FORMER Newport County AFC manager Graham Westley says he can hold his head high after leaving the club 11 points from safety at the bottom of League Two.

Westley was dismissed following the 4-0 home defeat to relegation rivals Leyton Orient on March 4, having won just once in his final 20 matches in charge.

He was replaced by coach Michael Flynn and the Exiles closed the gap at the bottom to nine points with a 2-1 victory at Crewe Alexandra in Flynn’s first match in charge on Saturday.

Writing in his regular column in the Football League Paper, Westley defended his record but also said he was pleased to have left the Exiles behind.

He outlined the reasons for his failure to turn things around at Rodney Parade and also confirmed that he had resigned in November only to stay on after secretary Graham Bean was sacked instead.

“I feel relieved to have left the Newport challenge behind,” said the 49-year-old, who had succeeded Warren Feeney in October.

“I wasn’t having fun. I was not enjoying the slog.

“Everything was harder than it can possibly be if you are going to win consistently.

“There are times when I wish I was a quitter. Because I could easily have walked away from Newport.

“I did resign in late November when I realised just how frustrating the job was to me.

“But I was persuaded to stay when the club fired its secretary instead of letting me leave and I took on my sense of duty to give my heart to the club and fulfil my contract.

“It was a very difficult job over time to compete in the Football League with Newport’s resources and the way those resources are structured.”

Westley listed the problems facing County as he sees them, including: the lack of a ground of their own; the “difficult and demoralising” training surface; the poor pitch; the lack of administrative and support staff; the lack of an analyst, fitness coach, full-time physio and dedicated coaches; poor player recruitment.”

The former Stevenage, Preston North End and Peterborough United boss continued: “I inherited a side that had won once in 24 games and, despite my best efforts, I only managed to win six of my 29 games.

I moved a four per cent win rate up to a 20 per cent win rate. Even that was really hard graft.

“In leaving I can hold my head high though.”

Westley claimed credit for “developing the new manager” and for “strategic/structural changes” to the club.

He added: “Twenty-two of the players have texted me really positive testimonials about my work with them, with many endorsements referencing their growth both as people and players , and many expressing personal and collective disappointment.

“And I recruited a low cost/low liability draft of players in January that has given the club a good chance of a strong end to the season without any serious summer or ongoing costs; the best team at Newport right now is a good solid League Two team. No question.

“The team I constructed is good enough to stay up with key men fit and everybody behind it.

“It won’t be easy and there will be bad days along with good ones [but] the team does have momentum now.”

Reflecting on the reasons for his sacking, Westley said he understands why the board took the decision.

“I know I did good work,” he said. “I believe the club invested in a League One manager to create a miracle, lost faith after the loss to Orient that it would happen and cannot afford my salary if they do slip into the National League.

“So they are taking steps before money issues get away from them. Simple. Understandable. I get that. It I fan owned and there is no big backer. Money matters.”

Westley concluded by stating that he did “just a bit better” than his predecessor Feeney.

“Given time I’d have done a bit better still,” he said.

“And a bit better again. Because I’d have relentlessly pursued betterment throughout all areas of the club until we got it to the best level it could be at.

“Fans [only] see results. And if improvement isn’t big enough, emotion can lead to the trigger getting pulled and the bullet getting fired.

“I’ll dust myself down now and begin developing my skills for the future.

“Football is ever-changing and a manager who wishes to thrive in the future must learn to evolve and adapt enormously.”