Paul Tisdale says he is not currently looking to replace Matt Gill and Eliot Richards after the two players turned down deals at Exeter City to sign for League Two rivals Tranmere Rovers.
Both players were out-of-contract, but had been offered deals to stay at St James’s Park next season having performed well in the 2013/14 campaign.
Richards played 17 games for the club scoring five goals – including the winner in a 2-1 victory over Plymouth Argyle at Home Park in March – while Gill played 26 times for the club last season despite only joining in October.
However, following former Grecians assistant manager Rob Edwards’ appointment as boss of Tranmere last week, both players signed for the Birkenhead club in a matter of days.
City officials were this week forced to take out a short-term loan out with the Professional Footballers’ Association and, as a result, Tisdale is not in a position to replace them.
“At the moment I’m not looking at anybody else as we are not in a position to move on anybody else,” he said. “We have lost those two players but I’m not looking for anyone else at the moment.”
Having just come down from League One, Tranmere will have had more financial clout than City, who already reduced their playing budget at the end of the campaign because of falling crowds at home games last season.
Therefore it is reasonable to assume that both Richards and Gill, who has signed as a player-coach, were offered better deals at Prenton Park. It is a problem Tisdale is used to having to deal with.
“I assume they have had a better offer, but I don’t know that for sure,” he said. “They were both very gracious in declining our best offer and taking the opportunity at Tranmere and that is their prerogative.
“We are limited and we can only offer so much and that is the way it is. I’m used to dealing with this kind of problem, but it doesn’t make it any easier. However, that is life. We just have to accept it.
“Anybody I offer a contract to I am keen to sign so clearly I would have rather they would have signed for us, but I can only do so much.
“It is one of the issues at Exeter City. It happens year after year after year.
“We lose players that we have, who move on that we can’t keep, or we don’t get to recruit players in the first place.
“So it is a continuing issue, but we accept it. Until things change at Exeter it will continue to be the same and it is not easy trying to build a side when you can’t keep hold of players.”
Tisdale added that currently there was no change in the situations regarding Matt Oakley, James Hamon and Jimmy Keohane.
All those players have been offered contracts but are currently considering their options.
Arron Davies, who is also out of contract, has not been offered a new deal but discussions with him were described as ‘on-going’ in early May. That situation has not changed either.
