Axed Hastings United boss speaks out on sacking – and wishes fans well

Barnes, appointed in the summer, was sacked last week just 10 league games into the season – and has now been replaced by the returning Chris Agutter.

The Us won four and drew two of Barnes’ first six league games – then went on a run of four defeats and two cup exits as some key players moved on.

Barnes told the Observer the decision came as a surprise when there’d been no hint of it to him at the previous day’s game, a 3-2 loss to Wingate & Finchley.

“I wasn’t told anything other than to carry on, then 24 hours later came the phone call.

"The last three or four weeks were a bit strange. I feel as soon as the new owners took over they wanted their own man in. That sort of thing can be very unsettling.

"I know we’d had some defeats but after 10 games we had four wins, two draws, four defeats. That’s not the end of the world – and we’d been trying to get the budget down too.

"Perhaps we’d over-achieved to start with and raised expectations too high. A mid-table place was about righr given our resources.”

Barnes said he’d enjoyed building a rapport with players and fans in his short stint at the Pilot Field and had been inundated with messages wishing him well since he lost his job.

"I’ve made a lot of friends and I wish nothing but the best for the supporters. I’ll be back somewhere – this hasn’t affected my motivation or desire to be involved in football.”