Paul Simpson was in charge at Edgeley Park for less than six months

Stockport County director Peter Snape has told BBC Radio Manchester the reasons behind Paul Simpson's sacking.

Lord Snape claims that Simpson did not get along with assistant manager Peter Ward or recruitment officer Alan Lord.

"Paul did not get on with Peter Ward," Lord Snape told BBC Radio Manchester. "When he came here as manager, he said he would work with the existing staff.

"He said he was fine working with Peter and Alan Lord, yet we had nothing but problems," added the County director.

"With that sort of background things were not happy behind the scenes.

"The results were dreadful, the football was hit and hope as far as we could see and we were going nowhere except down the league and we had to make a change."

Former Rochdale, Carlisle, Preston and Shrewsbury Town boss Simpson, who joined the club in July, managed just three wins in 19 League Two games, leaving the club in 21st.

Lord Snape, a member of the 2015 consortium that took over the club last summer, admits that new Port Vale manager Jim Gannon was their first choice.

"Ultimately, we had to appoint Paul Simpson in a bit of a hurry," said Lord Snape.

"We wanted to appoint Jim Gannon, as everybody knows, in the last close season.

"We negotiated with Jim, we gave him a deal that we thought he wanted, a deal that he asked for but, while he was making his mind up, tragically his father died.

"He then decided the time wasn't right to come back to Stockport County. Indeed he has gone on now and good luck to him and to Port Vale."

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