JIMMY Calderwood has started his cull of the current Pittodrie playing staff, but is disappointed that Barry Nicholson and Sone Aluko are on the list of 11 who are going next month.
The Aberdeen manager paid £250,000 to bring Nicholson from Dunfermline but will lose his star midfielder for nothing under freedom of contract in the summer. Aluko has been recalled to Birmingham City by Pittodrie legend Alex McLeish, who is now man
ager at St Andrews, while fellow England under-19 midfielder Josh Walker will also be returning to Middlesbrough at the end of his loan spell.
Goalkeeper Derek Soutar will not be offered a new deal after his blunders against Falkirk and in Saturday's Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Queen of the South, and back-up goalkeeper Greg Kelly is also going.
Steve Lovell, a £250,000 signing from Dundee who has failed to earn a regular starting berth up front, has also been told to find another club along with Richie Byrne, Dave Bus, Dan Smith and Jonathan Smith. Byrne has struggled with injury since moving from Dunfermline in 2005, Bus has only played five times since signing a short-term deal in January, while Dan Smith and Jonathan Smith have mostly featured on the bench.
Lee Miller has asked for more time to consider his options but Calderwood admits he can't wait too long for a decision given the need to find a suitable replacement for the striker.
But it is the loss of Nicholson, who has been an influential player for him at Aberdeen and Dunfermline, that has been the biggest blow for the Aberdeen manager. "It is obviously disappointing that Barry has decided to move on but it didn't come as a big surprise," said Calderwood.
"I didn't want to lose him as he has been our best player this season and we will have to replace a very valuable member of the team. But he wanted a fresh challenge at this stage of his career and I understand that even if I would have preferred him to stay.
"It will be very hard to bring in someone with the same sort of ability because he has been an influential player who has scored a lot of goals as well.
"We would also like to have held on to Sone for a bit longer because he has made a major impact in his time here but he is returning to Birmingham City for the new season.
"As far as Lee is concerned, he is leaving his options open at the moment and hopefully he will eventually stay but we have to prepare a team with the new campaign in mind."
Calderwood insists the decisions he has come to about those who have to go were taken over a period of months and not the days following the humiliating Scottish Cup semi-final defeat.
It is simply that the loss to First Division Queen of the South was the catalyst for this action, with the certainty that more will follow in the summer. He added: "Changes were already planned before the Hampden semi-final but obviously that defeat against Queen of the South made our minds up on a few other issues. This is just the start of the cull and others will be leaving the club in the near future as we continue our rebuilding plans. I want to thank all the lads who won't be here next season for the contribution they have made to the club and wish them all the best for the future."
Another two players whose futures remain in doubt are Stuart Duff and Alan Maybury. Both were brought to the club by Calderwood in the January transfer window and will be given until the end of the season before any decisions are made regarding their future.
The full article contains 649 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
