FORMER Newport County manager Jimmy Dack admits he’s “disappointed but not surprised,” to see the squad assembled by him and ex-boss Justin Edinburgh decimated since their departure.

New boss Terry Butcher released 12-players last week with Adam Chapman and Darren Jones also exiting, alongside goalkeeping coach Ryan Mackerness and fitness coach Tony James.

The prospect of academy boss Mike Flynn and coach Wayne Hatswell staying on is yet to be revealed, while physio Adam Roche and veteran backroom staff member Bobby Morris still haven’t had their future fates confirmed, nor kit man Andrew Hart.

And while Dack admits he doesn’t agree with Butcher wielding an axe when only trimmings were required, he has backed Butcher’s bravery in setting his stall out.

“I was surprised and also not surprised, if that makes sense, I get it, but I don’t agree with it,” Dack told Argus Sport.

“You can see that Terry has come in and wants to make his mark and put his own stamp on things.

“But to get rid of so many, for me, that wasn’t necessarily what was needed.

“But Terry needs to do what he is comfortable with.”

Dack admits it was a genuine end of an era moment when he read of the player releases.

“It took four years to put that group together and a week to pull it apart, but football is that kind of sport, these things do happen,” he said.

“We felt we were only perhaps two strikers’ short of being a squad that would be capable of finishing in the top four or five, but it isn’t our decision anymore.”

Dack has been strongly linked with a return to Crawley in recent days, a club he represented as a player, following their relegation to League Two.

They’ve recently appointed ex-Cheltenham boss Mark Yates as their new manager, someone who also came close to landing the Rodney Parade hotseat.

Yates and Dack are firm friends and Dack has been linked with the vacant assistant manager’s role, with local reports in Crawley even stating he was spotted at the ground with Yates.

“That’s totally untrue, unless I’ve got a doppelganger and I’d say it is highly unlikely you’ll find two such handsome blokes,” he said.

“I must have a double, because I wasn’t even in Crawley!

“I am friends with Mark and recommended him for the Newport job, so I can see where the link comes from.

“But as yet, I haven’t heard anything about my next move. I have put some feelers out, but don’t have anything sorted yet.”

As previously reported in Argus Sport, Dack won’t be renewing acquaintances with Edinburgh at Gillingham, but is open to taking a job as a manager, an assistant or a coach, with a preference to remain in the Football League.

If he does end up joining Yates at Crawley, he will revisit Rodney Parade next term.