SIMON Browne questioned whether Paul Miller had been “pulling the strings” at Wimborne and said he had been concerned over the director of football interfering in his team selection.

Following his sacking on Tuesday, the outgoing boss claimed Miller’s involvement in setting the budget and recommending contacts for players had caused him to take a stand.

Ex-Magpies chairman Miller initially returned as part of chairperson Paula Henley’s consortium in January but swiftly stepped down due to work commitments. In March, he was persuaded to come back as director of football.

Browne told the Daily Echo: “It was quite evident from the start of our conversations that Paula had not been making all of the decisions.

“I did have a conversation with her at a meeting to discuss the budget on April 26 and said I wanted to deal with the chairman over financial matters.

“That was not an attempt to try to exclude Paul but I felt there needed to be boundaries over who I spoke to about money.

“I wanted to go through the chairman but the rest of the conversations were driven by him (Miller) so you do wonder who is pulling the strings.

“When I asked Paula whether it had been her decision to sack me, Paul interrupted and said it had been the board’s decision and then refused to tell me who those people were.

“He said that it had been the decision of people who had put time, effort and money into the club. He wouldn’t elaborate any further and I found that quite strange.

“I don’t know whether or not he has a great deal of expertise in managing football teams or anything along those lines.

"That was a point I emphasised when he said I had ignored his offer of a contact in the Southampton area that might have been able to get players for me.

“I said that as first-team manager, the responsibility for the playing side had to be mine.

"I would have listened to people over who may be available but ultimately, alongside Brendon, I would make the decisions as to who we brought in and how we moulded the team.

“I certainly didn’t want a situation where there was any outside influence. It would be dangerous to have instances of the board calling the shots on who plays. That was not going to happen.

“I don’t know what Paul’s agenda was with that but I did make it clear that the playing side of things was my responsibility.”

In response, Henley said: “It was a unanimous board decision to part company with Simon.

"Paul has a lot more experience than I do on football matters and is an adviser to me, most certainly, but he doesn’t pull my strings.”

Miller said: “I do not influence Paula’s decisions or those of the board but given I am the only director with any experience of running a football club, I am inevitably asked for my take on things.

"Simon does not have a full understanding of what is going on at the club and has made a lot of assumptions that are clearly not true.

“I understand why he is disappointed but I wish him well in management. I hope he gets back into it soon, he deserves to.”