by Luke Cawdell

Andy Hessenthaler feels he is leaving Gillingham with a solid foundation after his second spell as manager came to an end.

Hessenthaler (pictured) will now have to watch another manager attempt to finish the work he and right-hand-man Nicky Southall started, but feels there have been many plusses.

He said: "We have brought some good players to the club, like Charlie Lee and (Chris) Whelpdale and the young ones coming through like Paulo Gazzaniga. There are loads of positives and I leave with the club in safe hands.

"The chairman will appoint a new manager who will take over the reigns and hopefully can push them on to succeed.

"I am disappointed. I wanted to carry on. We have just missed out twice on that play-off position. We could look at all the injuries we’ve had this year but we can’t keep harping on about that. We just haven’t delivered that play-off spot and it is a harsh business."

Hessenthaler faced flak from the fans – many of whom idolised him as a player – during a rollercoaster two years. But he knows that criticism is part and parcel of the game.

He said: "They are going to get frustrated but I have no problems with them and I have always had a good relationship with them.

"We just missed out and it’s a fine line. We’re very close and we have a good nucleus of a very good squad and whoever comes in will inherit some good players."