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'Why I left' - Tony Hesketh
Former Chorley manager Tony Hesketh has spoken out about his departure from Victory Park on the eve of the Magpies game with Lancaster City on Saturday.
Hesketh left Chorley just before the end of last season and was soon joined at Lancaster by his assistant Phil Brown and several players including Chris Ward, Roger Sharrock, Jordan Connerton and Adam Farrell.
His new side arrive at Victory Park top of the league and Hesketh has spoken now to set the record straight.
He said: "I'm looking forward to coming back to Chorley. Sadly, the true facts of my leaving the club were never revealed.
"It disappoints me that people will have an opinion without having the full facts. I'm not going to go into it but I don't blame the fans."
Hesketh stressed he had no problem with chairman Ken Wright but said the financial goalposts changed during the season.
"Lancaster didn't dangle a financial carrot for me to go," he said.
"The budget I'm working to at Lancaster is the same one I started with at Chorley at the start of last season."
He said the FA Cup defeat to Atherton LR – which he described as his worst loss in management – had a crippling effect.
"Myself and Phil were working at a loss," explained Hesketh.
"I understand why the money had to be cut but not that soon.
"Ken Wright's hands were tied and I fully undertstand that. The defeat to Atherton had a serious impact on the club and our cashflow."
Hesketh also rejected the idea that he took all of Chorley's best players with him to Lancaster.
"There was not a mass exodus from Chorley," he said. "I did not take all the side with me. We left a good nucleus. Jordan Connerton only played a handful of games for Chorley."
Hotshot Connerton has attracted interest from league clubs after scoring 32 times this season but Hesketh dismissed the idea Lancaster were a 'one man team'.
"We've scored 103 goals in all competitions," he said.
"That means 70 odd goals have come from elsewhere.
"We have over-achieved (at Lancaster). We have a very young side. We're not a team of stars and we're not the finished article.
"We've given ourselves an excellent chance of at least a play-off place.
I think we've played about 17 games at home and only seven away so the league table is distorted.
"I'm looking forward to going back to Chorley on Saturday. The support is fantastic. Ultimately Saturday's game is about three points."
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Weather for Chorley
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -5 C to -0 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light sleet showers
Temperature: -0 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South west
