Albion Rovers boss Brian Reid has praised Declan Byrne for his honesty after the club’s star striker left for league rivals Stirling.
His departure comes after Ousman See’s acrimonious exit played out over Twitter last month and See eventually joined another one of Rovers’ rivals, Edinburgh City, last week.
Rovers claim they contacted See 12 times to offer him a new deal without reply before announcing his release on Twitter, something See tweeted was news to him.
So Reid praised Byrne for his conduct in letting Rovers know he wanted to move on.
“Declan was honest with us, he was up front and at least he was able to speak to us about it,” said Reid.
“The thing with big Ozzy See signing for Edinburgh City and us letting him go on Twitter, at least Declan contacted me and he was straight about it.
“That’s football, people move on and all you are looking for is a bit of honesty and Declan certainly did that.
“He’s decided to go to Stirling and that’s shame for us because he was a good player for Albion Rovers, he was our top scorer last season and he was a big part of what I was planning to do.
“Obviously we are disappointed, but I know how football works. I wish Declan the best with his career.
“We just need to try and replace him and I am trying to do that.”
Stirling Albion made a statement of intent with Byrne’s capture, coming days after they also lured Andy Ryan to Forthbank from under the noses of League One Airdrieonians.
Reid, who also saw midfielder Giuliano Moreno depart after deciding against a return to Scotland, added: “Stirling Albion are obviously spending a bit of money and trying to build a squad.
“If they are outgunning Airdrie then that tells you what they are probably paying players.
“But I’m only concerned about Albion Rovers and building our squad. Other clubs can spend what they want.”
Meanwhile, Reid has revealed he’s waiting until pre-season before really dipping in to his transfer budget.
He added: “In this business you are always speaking to players.
“But as pre-season comes back we’ll have people in on trial because there will be a lot of players looking for a contract.
“I’ll definitely keep a bit of money back for pre-season for building the squad.”
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