IT’S now been a whole year since Justin Edinburgh left Newport County AFC for Gillingham but the former manager still casts a large shadow over the club.

The manner of his departure still rankles with some fans and his recent remarks on current County captain Mark Byrne have done nothing to improve his popularity rating in Newport.

In my view he doesn’t deserve the levels of vitriol he receives in comments on the Argus website and elsewhere from a small number of Exiles supporters.

Sunday marked the first anniversary of Edinburgh’s departure and it seems a good time to look at some stats.

In the 12 months since the Gills appointed Edinburgh on February 7 last year, County have played 46 matches in League Two – a whole season’s worth of fixtures.

In that time, under the stewardship of Jimmy Dack, Terry Butcher, John Sheridan and now Warren Feeney, the Exiles have won 11 matches, drawn 13 and lost 22 in the league.

That gives them a total points tally of 46 for the past 46 games – a figure that would have meant relegation to the Conference in the 2013-14 season and a 21st-place finish last term.

In the 46 games before Edinburgh exited stage left, his side won 16 matches, drew 14 and lost 16 in League Two – giving them a total of 62 points.

That is the equivalent of finishing eighth in 2013-14 or 12th last season.

His record in his first year at Gillingham is even better with an impressive 26 wins and 13 draws from 53 matches in all competitions.

The only area where things have improved since Edinburgh’s reign is in the cups, with Sheridan guiding County to the FA Cup third round for the first time in 30 years.

Those stats, not to mention a successful battle against relegation back to the Conference South and two trips to Wembley and promotion to the Football League after a 25-year struggle, prove what most Exiles supporters already acknowledge – that Edinburgh is a talented football manager.

But, as we all know, football is as much about opinion as it is about facts.

As far as supporters are concerned, it’s about passion and loyalty as well.

But players and managers have to look out for number one in what can often be a cut-throat business.

After three and a half years in charge, first at Spytty Park and latterly at Rodney Parade, Edinburgh opted to move closer to his family home.

He joined a bigger club, playing at a higher level in a bigger and better stadium, and no doubt for a bigger salary.

It happened before him and it’s happened afterwards.

A similar move didn’t work out for Dean Holdsworth at Aldershot Town and the early signs are not good for Sheridan at Oldham Athletic.

But history has so far proved it to be the correct decision for Edinburgh with the Gills currently a point off the automatic promotion places in League One.

The subsequent 12 months – with three managers coming and going – have not been so kind to County.

The drawn out and somewhat cloak and dagger nature of the parting of the ways certainly tainted Edinburgh’s legacy in the eyes of some fans.

As manager and reporter, Justin and I didn’t always see eye to eye.

His rant down the phone about my match report after a defeat at Bristol Rovers in January 2014 lives long in the memory.

It almost led to me being banned from attending the following week’s pre-match press conference.

We patched things up but were never going to be bosom buddies.

That’s football – everybody has an opinion. But it’s hard to argue that Edinburgh wasn’t a positive force for County.

He certainly left the club in much better shape than he found it.

Yes, the club is still counting the cost of his spending in the Les Scadding era and some deals – the Joe Day one for example – don’t exactly look value for money.

But the windfall from Conor Washington's recent move more than made up for that and, when you look at what he achieved in his time in South Wales, there was more good than bad.

As for his comments last week about Byrne being ‘on his radar’ – they are commonplace in the modern game.

Feeney is a good friend of Edinburgh’s and he doesn’t have a problem with them.

And I don’t think there’s any chance of it affecting the skipper’s form.

If anything the carrot of a move to a club that could well be in the Championship in 2016-17 should be a motivating factor.

Byrne won’t take his eye off the ball and Feeney won’t let him or any other member of the squad slack off between now and May.

It’s now been a whole year since Justin Edinburgh left Newport County AFC and it’s time to move on.

The early weeks of Feeney’s reign have been encouraging in terms of performances and results.

Hopefully, after 12 months of turmoil on and off the pitch, we can look forward to another sustained period of stability and upward momentum.