Bristol Rovers boss Graham Coughlan has revealed the thought process behind releasing two fans' favourites.
Midfielders Chris Lines and Stuart Sinclair will depart the Memorial Stadium when their contracts expire in June.
The experienced duo are among 10 players released by the Gas following their League One survival.
Lines made his 500th and final appearance over two spells for the club in the 2-1 home win against Barnsley on the final day of the season. The 33-year-old first turned out for the Gas in 2006 as a 19-year-old.
Bearded central midfielder Sinclair was a popular figure with fans. The 31-year-old signed from Salisbury in 2014 and helped them return to the Football League, scoring eight times in 161 appearcances.
However, despite their popularity both players have been released as Rovers look to freshen things up.
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Speaking to BBC Radio Bristol about his reasons for letting Lines go, Coughlan said: "I just wanted to freshen things up. Linesy's not always been available and I thought it was important that we give him the send-off and that he reached the milestone [500 games] on Saturday.
"I just wanted to get a little bit more strength and power and maybe a little bit more pace and dynamism into the team.
"Linesy's a tremendous player, he's been a tremendous servant and he was a very important player for this football club, but I just thought his time had maybe come, that it needed freshening up."
Coughlan added that Stuart Sinclair had become frustrated at his lack of opportunities before his release. The energetic midfielder made just 18 appearances last season as he struggled to break in to Graham Coughlan's starting XI, with the Dubliner opting for creativity over graft.
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"Sincs is a special lad. He was a little bit miffed with me, he wanted more chances, he wanted more opportunities," said Coughlan.
"It was a tough decision to go with Ollie [Clarke], Ed Upson and Abs Ogogo over Sincs, but again he's been a great servant, he's a great lad as well.
"If anybody phones me up about them players I will give them a glowing reference because I've really enjoyed working with them."
Coughlan said despite not getting much game-time, the squad players had helped them stay in the division.
"The strength of any team is not just the ones that take the park, it's the ones that aren't in the team - they set the tempo, they set the tone in the background," he added.
"If not on the pitch, they played a major part off it in keeping us in League One."
