Darryl Flahavan Released

Last updated : 10 May 2011 By Jim Bonner
Steve Cotterill has released Darryl Flahavan and has stated that he will be looking to bring someone else in as competition for Jamie Ashdown.

In an interview with the local news, the Portsmouth manager has suggested that Flahavan wasn't good enough to challenge Ashdown for a first-team place and you could read between the lines and believe that Steve may even be looking to replace Ashdown who had "a few docile games" last season.

Cotterill has targets in mind to replace Flahavan but it's a shame that we never got to see him play for Pompey so we could judge him ourselves. It seems a bit rash to be releasing what seems to be a cheap, experienced backup goalkeeper with our current squad situation.

The same could be said for Danny Webber. I was a little shocked to see that he was told by Cotterill that he had no future at Fratton Park when our numbers are drastically low.

Come the end of July, the only strikers that look like being on Pompey's books are Dave Kitson and Kanu as David Nugent is almost certain to leave.

Releasing a striker who could probably do a job for us at this level when he is fully fit could well be a poor decision, but the manager must believe he can bring in new recruits who are of better quality despite the current ownership situation.

Hermann Hriedarsson could be another one to be shown the door as his agent is reportedly demanding wages that the club are simply not prepared to pay for a player who is now 37-years-old and is winding down his career.

I don't blame the club for taking this stance as although Hermann still has something to offer, the wage budget is likely to decrease and so we simply couldn't afford to keep someone on the books who isn't likely to play regularly.

I think this will be the last we'll see of the Hermannator at Fratton Park and so the manager will need to find a replacement left back. Hopefully the new man will be of higher quality than Carl Dickinson!