Hot-shot Charlie Griffin has accused Bath City of showing him a lack of respect over the way they handled his surprise exit from the club last week.
Griffin finished at the top of the club's scoring charts in his only season at Mayday Trust Park but an impressive return of 20 goals in 34 starts was not enough to convince the City management team that he was worth a contract offer for 2013-14.
The 33-year-old had been keen to stay and help fire City towards the Blue Square Bet South play-off places but discovered his fate via a telephone call from head coach Lee Howells following the club's capture of attacking trio Andy Watkins, Ross Stearn and David Pratt.
He said: "I read the story on the [Chronicle] website about them signing the three lads and [chairman Manda Rigby] saying that if they signed Josh Low then they would have the best front four in the league.
"I thought that was a bit disrespectful to somebody who had scored 20 the season before and it would have been nice to have found out they weren't offering me a contract before it came out.
"A couple of days later I got a call from Arch [Howells] and that was it. It was all a bit poor, really. Sometimes it is better to do things face-to-face than in a two-minute phone call.
"If I had been offered something then I'm 99.9 per cent sure I would have signed it. I was born in Bath and it was an honour to put on that shirt and play in front of the fans, who were fantastic."
Despite his prolific goalscoring record, Griffin found himself in and out of the starting line-up in the final months of the campaign.
The arrivals of first Tom Nichols and then Elliott Chamberlain on loan from Exeter City limited his involvement, with Howells and director of football Adie Britton claiming at the time that Griffin's legs could not cope with the demands of two games a week.
"Some of the decisions were a bit strange," said Griffin. "When I scored three in two games [against Dorchester and Tonbridge] and was then on the bench for the next one at Eastbourne, I thought 'what is going on?'.
"I did a full pre-season and, apart from the time I pulled my quad taking a penalty against Gosport in the FA Cup, didn't miss a training session. I was always 110 per cent fit and half of the time it shocked me to be left out.
"They brought players in and had to play them. If they hadn't then Exeter would be saying 'we want them back'.
"I think they've said they are looking at lads who are a bit younger but, to me, that is an excuse. I've been hearing that sort of thing since I was a 25-year-old at Wycombe.
"I'm not being bitter. I didn't think I was one of the higher- paid players there and think I worked my socks off. I scored 16 goals in the league and, had I started more often, think I could have challenged Jamie White of Salisbury for the golden boot."
Griffin is now plotting his next move and has already spoken to two Blue Square Bet Premier clubs.
"I want to go into management one day because football is my life and I've worked under some great people like John Gorman, Jimmy Quinn and Graham Westley," said Griffin, whose school visits on behalf of the Bath City Community Sports Foundation proved hugely popular with Bath youngsters.
"I'd like to think I can play on for a couple of years, though. I've looked after myself and am looking forward to the challenge of trying to be the top scorer again wherever I end up next season."
