Birthday blues
By Adam Summers

Saturday 13th January 2007

TODAY was supposed to be a time for celebration for ex-Weymouth assistant manager Kevin Hales but instead he is still reeling from his recent departure from the Wessex Stadium.

It is the Dartford-born coach's 45th birthday but he is unlikely to receive a present that will make up for the disappointment he has suffered over the past few days. Hales and ex-boss Garry Hill both got the push on Tuesday.

Hales said: "I am still in complete shock. I can't believe it has hap-pened and happened so quickly. On Monday we were talking about bringing players in and going to Spain for a three-day break but then we got a phone call to meet the chairman. The next thing we were not in a job. I am just totally and utterly shocked and I had no idea it was coming."

The club released a statement in November saying that Hill and Hales had both signed new contracts until 2010 but those deals were never finalised.

Hales said: "My contract was not signed. There were a couple of things that had to be changed and it was due to be signed this week. I actually still have a copy of it in my possession.

"Normally you get sacked when you are not doing well, not when you have had the type of success that we have had over the last 18 months."

Hill and Hales led the Terras to the Conference South title and a lucrative FA Cup clash with Nottingham Forest last season. and this term their success looked set to continue until their shock departures.

As well as benefiting from another lucrative FA Cup tie against Bury, the club are also currently sitting in
seventh spot and in a position where they can compete for Football League status. But with the whole squad being transfer-listed the out-look is now very bleak.

Despite the huge financial cut-backs at the club, Hales insists him-self and Hill stuck to the budget set down by chairman Martyn Harrison

Hales said: "Every manager is given a budget from their chairman and we were under that budget.
There was no excess spending from the football side or management side, and we had enough money to bring in the players that we wanted to bring in as we discussed with the chairman last weekend.

"I am disappointed for the players and I am also disappointed for the supporters as well. They have been on a high but now all of a sudden everything has changed. We knew we were not too far away from the Football League and those opportunities do not come around very often, believe me.

"I hope all the players keep their careers going in an upwards direction and I would like to wish the supporters every success in the future. I also hope Weymouth get the points they need to stay up because relegation is a real danger now.

"I have always thought that 50 points would be enough to stay up and at the moment they have 43.

"It took 17 years to get the club would he a shame to see it fall back down straight away."