FORMER captain Nathan Rudge has slammed manager Chris Vinnicombe and says his Tiverton Town exit has left a bitter taste in the mouth.

Vinnicombe said earlier this week the central defender had left the club after rejecting fresh terms to extend his eight-year stay at Ladysmead.

But Rudge says the recently-appointed Tivvy boss never made him a firm offer and merely used his restricted budget as an excuse to force him out of the club.

Rudge said: "I am disappointed. Chris has made it sound like I was only there for the money and that's so far from the truth it's unreal.

"We had a meeting but he did not make me a concrete offer. Instead he told me I would be better off looking elsewhere because he didn't have the money for me. The meeting lasted five minutes.

"He didn't try to keep me at all. I have been at the club for eight years so for the meeting to last five minutes — it's pretty much downright disrespectful to be honest.

"I don't know if he saw me as a threat or as someone who would question the stuff he would be doing as manager. To then say I have turned down offers when he didn't offer me anything is pretty unbelievable. The way it has ended has left a sour taste in my mouth."

Vinnicombe denied he had been disrespectful towards Rudge and says the captain was not treated any differently to the rest of the Tivvy squad.

And the Yellows chief said that if Rudge was prepared to play for what the club could afford, then he would happily welcome the defender back.

Vinnicombe said: "I didn't tell him any lies, I just gave him the same facts that I told everyone else.

"I said that if I was him it wouldn't be feasible for me to come down from Bristol twice a week — you would waste the money on petrol. If he wants to come and play for the money I was offering, I would gladly welcome him back."

Rudge says he would have considered staying at Tiverton — even if that meant accepting a hefty pay cut.

The ex-Chippenham Town man says he has received better offers to move on in the past, but always opted to stay with the Yellows out of loyalty. Now the defender is disappointed that loyalty has not been repaid.

Rudge said: "I have had a lot of offers in the past — Weymouth came in and offered big money but I stayed at Tiverton, and there have been other offers for more money than they were paying me at Tiverton that I have turned down.

"What I would get at Tiverton next season would be a lot less than what I'm talking about, but if you have been at a club for eight years, who knows what arrangement you might be able to come to?

"You might want to do it for less money to put something back into it. Who knows if I would have stayed? Never say never, but in the end I wasn't given the chance.

"He (Vinnicombe) didn't want me at the club and he didn't have the courage to tell me, that's the impression I got. I get on well with Chris, I don't want to fall out with him, but the way this has been handled is poor — I expected a lot more.

"People say there is no loyalty in football. If I stay there for eight years and this is how I get treated in the end then it's no wonder there's no loyalty."