NICKY Adams admits he was “shocked and disappointed” at the way his second spell at Bury ended following the club’s decision to place him on the transfer list.

The 28-year-old midfielder today completed a free transfer to Northampton Town, signing a three-year deal for the League Two side.

The move was secured after Adams waived a pay-off from the Shakers, agreeing to cancel the two years he had remaining on his contract.

“I didn’t want to mess around,” said Adams, who returned to his boyhood club last summer on a three-year deal.

“I didn’t want to get paid up, I just wanted to find a new club. That’s why they let me go on a free and I was happy with that.

“It can sometimes get messy if players stick to their guns and demand to be paid up and I didn’t want that to happen.”

The move to Northampton comes just a week after the livewire Boltonian was placed on the transfer list despite making 44 appearances, including 35 starts, in Bury’s League Two promotion campaign.

“I was disappointed when I was told, very disappointed,” said the Breightmet-born winger.

“It came as a complete shock, I had no idea anything like that was on the cards.

“The whole squad was taken on holiday to Marbella (after winning promotion) and we were asked to come back in the following week to pick up our medals and have a chat with the gaffer.

“I thought he was just going to give me my training programme for the summer but he told me I was not part of his plans.

“I asked him why and he said he was going to get someone else in and I was not going to play.

“I said I wanted to stay and fight for my place but it came across that there wasn’t any chance of that.

“I feel let down but it has happened and I am just going to have to get on with it. Now I am looking forward to a new chapter.”

The writing was possibly on the wall for the former Shakers graduate, who started his last match for the club in late March and was substituted at half time.

He was also left out of the matchday squad for a crunch promotion clash at home to Southend in the run-in.

And Adams admits that, after regularly being substituted in the second half of matches, some of manager David Flitcroft’s decisions were difficult to take.

“Sometimes, when I was coming off, I was just thinking it was bizarre,” he said.

“I used to think ‘why am I getting substituted here, what’s going on, am I doing something wrong?’.”

Despite falling down the pecking order at Bury, Adams says he has had plenty of interest since being put on the transfer list, and turned down offers from League One clubs to seal his move to Northampton.

“When the list came out I had quite a few calls from a few different managers,” he said.

“There was interest from a couple of clubs in League One and obviously you want to play the highest level you can, but I went down to Northampton and was really taken by the quality of the squad and the set-up there.

“They have some really good players and the stadium is brilliant, with the new stand , it’s really impressive. I just had a really good feeling about the place.

“I went back home to speak to a few people and see what they thought, then Northampton came back with the offer of a three-year deal.

“That kind of security for my family was really important.

“I am obviously going to a club with big ambitions and with a few more additions I think we can have a really good go next season.”

Adams is now looking forward to his next challenge but says he will never forget his second spell at Bury.

His return to the JD Stadium followed a £100,000 move to Leicester City seven years ago.

Spells at Brentford, Rochdale, Crawley and Rotherham followed before Flitcroft snapped him up on a free transfer last summer.

Adams’ arrival back at Bury came at a difficult time in his career following a bust-up with Rotherham boss Steve Evans that saw him left out of the Millers’ side that won last season’s League One play-off final.

But he leaves the Shakers with a much more positive outlook.

“The level of support from Bury fans and the nice messages I have received have been overwhelming,” he said.

“It’s just nice to know how much they appreciated what I did for the club and how much they thought of me.

“I hold them very dear to my heart.

“I will never forget the way they treated me and I just wanted to say thank you.”