Power said: “I am honestly and genuinely bewildered – but most of all I feel let down by the manner in which I was sacked.



“I got a call from the club chairwoman Karen Baird wanting to meet me and she delivered the news. None of the lads were to be seen.



“It was very shabby and I wouldn’t have expected that from lads like Gary, Phil, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes, who have all been in the game a long time.



“It was a dream job for me – I’m a Salford lad and I knew the club was going places so getting the sack really hurts.



“But the thing I am really disappointed about is none of the five lads rang me up and thanked me or offered me any explanation. It was very poorly done even for that level of the game.



“None of the owners rang me either in the weeks leading up – no one said ‘you need to pull your finger out, Phil’.



“It’s all a bit hypocritical when you see Phil Neville in the media and Gary on Sky TV saying managers like David Moyes should be given more time – then I get the bullet when we are a couple of points off the top.



“Phil lost his job alongside Moyes so you would have thought he would have had an understanding to at least give me a call.



“It was three days before Phil sent me a text wishing me good luck and, funnily enough, on Thursday I got a message from Gary six days after being sacked.



“That should have been done at the time and, to be honest, it was too little, too late. I know I’m a long way down the football chain but it’s the same principle.



“There were plenty of occasions this season when I had to get rid of players and no way would I do that by text or phone.



“I always got them in and did it face to face, which is the proper way, so that is the side I am most disappointed in – that no one had the time to meet me.



“At least I fared better than my assistant, Dave Chadwick – it was left to me to tell him, so it’s left a sour taste really.”



Before the bad news came, Salford had lost back-to-back games at Harrogate Railway and Droylsden.



But Power, 47, believed his stars were still on track for the one automatic promotion place or the play-offs at the very least.



“I would have been the first to hold my hands up if I thought we would be struggling to get in the play-offs,” he said.



“But I believe Salford City can still win that league.”



Phil Neville said yesterday: “Recent results hadn’t been good enough. Gary and I are due to meet Phil this week.”