Warrington Town chairman on manager Paul Carden's departure

Here, Guardian sports reporter Matt Turner sat down with club chairman Toby Macormac to discuss a whirlwind weekend...

MT: What’s your reaction first of all and how quickly did all of this come about?

TM: I think it was always a conversation that was going to happen. It was a day that was always going to come.

Paul has been really good for the club and deserves a move up the pyramid.

We’ve had some approaches in the past so we weren’t surprised when this one came, so we gave him permission to speak to them.

Because of the urgency they had, things escalated pretty quickly and offers were made. There were lots of negotiations long into the night because they wanted it over the line.

Once Paul had made his decision, it was only right that we helped him as much as we possibly could.

We’ve got the deal over the line for him and he’s got a new challenge ahead.

MT: It will obviously come as a great disappointment to supporters, especially with the team in a good position in the league and the FA Trophy. Can you tell them how hard you fought to keep him?

TM: Very hard indeed.

When we received notice of their offer, we made a counter-offer with the best we could do this season. It was stepped as to whether we would be promoted this season or remained in the same division.

The decision was then with Paul as to whether he made the step up now or stayed to try and battle it out.

As we’ve all experienced as fans of the club, the margins of football are very fine. It only takes a misplaced pass or a refereeing decision to change the scope of a game, and you end up back where you started.

Telford is a really big club, they’ve got big aspirations as most clubs have. They’re well-supported and I think he sees that as the next step in his career.

Paul Carden celebrates the 2019 play-off win at South Shields. Picture by John Hopkins

MT: Now, I’m sure you’ll want to make sure there’s no dismantling of the playing squad as no doubt vultures will start to circle?

TM: We’ve requested that no players leave to go to Telford this season.

We can’t stop that at the end of the season when players become free agents, unless we manage to renew deals before then.

We want to keep our squad together as best we can.

MT: So the obvious next question is where do you go from here in terms of a replacement?

TM: It’s something that I’ve not even considered, simply because the negotiations have not long since finished.

Until even Sunday morning, Paul was our manager.

It’s something of course I need to think about now and get a bit of a grip of.

For the game coming up against Morpeth, Mark Beesley will be in charge.

Assistant manager Mark Beesley will take charge of Saturday's FA Trophy clash with Morpeth Town. Picture by John Hopkins

MT: I guess from now on, the priority is making sure this doesn’t ruin the platform you’ve built so this appointment is a delicate one isn’t it?

TM: It is, so we need our senior players to step up – people like Jay Harris, Mark Roberts and the like – and get a grip of the situation.

We’ve got a lot of experience in our squad and we’ll need them to come through for us and keep the group tight.