Andy Hessenthaler: 'I would have taken Gillingham up too'

Andy Hessenthaler believes he too would have secured promotion had he been give one more season as Gillingham manager.

Hessenthaler resigned as director of football on Tuesday, having been manager from 2000-2004 and 2010-2012.

"We were building and I felt at the time that replacing me was the wrong decision," he told BBC Radio Kent.

"Martin Allen has done a fantastic job, but obviously a small part of me thinks 'that could've been me'. I do believe I'd have taken the club up as well."

In a reshuffle in the summer of 2012, Hessenthaler was moved upstairs by chairman Paul Scally in favour of appointing Martin Allen as the new manager.

Gillingham also sold goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga to Southampton and received a cash boost from the sale of Matt Jarvis from Wolves to West Ham thanks to a sell-on clause.

"I felt we'd had a bit of bad luck injury-wise and was disappointed to not be manager anymore," continued Hessenthaler, who now plans to look for a new job in management.

"I respect the club too much and have a great relationship with the chairman and the club, so I took the director of football role to stay part of what I felt we were building.

"But with the money that became available thanks to the Gazzaniga and Jarvis deals, and from selling Luke Rooney last January, I think I would have won promotion."

He added: "When me and the chairman interviewed Martin we knew we were close and just needed something a little extra.

"Hopefully the club can kick on and get back into the Championship as I was lucky enough to manage the club there and it was an absolutely brilliant time."

"I've missed the coaching and managing side of things a lot so it's right for me to go and I'm really happy to leave the club on a high."