John Potter has hailed Raith Rovers’ departing stars as he admits ‘difficult decisions’ had to be made over the future direction of the squad.
The Kirkcaldy outfit have announced the exit of nine players, including four loanees who have returned to their parent clubs.
Five were not offered new contracts with their current agreements coming to an end.
Euan Murray and Aidan Connolly have had two spells at Stark’s Park and Kevin Dabrowski became something of a cult hero last season.
And, with ex-Dundee United full-back Kieran Freeman and youngster Jake Nicholson making up those leaving, Potter has confessed it is never a nice feeling to see good servants depart.
“It’s difficult,” the technical director said to the Courier Sport of the process.
“The one thing that I would always say that we’ve had in my time in the last couple of years is a very good group, whether it was last season or this season.
“That’s in terms of how they go about their work, how they train every day, how they look after themselves, how close they are.
“It doesn’t always mean that you get the wins you want. But, in terms of their attitude and how they go about their work, they’ve always been first-class.
Potter: ‘We’ve got to freshen the squad’
“And that’s been guys that are in and out of the team, guys that are playing and that are not playing.
“So, in terms of that, yes, it’s difficult.
“You’ve got decisions to make, and there’s guys out of contract, there’s guys in contract, and that’s moving all the time. Some maybe wanted to leave as well.
“But you’ve got to make tough decisions. We’ve got to try and freshen the squad up a little bit, and some guys have got to move on.
“That’s just football and how it is. But, as I said, in terms of the ones that have left, they’ve been first-class in their work here at Raith Rovers.”
Six players – Liam Dick, Jamie Gullan, Callum Hannah, Andy McNeil, Ross Matthews and Callum Smith – are also in discussions over contract extensions.
However, those departing will allow manager Barry Robson to put his own stamp on the squad he inherited in late December.
“There’s areas where we want to try and improve on,” added Potter. “That’s not always easy, and we’ve made these decisions.
“It took us a little while, because you’ve got to remember what you’ve got in the building, which is really important. And we have got a really good group, as I said.
“But managers want to freshen things up a little bit and we need to try and get some different types of players into the club.
“People have got to move out, and people have got to come in. Sometimes that’s just the way it is.”
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