Cotterill convinces Nugent to stay at Pompey!

David Nugent, our former loan striker from Portsmouth last season, made great play of the fact that he would not be happy with anything less than Premier League football next season. With both Portsmouth and Burnley being relegated last season, it looked certain he would be moving to a new club plying their trade in the top flight by the time the 2010-11 season kicked off.

All that now seems to have changed following the arrival of new gaffer and former Clarets boss, Steve Cotterill.

Cotterill was recently reported to want a word with Nugent to see if anything could be done to change his mind.

Well if the news reported in the local Portsmouth media today is true Cotterill has been successful in keeping Nugent on his books despite the financial woes at the club and the thought that a Nugent sale was on the cards to raise cash. If Nugent does stay and this now looks likely to happen, Pompey will presumably have to continue to fund Nugent's Premier League-level wages unless he has accepted a pay-cut.

He is quoted in the Portsmouth News as saying:

'Nugent came in with a massive smile on his face on Thursday.

'David's a brilliant lad, who is going to play and score goals for us.

He was the first one in on the first day of training, looking fit and refreshed.

'He has made a statement. Straight in and straight up to me. Different class. Maybe he just needs to be loved. That's what he needs.

'I've had a chat with him. Does he want to stay? Without a shadow of a doubt'

Clarets fans may well be cynical about this news after all the spouting off made by Nugent about his ambitions and need to play in the top flight. It might also be seen as a snub to Brian Laws if Nugent now prefers to stay at Fratton Park. Burnley are widely seen as promotion favourites with Pompey expected to struggle because of their financial situation. Why would Nugent therefore prefer to stay at a club that he slated only a year ago? Have they given him a financial offer he couldn't refuse? Have they any money to do that?

The truth is more probably the fact that Nugent has realised no Premier League club thinks he is good enough and therefore he has had to choose the easy option and decided to have another go at Portsmouth but this time under a manager that clearly rates him.

To those that also say it is a snub to Brian Laws, I think we also have to be fair to our manager since he may have decided Nugent was not up for grabs or of any interest anyway.

We have to move on but it would be typical if Nugent now scores a hat-trick against us when we play them next season!

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