BACK the Dack - or cut your loss and get a new boss. That's the tough decision Newport County’s hierarchy must ponder in the coming days, weeks and months.

It’s certainly seeming straightforward at the moment, the classic case of the king is dead, long live the king. But it should be hoped and expected that those in the corridors of power at Rodney Parade are making measured plans for the long-term, rather than considering things on a match-by-match, result-by-result basis.

There is no questioning that Jimmy Dack is the right man for Newport County AFC right now, the perfect candidate to steer the ship in troubled waters after the loss of manager Justin Edinburgh.

Dack has never been a number one and seemingly has no desire to remain in management in the long term but, in terms of transition, he represents the best way to maintain the spirit and the unity that has served the Exiles so well this term.

No side showed the consistency and ability to grind out a result exhibited by the Exiles between September and January, a glorious period to be an Exiles follower that is by no means eradicated by the recent poor run that saw Newport accrue only a point from a possible 15.

That the players so clearly dispirited by Edinburgh’s departure want to perform and succeed for Dack is evidenced by Saturday’s fabulous victory at Adams Park, arguably County’s most eye-catching result of a superb campaign to date.

It was a result that made a statement, a statement that the County aren’t going to let their campaign drift away and fritter to nothing, that the players are behind Dack and still believe they are a match for anyone in League Two, something they proved throughout the first half of the season.

You’re unlikely to find anyone connected with the Exiles – this reporter included – with a bad word to say about James Dack, but that doesn’t mean County can’t or shouldn’t be looking very seriously at who they want to take the club forward.

And for all the goodwill in the world, it's likely that man isn’t going to be Jimmy Dack.

This isn’t going to be an always the bridesmaid, never the bride-style romantic comedy where County and Dack realise they are made for one another and live happily ever after following a few ups and downs where they both learn a thing or two about each other, and themselves.

Football doesn’t generally do happy endings. Dack knows the score. If he opts to become the manager, rather than the caretaker manager, he will either be a success and then leave for pastures greener, or more likely, as is the case with most managers, he’ll get the sack. It won’t be tomorrow, or this season, but somewhere along the line. Results will dip and County won’t back the Dack anymore, they’ll wish him well in his future endeavours. It was ever thus.

That’s why Dack, based in London and a regular fixture in non-league football for many years, has indicated no desire to remain in the post long-term. Nor has he committed to staying at County beyond the end of the campaign.

He is happier, in his words, as he stated in his first press conference, the day before Edinburgh left, working as a number two. He’s not one for the limelight and working in Wales, at Cardiff, Swansea, Newport or Wrexham, that’s exactly where he’ll be. You guys have an insatiable appetite for news on your clubs and I can guarantee you Edinburgh won’t have half the press commitments or scrutiny working in Gillingham that he had in Newport.

Dack has already admitted it’s uncomfortable for him being in the public eye and, barring a giant change of heart, I don’t expect him to want the County job on a long-term basis.

The Exiles hierarchy have made noises about owing loyalty to Dack and while that is an admirable sentiment, they’ll do well to remember that loyalty in football only really exists between supporters and the club they adore. For almost everyone else with only a few notable exceptions – the Matt Le Tissiers and Dario Gradis – it’s just a job.

County are endeavouring to move on from one of the best managers they’ve ever had and are in a rare position of being able to appoint a new boss from a position of almost unrivalled strength. From a non-league odyssey where it was a struggle to even play in your own city to a top six position in League Two, a situation many of you wouldn’t have dared to dream of.

The Exiles are attracting interest from seriously strong candidates and if County feel there is a stand-out, they should back their judgement and go and get them now.

It could, of course, mean a period of adjustment and consolidation when there is an opportunity at an unlikely promotion, but Newport need to be looking at a long-term future in the Football League above and beyond instant gratification. Too many people worked too hard, for too long, for any other way of thinking.

The Exiles have got three of their last four managerial appointments spectacularly right and even the mistake – Anthony Hudson – was the right man at the wrong time, having enjoyed astronomical career progression since leaving Spytty Park. He’s now serving as the national manager of New Zealand and possibly set for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. He was an impressive young coach, but County needed nous and experience and they got that with Edinburgh.

And speaking of him, let’s give him a last mention before moving on, as he has.

It is dismaying to see some County fans spitting feathers over the segment on Edinburgh on Saturday’s Football League Show, and for his departure in general.

Featured in a behind-the-scenes piece with Mark Clement, Edinburgh had some Exiles fans hopping mad for doing nothing other than stating facts.

His office at Priestfield is “plush,” – did you see it? It genuinely is compared to a Portakabin – and he’s also getting an online kicking for having the temerity to point out he’s made a step up to a club in a higher division, with a larger fanbase, who own their own ground and whose location has made Kerri Edinburgh a happier “Mrs,” who got to go out on Valentine’s Day.

How dare he state facts?

Edinburgh’s made a roaring start at Gillingham and he’ll rightly be viewing them as another stepping stone as he attempts to go from a managerial career that began at Billericay all the way back to where he made his name as a player, the Premier League.

He may or may not make it, but it’s undeniable that Newport County and Justin Edinburgh were great for one another and he deserves respect and gratitude, not insults and derision.

Edinburgh took County up, drove the move to Rodney Parade, established a training base and took Newport to Wembley twice, yet if August’s results had bled into September, Edinburgh would probably have been sacked by County. That’s the way football works - loyalty is expected, but rarely given.

You move up or you are shipped out and it’s churlish, bordering on ridiculous, to hold a grudge against someone who has been an incredible success story for your club regardless of the manner of his departure. There is no right way to leave.

Imagine leaving your job for a better one for you and your family and instead of leaving drinks and a gift, some of your colleagues chant Judas at you as you depart. It would never happen.

Edinburgh has left Newport in a position of strength where they can continue one of British football’s recent success stories, the club that rose as a phoenix from the flames over a quarter of a century.

Now it’s time to write the next chapter, with County’s board having a lot of big decisions to make, with the long game in mind.

They’ve got a big appointment to ponder and, as a business, sentiment can’t come into it and potential short-term instability needs to be factored against the potential for long-term growth and success.

Back the Dack by all means, for now, but you’ve got to be looking beyond tomorrow.