David Nugent on the 'mistake' that led Portsmouth to consider Derby approach just weeks after his Fratton Park arrival

David Nugent has lifted the lid on the ‘mistake’ he made in the early part of his Pompey career and how it nearly saw him end up at Derby just weeks after his Fratton Park arrival.
Former Pompey striker David NugentFormer Pompey striker David Nugent
Former Pompey striker David Nugent

The then England striker moved to the Blues in the summer of 2007 for a fee in the region of £6m, after 18 goals for Preston during the 2006-07 Championship campaign.

However, the move suddenly turned sour, with then Pompey manager Harry Redknapp wanting to offload the forward less than 50 days into Pompey career to reportedly fund a move for Jermain Defoe.

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After netting his first Blues goal in a 3-0 League Cup victory against Leeds, Redknapp told The News: ‘I brought him (Nugent) in here and like him but it’s no secret Derby would like to buy him.

‘His old manager (Billy Davies) fancies him so we’ll have to wait and see. They have been in for him.

‘If David wants to go he can go.

‘If I had a wide player and Cristiano Ronaldo came up, and I could afford him, I’d buy him instead. That’s what football is like.

‘You are always looking to improve the team and if someone comes up who is a fantastic option it’s a case of who can I sell to get him?’

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At the time, the club owner insisted on the signing despite Redknapp’s misgivings.

However, in another twist to the story, Nugent has admitted it was he who was at fault for the uncertainty surrounding his future, despite signing a four-year deal at PO4.

In an interview with Sky Bet, the now 34-year-old admitted he accepted an approach to move to Pride Park a week after his south coast arrival – a decision that Redknapp soon learned about.

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Nugent told Sky Bet: ‘From the start there was a big mistake on my part.

‘I signed for Portsmouth and a week later I had a phone call off Billy Davies who signed for Derby, who was basically Derby’s manager at that time, and he’s basically said: “Do you fancy coming to Derby?”

‘I was young, I was like, “I could go back home here, basically live by home again,” and I said yeah.

‘Harry, like a week later, found out, and we had a meeting in the hotel.

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‘He basically said: “Do you want to stay or do you want to go?” and I was like, “I need to stay, I need to like get my head down, I’ve just moved for six-and-a-half million, I need to get my head down and work again”.

‘I said “no, I want to stay, I want to be here, you signed me, I need to prove to you that I want to be here”.’

Staying put, Nugent – who is now back at Preston – went on to make 22 appearances for the Blues that season, scoring only three goals – with none coming in the Premier League.

He would eventually go on to score 20 goals in 93 appearances, with his Fratton Park stay ending upon the expiry of his contract at the end of the 2010-11 season.

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Nugent admitted he struggled to cope with the step up to the Premier League that first season.

‘I think that I might have been trying a bit too hard, trying to prove a point to him that I wanted to be here,’ he told Sky Bet.

‘I just come back from the Euros as well, had a good tournament with England under 21s in the Euros, and I just wanted to play football again in the Premier, well my first Premier League club.

‘I just wanted to play games at Premier League (level), try and prove to myself that I’m good enough for the Premier League and I think I was a bit overwhelmed by it all, playing against bigger, stronger, better players.

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‘I did struggle and that season onwards, I was in and out of the team.

‘I had an operation, I had the hernias done and I was just in and out and I didn’t feel I was ready for it at the moment at that time.’

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