Danny Cowley's message of hope to 12 Portsmouth players battling for Fratton futures
Danny Cowley is adamant he remains ‘open-minded’ on the futures of Pompey’s 12 out-of-contract players.
And he has challenged them to secure fresh Fratton Park terms during the season’s final 15 fixtures.
Deals expiring this summer include Marcus Harness, Sean Raggett, Michael Jacobs, Reeco Hackett, Louis Thompson, Shaun Williams and Aiden O’Brien.
In addition, there’s Paul Downing, Callum Johnson, Jayden Reid, Jay Mingi and Ollie Webber.
Cowley has previously spoken of his intent to retain top-scorer Harness and the versatile Hackett.
Yet he insists the door isn’t shut on any of the 12 as the season enters its final nine weeks.
Pompey’s head coach told The News: ‘In elite sport, in professional football, every day you wake up and have to prove yourself. That’s every single day.
‘I am always open-minded. For me, it’s never definitive because football is a very fluid game and things change.
‘I hear a lot of people make clear-cut analysis of players and be very matter-of-fact – then those same players make them eat their words at a later date. So what you must do is analyse them in the moments where they are here today,
‘I want to know what they are capable of becoming in the longer-term, looking at their capacity to learn and the growth they have within.
‘In football, a week is a long time, so 15 games is a lifetime. The important thing is there's 15 games to go and everything to play for.
‘We are a team in transition, trying to get better, trying to improve and performance oriented – and we’re looking forward to the games coming thick and fast now.
‘A week is a long time in football, so you must always keep open-minded.’
Pompey have club options on Harness, Hackett, Thompson, Johnson, Reid and Mingi.
Terms can vary, although such clauses usually result in the player handed a pay increase as well as extending their deal by 12 months.
In the case of Raggett, the central defender is entitled to a contract extension should Cowley’s men win promotion this season.
Others not tied to Fratton Park beyond this year are loanees Gavin Bazunu, Mahlon Romeo, George Hirst, Hayden Carter and Tyler Walker.
Cowley added: ‘We’ve got quite a lot of games at the moment, they are coming thick and fast, so for us the focus is on the games rather than contracts.
‘All of our energies, all of our focus are on trying to put ourselves into the best possible position to be successful and to setting ourselves up for a three-game week next week and three successive home games.’
A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron
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