their differences mere hours later.

And Gillam, 33, says he couldn’t bring himself to walk away from the team, after leading them to their highest points total since 1998, and the season not even in February yet.

“I had made up my mind to leave at about 3pm on Tuesday,” said Gillam, who received an outpouring of support after announcing his departure. “I had had a disagreement with the chairman regarding signings and player fines and I didn’t think we could resolve them.

“I spoke to the players before the Stansted game and told them I would be leaving but to give me one last performance and they did that.

“I told the chairman after the game and drove away but I was then told the players and the rest of the staff had left and I thought about everything.

“The reaction was quite overwhelming. I had messages from players, fellow managers and supporters saying they needed me to stay and to finish what we had started, and that makes you re-think.

“Maybe I should have spoken to the chairman before I made the decision and we should have tried to iron things out but we are both quite hot-headed and maybe it is because we are so similar that we do disagree now and again.”

It is understood that Basildon’s recent disciplinary record had come under criticism from Maxwell, with 10 Bees players booked in their last two games.

And, while Gillam defended his players, he admits he understood the need to clean up their recent on-field misdemeanours in what has been a stellar season so far.

Basildon have won 19 of their 23 games, losing just four and the man who took over at the start of last season has his eyes on achieving still more.

“If a player is booked for dissent then the fine can come out of their pocket and I don’t think anyone can have a problem with that,” he said. “But we do need to clean things up a bit, although we are doing very well in the league at the moment.

“I am really proud of what this team is achieving. I said at the start of the season I wanted to finish higher than seventh, which we haven’t done this millennium and we are on course to do that.

“I want to leave my mark on this club and break records. We have a little family here and I want to keep it going.”