Hereford FC manager Paul Caddis has confirmed that the club faces a ‘completely squad rebuild’ this summer in his latest update to supporters.
From Paul Caddis:
“Hi all – I hope you’re all well and enjoying the break.
“If you’re anything like me you are itching to get back in amongst it again and as promised when the retained list was published, I will now give you an update on where I am at with the players to date.
“I met every single player for face-to-face meetings in Solihull on the Thursday following our last home league fixture to present them with the decision I had made. I knew we had to freshen the squad up, but I was also aware we finished on a record high points total and only 1 point off the play offs, where in any other season 76 points has gained as high as 4th position.
“I wanted to keep as many as the squad as possible of course within the budget we have to work. As always, I will never stand in any players way and I will always be open with you all. I understand the Chairman has rightly said the budget has increased, but without giving a figure, as explained by the chairman in his update, this still does not mean we are a strong arm in the division financially.
“Squads next season are also larger due to the increase of matchday subs from 5 to 7, so an increase would be natural in those circumstances.
“The football club is working towards a different model further down the line, which is credit to the players and, most importantly, the supporters over the past 2 seasons giving the club a more stable look, which actually puts us in a position to look forward in ways to progress the club. However, that is in the future and for now we will be looking at a rebuild of the current squad.
“Rest assured it’s not the ideal scenario I wanted to find myself in, but we understand the players have families and/or opportunities that we simply can’t match nor offer at this given time. I wish all the players who have moved on the very best in their footballing journey.
“We have a job to get on with now with a rebuild of the football playing squad and as of today we will start to make moves for players. I wanted to give the current squad some time to have a think about the offer and opportunities presented to them, as they have my full respect and deserve the time to make a decisions, but we now agree that time has been of a generous length and work has to go on.
“Everyone is ambitious and I won’t discredit anyone for trying to better themselves. Certain players will move for certain reasons. Some have full-time offers which we wish them all the best with and take great credit in providing the platform for players to better themselves. Some players have trial opportunities with EFL clubs which we also wish them the very best for and most players have offers that we won’t get into a battle with. Again, everyone has their reasons and I respect them, but as the players now know the most important factor in all this is Hereford FC and we will crack on with our work now.
“I know it’s not the news you wanted to hear, but as always I won’t just tell you what you want to hear. I can only be true to myself and give you the truth. You deserve that and as long as I am the manager of the club that’s exactly what you’ll get from me whether some like it or not.
“It is never an excuse it’s always simply the reality. You deserve that open dialogue because of the significant hurdles we have all overcome since I walked through the door 2 years ago and because of you as fans and, loyal ones at that, things are now looking a brighter, both on and off the field.
“Take Care – Paul Caddis.”
