"Obviously a lot of fans are extremely upset because Joe has been with us since he was a young boy, but then there is the other half who are saying the club had no alternative but to do that - and would have heavily criticised us if we had kept him and he had gone for nothing next year," he says.
"I don't think it is a no-win situation any way you look at it, other than we felt we did make the right decision purely from the fact that Joey indicated last summer there was no way he wanted to extend his contract.
"We waited to see if we could persuade him, but obviously relegation was the final nail in the coffin which would dissuade him from even considering it - and that is not a criticism of Joe, that is his perogative, and he has given his all while he was with us.
"I do wish him well but I believe that is the only alternative he had."
As for the stories linking Manchester United with Jermain Defoe, he adds: "There is a lot of speculation about bids and Manchester United have been linked with Jermain. Obviously we have to got to hang in there until August when the shop window closes.
"There is nothing in place and we definitely don't want him to go. At £10m we certainly wouldn't and we have to try and convince Jermain that we are going to get players in and we are going to have an opportunity to bounce back.
"We will see how he reacts and hopefully when he starts scoring goals we can convince him of that.
"Jermain is a very important goalscorer who is attractive to any Premiership club, whether Manchester United as a squad player or a team going for survival.
"We want to keep him, but I am not trying to kid anyone - it will be a tough three weeks until the transfer window closes.
"But at the moment the key factor for us was to reach a figure which meant that the club was stable and we had got rid of any uncertainty financially, which we have now with the Joe deal.
"From a financial point of view we don't have to do a deal with Jermain and we have to try and make sure we don't; we need the players who remain to have belief but the squad is thin at the moment."
Regarding the trip to Preston on Saturday, Trevor adds: "Unfortunately Michael Carrick and Steve Lomas are injured and with Joe Cole gone it is extremely thin in midfield.
"Ian Pearce is suspended so there is not the option to push Christian Dailly up the field. That gives Glenn a dilemma and it is extremely difficult for him.
"We need incoming players in the next two to four weeks but it may be more likely to happen, in terms of loans from Premiership clubs, at the end of August.
"The squad is too thin, we recognise that, and we ask the fans to be patient."
Trevor first revealed here (not on Liverpool's web site, as has been claimed!) the club's interest in Neil Mellor, and he adds: "We are still optimistic we can get Neil Mellor in by Saturday, though that won't help the central midfield as there are no strikers who can adjust to that position.
"I believe Neil will want to impress his bosses at Liverpool and we all believe he will be a good investment. We would like him for the season but Liverpool would have instant recall.
"We still need another striker really and it is asking an awful lot of inexperienced players like Shaun Byrne and Richard Garcia at the moment."
As it stands, though, Richard is likely to fill the centre midfield role alongside Rob Lee, with Don Hutchison on the right of midfield and Matthew Etherington on the left.
Rufus Brevett will be at left back, with Christian Dailly and Tomas Repka as centre backs, and Anton Ferdinand at right back.
David James will of course be in goal, and at the other end of the field it remains to be seen whether David Connolly or Neil Mellor, if he arrives, partner Jermain Defoe.