NEW manager Graham Westley has made former player Michael Flynn part of his coaching team as he seeks to learn everything he can about Newport County AFC.

Flynn, who retired from playing in 2015, worked as a coach under previous managers John Sheridan and Warren Feeney last season before moving into a new role as football and business development director in the summer.

But, after Feeney was sacked last month, new boss Westley feels Flynn’s presence will be vital to ease the transition between regimes.

“Michael Flynn is joining us in a coaching capacity,” said Westley.

“He’s already embedded within the football club, he knows the club really well, he’s doing his UEFA Pro Licence and I’ve met Michael and I know of Michael.

“He knows the football club and one of the most important things when you come from afar is to make sure that you’ve got someone really close who is bang on your side who is helping you understand the football club.

“You have to make sure you don’t make basic errors by not understanding the people that you’re working with and the club you’re working with.

“I think it’s vital that you are prepared to integrate into the football club.

“Don’t expect as a manager to get respect from people if you don’t respect the football club – it’s very much a two-way process.”

Flynn replaces first team coach Sean McCarthy, who acted as caretaker manager last week before leaving the club on Monday.

“It wasn’t a decision really that I made,” said Westley on McCarthy’s departure.

“The club asked me to put together a framework for management.

“I brought in my assistant from Stevenage [Dino Maamria] and there are financial aspects to what you can and cannot do at any football club.

“For certain people to arrive certain people have to go.

“There’s nothing personal in any decision that gets made in these situations.

“You want to work sometimes with people who know you and you know them because you’ve got those understandings and there’s no learning curve between you and them.”

He added: “Everybody who departs in a situation of change on the management side you feel for.

“They’ve all got families and situations and you have to be really mindful of that and I always am.

“But the people who’ve come before they’re not decisions that I’ve taken, I’ve just made decisions about who I am going to work with.”