JUSTIN Edinburgh’s decision to extend his stay as Newport County AFC manager is fantastic news for every supporter of the club.

There has been intense speculation over Mr Edinburgh’s future in the last two weeks as the bookmakers made him the odds-on favourite for the vacant manager’s post at Gillingham.

Yesterday, as we revealed exclusively on our website, the speculation ended as Mr Edinburgh pledged his future to the Rodney Parade club. He is close to extending his contract with the Exiles.

Make no mistake, County came close to losing their manager.

Gillingham may be struggling in League One while County are flying high in League Two, but they are a far more established Football League club and, crucially, they are virtually on the doorstep of Mr Edinburgh’s Essex home.

As he told us: “I can’t pretend it (the Gillingham post) wasn’t a situation that potentially interested me.”

Thankfully, a meeting between the club’s off-field management team and Mr Edinburgh this week was successful.

Justin Edinburgh has taken Newport County from non-league relegation candidates to League Two promotion hopefuls in three short years, via two trips to Wembley.

His signature on a new contract is, without doubt, County’s best signing of the season.