Former Bradford (Park Avenue) boss Mark Bower often looked to winger Brad Dockerty to help Avenue in their battles against relegation.
But not current manager Danny Whitaker, who sanctioned the release of Dockerty this week after five years and 119 appearances at the club.
Avenue head to Whitby Town this afternoon without Dockerty, knowing a draw could be enough to move them out of the Northern Premier League Premier Division drop zone.
Dockerty did not really get a look in after Whitaker took charge three months ago, in mid-December, and the Macclesfield Town legend revealed his reasons for that to the T&A.
He said: “There were a few things with Brad, and these kind of things always happen when a new manager comes in.
“It was unfortunate because he wasn’t in the team when I arrived, and then he wasn’t getting minutes under me, but an opportunity came up for him to go out on loan.
“We were going to get a decent loan fee for him, which should have allowed me to bring a few new lads in, and I was keen to make changes in the dressing room.
“Things needed freshening up, because there was a downbeat mood in camp with the team struggling.
“It was a chance for Brad to get back to fitness and show me he deserved the chance to get back in the side.
“But he didn’t want to go to the team we were keen to send him to, as there was another side he preferred.
“That team were only willing to cover a very low portion of his wages, which didn’t work for us financially.
“But after finally haggling and agreeing a deal with them, Brad’s preferred option, he decided he didn’t want to go there either.
“That meant we got to the stage where I asked him how he expected me to put him in my team if he wasn’t going to go out and get minutes elsewhere.”
But Whitaker did clarify: “After that, we came to an amicable decision to part ways and in football, that happens.
“When Brad was here at the club, he was never a problem for me, but ultimately we just needed the funds from his wages freed up to change things up in the dressing room.”
Avenue have been extremely competitive at home lately, which has allowed them to accrue points and move to the brink of climbing out of the relegation zone.
Their last away game was a grim 4-0 defeat against Marine, but for Whitby, Whitaker hopes his players can draw on their road trip in the middle of last month, where they expertly won 2-0 at Workington.
The Avenue boss said: “That game can act as a blueprint for us this weekend, because we didn’t completely dominate possession-wise.
“While we played some good football, we had to defend a fair bit and it was good to see us doing both sides of the game well.
“It was a good 2-0 result for us up there last month and it’s the kind of performance we’ll have to put in if we want to beat Whitby.
“Whitby’s pitch has suffered with the bad weather of late but it wasn’t the easiest surface at Workington either, so we can take confidence from how we did on there.”
Whitaker expects to have current captain Lucas Odunston back fit to face Whitby, but he confirmed that long-term absentees Mitch Lund (shoulder) and Will Longbottom (knee) will remain out injured for the rest of the season.
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