Bashley have hit back at the press coverage surrounding the departures of former manager Barry Blankley and his right-hand man Fraser Quirke.

Nearly three weeks have passed since Blankley, right, quit the New Forest helm in defence of Navy striker Quirke, who was dismissed amid allegations that players had criticised his training methods.

Bashley are confident of naming a new manager shortly - with John Robson and Geoff Butler the main names in the frame - but the Dr Martens Eastern Division club are still upset about the way Blankley's departure has been portrayed.

In a statement penned by the executive committee, the club pointed out: "The original guidelines given to Barry Blankley on his return to Bashley in January 2002 were that he should have a right-hand man who would have the free additional time available for scouting and watching other clubs and players to complement the manager, whose own time was restricted by work commitments.

"The management team chosen was Peter Moore and Barry Blankley with Fraser Quirke to continue the player/coach role he had with Bob Higgins previously.

"Unfortunately Peter Moore, for various personal reasons, chose to leave the club after just a few months and that position has since remained vacant.

"Although no immediate pressure was put on Barry to replace Peter Moore, those concerns for the need for scouting duties remained since Fraser Quirke was also restricted to his free time available, being a member of HM Services."

Bashley recommended replacing Moore and keeping Quirke on as a player. But Blankley, they claim, resisted that idea and instead brought in former Weymouth and Salisbury assistant boss Ricky Haysom in a scouting role during the summer, keeping Quirke as his right-hand man.

With the executive committee still not happy, Blankley met director of football Derek Binns on August 28 to discuss further "the changes felt essential in the interests of Bashley FC."

According to the club, Blankley initially accepted Binns's proposals only to have a change of heart on the eve of the club's FA Cup defeat at Dartford.

The executive committee statement continued: "The club has already issued a statement thanking both Barry and Fraser for their services, but spiced-up stories in the press of 'witch hunts', 'preferred visits to St Mary's' and 'someone loading the gun for others to fire the bullets' are total fabrication and are rejected by all members of Bashley FC.

"The club, therefore, resents much of the recent journalistic criticism relating to the management changes at Bashley which neither benefits this club, its supporters or any readers of those numerous articles, nor does it necessarily reflect well on the previous good efforts for Bashley by Fraser Quirke or Barry Blankley."

Bashley stressed recent events were no reflection of Haysom's imput as a scout/coach and they intend to keep him at the club in a managerial capacity.