Following his side’s 4-0 defeat of Ashington in a pre-season friendly on Saturday Blyth Spartans’ manager Steve Cuggy spoke about the release of the long serving forward Robbie Dale.
“I’ve had a few conversations with Robbie in the last few weeks”, said Cuggy. “It has been a really hard decision to let him go but I wasn’t 100% sure I could offer him terms for the forthcoming season. I’d originally wanted to see him and Graeme Armstrong up front for us but I think, although he’s a smashing lad, he wasn’t firing on all cylinders. He needs to get his confidence back, he needs time to regroup, and Whitley Bay were keen on him. He played for them today but the door is wide open for him to get scoring regularly again and we’ll see what happens.”
Dale was with Blyth for seven seasons and a fans’ favourite – able to produce the unexpected.
Cuggy added: “I must get on to Robbie to apologise for having to ring him about my decision but I was inundated with calls today, there is so much happening around the club at the moment, but I meant no disrespect to someone everyone at Blyth knows has been a loyal servant and a talismanic player.”
Speaking of a replacement for Dale Cuggy commented: “Lee Mason, who was with Whitley Bay last season, has come on leaps and bounds plus Graeme Armstrong is as good a replacement for Paul Brayson who left for Harrogate Town as we could have expected to get. I also have several irons in the fire and an agreement in principle, pending a phone call tonight, to bring in another striker.”
Cuggy hopes to be in a position to confirm the new player’s name on Sunday.
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