Westley dismissed by Newport

NEWPORT County yesterday parted company with manager Graham Westley.

The League Two outfit sit bottom of the table and following Saturday’s 4-0 defeat at home Leyton Orient are now 11 points adrift of safety.

County have won just one of their last 20 matches under Westley’s leadership, and there were reports earlier this week that the club were meeting to discuss Westley’s future. On Wednesday the club issued a statement saying that Westley had not been set any deadline to save his job.

Late on Wednesday night they decided to tell Westley his services were no longer required and the players were informed yesterday morning.

The Exiles will have coach Mike Flynn in charge for the rest of the 2016-17 season.

Newport have also let Westley’s assistant Dino Maamria go and Flynn’s coaching staff is yet to be finalised.

Westley, who replaced Warren Feeney at Rodney Parade in October 2016, was County’s fifth manager since Justin Edinburgh left to join Gillingham in February 2015.

The club statement read: “The board of directors would like to place on record its thanks to Graham and Dino for their hard work in challenging circumstances.

“Graham has worked extremely hard in improving standards throughout the club.”

It had been decided at a meeting on Monday that Westley would be in charge for the away matches at Crewe Alexandra on March 11 and Morecambe on March 14.

But former County midfielder Flynn, who Westley brought back to the club following his appointment, will now take temporary charge starting at Crewe.

Last Saturday’s home loss to Leyton Orient – the side directly above them – was a bitter blow, with Westley describing it as a “devastating defeat” and admitting relegation was looking a likely prospect.