Disappointed Albion Rovers boss Brian Reid says anybody who doesn’t want to be at the club can leave, after forward Kyle Doherty snubbed a new contract offer.
The club’s top scorer called time on his Cliftonhill stay after a season which saw him go on trial at English Championship side Queen’s Park Rangers.
Last month, Doherty was hopeful of arranging a second trial stint in London, although QPR have since parted company with gaffer Mark Warburton and brought in another former Glasgow Rangers man in Michael Beale to replace him.
Regardless of the QPR situation, 20-year-old Doherty has decided his future lies elsewhere.
And Reid said: “The mind-set now is that it doesn’t matter who it is, anybody who doesn’t want to be at Albion Rovers... if they want to move on I’ll certainly move them on.
“We don’t want players at the club who don’t want to be there.
“Kyle came in two years ago, I gave him his first start in senior football and he did well for the best part of that.
“But if players want to move on I wish them well, and hopefully he goes on and has a good career.
“If somebody wants to move on there’s little that we can do – that’s the kind of club we are, we can’t hold onto players, and even at part-time level players can move on, because it’s mostly yearly contracts.
“As you’ll see in all the other divisions, players are just moving from club to club, and that’s the nature of the beast.
“Kyle moves on, we wish him all the best hopefully he has a good career, but that’s it – we move on and we’ll get somebody else in who wants to play for Albion Rovers, and that’s it.”
Addressing his exit on social media Doherty – who netted eight goals in 36 appearances last season – said: “Time’s up for me to move on from the club.
“Been many ups and downs but enjoyed every moment, thanks for the memories team. Time for something new.”
It is a frustrating one for Reid who is working round the clock on the recruitment front and brought in three new signings this week, with the captures of midfielders Michael Paton and Kyle Fleming, as well as defender Aytron Sonku.
But he admits he can’t compete with some Lowland League clubs financially.
He added: “I can’t go with bundles of cash and try to tempt people to sign early – players are holding out and they want to try and get the best deal, which is what players do at this time in the season.
“It’s tough this season because a lot of the Lowland League teams are signing players with big money, so now that you’ve got them competing it makes it very difficult, especially for a club like Albion Rovers whose budget maybe can’t match some other teams.”
“It is what it is, but it’s certainly not for the lack of effort. We’re trying to get players all the time, so that will just continue right through until we get them.
“We’ve retained probably 50 per cent of the squad from last season, and I would maybe have liked to have retained more of them, but there are circumstances as to why some have moved on.
“The early blow for us was [James] McGowan and Lewis Wilson having to go away for work reasons, which was two experienced players.
“There were others like Doherty who decided they want to go elsewhere, and it is what it is.
“There will be players moving on and at part-time level there’s nothing you can do about it, you’ve just got to try and get it going.”
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