Simon Osborn has revealed in the Evening Mail that the decision not to offer him another contract was not taken by new Manager Richard Money, but was, in fact, taken at Board level.

The player, third in the season’s Player of the Season awards, seems to have been got rid of for financial reasons. It can only be assumed that, as one of the higher earners in the club, it was decided to let him go.

He also said that key players “shied away” from the challenge of the survival battle last season.

“Some players shied away from the challenge,” Osborn said. “That’s a fact and it’s the sort of hard fact the club needs to face up to in the light of a terrible season.

“They have just been relegated so they need to look very closely at what’s gone on. They say when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Well there were some players, including some who are popular with the fans, who shied away when the going got tough.

That was the most disappointing thing of all. I was hurting badly and some of the other players were hurting badly and doing absolutely everything they could to dig the team out of trouble. But were all the players doing that? I don’t think so.”

The question (and the suspicions) remain as to who fits the description of “players, including some who are popular with the fans, who shied away when the going got tough”.