"He has got great potential and wants to do well, " Sturrock told the Argyle website.
"I am very disappointed because he has been a great servant to the club, " said Sturrock.
On a personal level, Sturrock also credited Mariner with bringing a renewed enthusiasm to his own job.
Since he re-joined the Pilgrims last week, Mariner has been working closely with Sturrock on the training pitch.
The training was provided by Core Solutions, which was founded in 2000 by a Scottish QC, John Sturrock.
Manager Paul Sturrock is understood to have offered Dodds a club record salary in a bid to keep him.
Mr Sturrock has also conducted similar sessions with Members of the Scottish Parliament.
But just before the end of the season, Sturrock up and left to take up the manager's post at Southampton.
Fletcher is Argyle's first new signing of the summer, with Sturrock looking to bring in one or two more players.
"It was a big decision to make, but I was very confident after watching him in training, " Sturrock told BBC Devon.
"He has played with Alan Judge and Cillian Sheridan in the Republic of Ireland Under-21 side, " said Argyle boss Paul Sturrock.
Sturrock himself was either unable, unwilling or unfussed to halt the blaze of rumour and speculation that ultimately fatally undermined his reign.
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Tudgay joined Wednesday in January 2006 from Derby County for an undisclosed fee after an initial loan deal under former boss Paul Sturrock.
Further changes in management saw Tony Pulis and Ian Holloway take the helm, before Paul Sturrock returned to Home Park during the 2007-8 season.
But a 62nd minute reply from United midfielder David Hannah and Ferraz's late effort gave Paul Sturrock's men a point which they hardly deserved.
The company's website describes Mr Sturrock as "a pioneer in mediation and high quality training in business, the professions and commerce in Scotland and elsewhere".
The Owls had suffered several other setbacks in their hunt for a permanent replacement for Sturrock, while academy manager Sean McAuley was in caretaker charge.
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The new board have said that manager Paul Sturrock will soon be receiving more funds for player acquisitions, but Todd was reluctant to reveal exact details.
Sturrock supposedly fell victim to a whispering campaign that began as a spark, and built in force and power until it became a blazing forest fire.
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However, Preston was at the weekend touted as a top boss of the future by Paul Sturrock, the new Southampton manager, with whom he worked at St Johnstone.
While Dalglish was lauding his stars of the future, Tannadice boss Paul Sturrock was saying goodbye to veteran Maurice Malpas, who confirmed his retirement after the game at Parkhead.
"There's always pressure on a football manager, " said Sturrock.
"There's the isolated central child who is then propelled into a fantastical landscape inside the peach, " says Donald Sturrock, whose authorised biography of Dahl - Storyteller - has just been published in paperback.
Lowe's secretary will spend Monday preparing Paul Sturrock's P45 - the seventh of his tenure of a club that during the days of Ted Bates and Lawrie McMenemy was a byword in managerial stability.
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It meant new boss Bobby Williamson was actually in charge when Argyle clinched promotion and the championship - although he said he felt like he had gate-crashed a party and acknowledged the credit was down to Sturrock.
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