John Askey: Former York City boss 'disappointed' at how sacking was handled

John Askey won 26 of his 59 games in charge of York City

Former York boss John Askey has said he was "hurt" by the way he was sacked.

The Minstermen sacked Askey, 58, on Wednesday after just over a year in charge of the National League club.

He had led the club to promotion from National League North through the play-offs last season.

"To have to stand in front of a printer and wait for a letter to be printed off and then be given it to see that I had been sacked... that hurt me more than anything," he told BBC Radio York.

"I'm disappointed with how it's been done.

"They talked about me coming in to talk to them and said it was about my contract. I said if it was about my contract I would need legal help and they said just to come in and pick the letter up. I think I deserve better than that. I think anybody does."

York, who are 12th in the league, are without a win in all competitions since 15 October, but Askey claimed nobody from the board had suggested they were unhappy with the team's progress.

However, the club released a second statement on Wednesday to say the former Macclesfield boss had told them at the start of this month that he wanted to leave.

The Minstermen were taken over in the summer by the York City Supporters' Trust, who immediately sold a 51% stake in the club to investor Glen Henderson.

Askey revealed that an interview Henderson had given to BBC Radio York two weeks ago prompted him to tell the board he felt "undermined" but denied he had said he did not want to stay.

"The reason I said what I said was after the chairman's interview. I felt undermined and that there was no encouragement," Askey said.

"I said that I couldn't work with an owner or chairman who is doing this all the time. That's what I said, I didn't say I wanted to leave.

"It started in pre-season with the chairman going to the players and asking if they were happy with the style of play. He said when we won promotion that he didn't think we were playing good football. It's not what you want to hear as a manager."

York won promotion back to the National League after five years in May after a play-off win over Boston United

Trust chairman Mike Brown, who now sits on the club's board, said the breakdown in the relationship between Askey and Henderson had left the club with no option but to look for a new manager.

"Their relationship didn't get off to a great start when John was asked what he thought of Glen and said 'not much'," he told BBC Radio York.

"I would say there has been a couple of times when Glen has spoken to players, on one occasion a player approached him. He then referred the player to the manager.

"There were clearly differences of opinion on where the boundaries were for what the involvement was that Glen should have."

He added: "When any business gets into the situation where an employee is unhappy, you are in the position where it is not in anybody's interests to carry on. It was a heart-breaking decision to make and I feel awful about it."