RONNIE MOORE admits he takes no satisfaction in sending his former club Tranmere Rovers out of the Football League.

The Hartlepool United manager led his side to unlikely safety, securing their future at the weekend as they beat Exeter and Rovers lost at Plymouth.

Moore was sacked from his position at Prenton Park, at a time when the club was in League One. Back to back relegations have followed.

He was out of work for eight months before taking over at Victoria Park in Decembner and he admitted: “Tranmere was tough to leave, to come back into the game, I’ve enjoyed it more than ever. Getting involved day to day is a lift, my first day I couldn’t wait to get involved in it.

“I’m actually gutted for Tranmere, a fantastic club, a big club and I feel for the fans, who are like Hartlepool – so vocal and so passionate.

“I’m not sounding big headed, but they would not have gone down last season if I was still there.’’

Moore has criticised former chairman Peter Johnson for removing him from his position after the manager was charged by the FA for betting irregularities.

He added: “They would not have gone down this year the same, that’s my opinion. I know we had turned the corner when I got the sack and a certain person made a vital error that cost me a lot of money – what goes around comes around doesn’t it.

“You always wonder if the phone will ring again. It’s a betting scandal isn’t it? You see on Twitter that I’ve had five grand on Tranmere to get beat.

“I had a fiver on us to win ! There was 11 £1 bets on there, it was wrong, a simple mistake and a man to man conversation would have solved it and I’m sure that this decision would not have happened.’’

Moore, who will be back at Prenton Park on May 4 to manage a Tranmere select in a testimonial for Ian Goodison, has been hailed across the game for his efforts in keeping Pools up, from a position when they were ten points short of safety in January.

He was only once nominated for a manaher of the month award, but missed out in March despite four wins to shove Pools out of the bottom two.

But as for a big award to mark his achievements, he said: “Manager of the year? I don’t think so. It usually goes to the league winner, it would be nice to get a manager of the month – I’m not bitter! But when you have Wycombe, Shrewsbury and Burton up there and we win four in a row.... I think someone had a mental block somewhere – but I’m not bitter.’’

Winger Jack Compton is the first to announce he is leaving, and Moore will be looking to reshape his squad this summer to ensure there’s no repeat of the struggles of recent campaigns.

Pools dropped from League One two seasons ago, struggled to avoid the drop last season and this campaign has been chaotic.

Moore said: “We can have a go next season. You need to be lucky at this level, the right signings, the right players in the right formation and we will sit down with the chairman and see what road we want to go down.

“But if you can put that effort in and grind it out, you don’t need the best players, but the best team.

“I’m not bright enough to say we are going for promotion next year, but let’s enjoy being a Football League club because of what has gone on. We were so so close to not being one, we don’t want this to happen again.’’

And Moore paid tribute to midfielder Tommy Miller after his late cameo appearance against Exeter meant he has racked up 600 career apperarances.

Miller started out as a trainee at Pools, before moving to Ipswich for £750,000 in 2001 and returning last summer.

He has been out with a calf injury since October and Moore opted against pitching him into a relegation scrap until the weekend.

“It’s great for Tommy, he’s worked hard in training after injury and it’s nice to get him on there and it’s nice because he’s given the club a lot of good years,’’ said Moore.