Double striker exit almost certain?

Another final day of the season and another one that will 'almost certainly' mark the final appearance in a Pompey shirt for a large number of players...

Steve Cotterill said that he would 'talk to the players in their hotel rooms' before the Scunny game to let them know what his plans were for them as far as he wanted their Pompey futures to go.

For me this was 'probably' a fairly straightforward and easy conversation to have with most.

The loanees, the few that he would like to sign (permanently or on loan again), would have been told 'I want you back next season if I can, so sit tight 'for a while' if you could' type thing - those loanees he would not be looking at again would have been told 'thanks for all your efforts, you got us out of a hole, but your work here is done!'

As for those under contract, but going out of it this summer, I would have thought the vast majority would have been told 'contracts will be on the table, I want you to stay but it is now up to you to accept these terms as I have done all I can'...

To be fair in the opening 10-15 minutes or so I did not think that many, if any, played like they had been told there futures lay elsewhere, for the remaining 30-35 minutes of the 1st half it looked like all had been told this before they got a right old rollocking at half time!

One loanee that made it clear, which will not come as a surprise, that he will not be back was Carl Dickinson. He was the first to come over at the end and visibly was waiving 'goodbye' to the fans.

After the game it was 'said' that Danny Webber had been informed by Cotterill that he was being released, something that he seemingly later confirmed on Twitter: 'Last Day at Pompey today. Big thanks to the fans, staff and everyone connected with the club.

'Wish you all the best in the future.'

In many ways this does not surprised me, although at the same time it does...

Given the sheer lack of players we have contracted to the club and the continued uncertainty over a takeover - even if this happens what it will bring - to turn away a player that 'seemed' to make it clear he wanted to stay is a 'little' odd.

Telling him to go away, work on his fitness over the summer and come back for pre-season so we could have a closer look at him would not have been the worse thing to do, right?

I just hope that Cotterill knows something that we do not, both with Webber and the state of the squad and is 'confident' in bringing in the players he wants, most of all being allowed to do so...

Dave Nugent clearly has been told he is wanted but it still seems highly likely that he will move on.

His own thoughts, having confessed that Cotterill has grilled everyone at half time yesterday - and rightly so - was that he was happy with his 14 goals for the season but he will now go away and 'think' about his next move: 'I'm going to go away, have a break and think about my future.

'It's a big decision for me.'

To be perfectly honest I would not mind Nugent staying but will not be that upset if he does move on.

The way I see it, and always have, is that despite having to take a significant pay cut I cannot see many, if any, clubs offering him more money elsewhere and the majority in for him will be nopower sides and 'maybe' one or two lower end premier league sides.

So, the only 'real' benefit I can see him getting from moving on is the fact that that he will have the possible status of being a 'premier league footballer' again.

Although weigh this up against the advantage he has of staying here and knowing he will play pretty much week-in-week-out without fail and is settled at a club in many ways, as a move on does not always work out, and the grass is not always greener on the other side is something he could do with considering...

'If' the unlikely does happen and he does stay then I would like to see him played as an out and out striker next season, ideally as part of a forward pairing - whilst he really should have had at least double the figure he did, as he often lacks composure in front of goal, 14 from a predominantly wide area is not really a bad return it is?

PLAY UP POMPEY!

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