Casey Stoney has hailed outgoing Manchester City boss Nick Cushing as one of the best in the game and admitted his departure will be a big loss to the Women's Super League.
City announced that Cushing would be leaving the club after six years in charge to become assistant at New York City and he took charge of his final game on Sunday as the Blues beat Arsenal in the league to go three points clear at the top of the WSL.
During Cushing's time at City the Blues have become a dominant force in the women's game winning six trophies in six seasons and Stoney hailed her colleague.
"I think he’s a big loss to the women’s game. The women’s game owes him an awful lot of credit and I’ve said for many years there’s been an awful lot of average coaches in the women’s game," Stoney told the MEN.
"And he’s not one of them. He’s come in and coached and developed his team and developed young English players and I think it’s a huge loss to the women’s game but a great opportunity for him at his point in his career."
And it was an emotional afternoon for Cushing as he watched his team come out on top in a tense 2-1 win at the Academy Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
"I got emotional at full time but I think that's because I'm proud of the players," he said. "It almost breaks my heart to think that (that's it's over) because it's been so good and after a result like that I kind of want to stay.
"At no point would I have walked out of here happy, even after 10 years. The last five games I feel like I've split up with my girlfriend but I'm still living in the same house as her. A bit strange.
"But I feel like I've left this team in a place where they can consistently go on and win."
