Far worse news was that during this time the club's financial situation became dire. The club had accumulated debts of nearly £4m, and owner Brooks Mileson fell ill and withdrew his financial support for the club (Mileson never fully recovered from his health problems and died on 3 November 2008). A confused management situation did not help. Whilst Rowan Alexander was officially still manager, Davie Irons was in control of the team. On 6 November 2007, Gretna officially sacked Alexander as manager and formally installed Irons in his position.