The sales of Banks and Dougan saw the club decline and although the signings of Lenny Glover and Allan Clarke (the latter for a British transfer record of £110,000) showed promise, a bout of tuberculosis and ill health saw Gillies forced to spend time away from the game and his assistant Bert Johnson took over team affairs briefly between January and March 1968. The illness took its toll on Gillies though and saw his managerial abilities wain and on 28 November 1968, with the club sitting 17th in the league the board sacked his assistant Bert Johnson and first team coach George Dewis. Gillies resigned in protest. His resignation was officially announced at 4pm on 30 November 1968, exactly 10 years and 21 days after taking the job.