Pitman talks about his exclusion and release from the side.

[Sam_Brown]

This is an extract from an article that focused on Pitmans career and his thoughts on Bournemouth’s possible relegation, because he played a large part in taking them up the leagues in the first place.

"But when he’s not sidetracked by lunchtime phone calls or “constantly” battling against dog mess on the carpet, the 32-year-old has been working hard to make sure he’s ready for the next step in his career.

His release from Portsmouth last month brought an end to a mixed three years at Fratton Park, a stint that started so brightly with a goalscoring return of 24 in 38 league games and ended under a cloud following his exclusion by manager Kenny Jackett. It’s a scenario that he still doesn’t fully understand but he insists there was no fallout.

“I don’t really really know, so I can’t really give you a proper answer,” he says of what happened to cause his exile. “I actually don’t know. It was just weird.

“It was disappointing because it paints you in a bad light and that wasn’t the case. I’ve never had any problem at any other club. I always go in and train, train properly; always ready to play on a Saturday and always disappointed not to play on Saturday.”

Pitman, who was club captain at the start of the season, was told by Jackett that he wouldn’t be required to come to training in January, a decision that left him out on a limb. In order to keep himself in shape, he spoke to Eddie Howe and asked if he could train with Bournemouth’s under-21s, something his old manager was more than happy to accept. After running it past Portsmouth, he was able to link up with Shaun Cooper’s side."

Not giving too much away but interesting to see his side of things. I always felt bad for him. I really liked him as player, he may not have been the fittest player but the man scored goals and seemed to enjoy his time at the club. At least for the first few years. It’s a shame Kenny took him out of his plans, I think he would have done well this season.

[The Cincinnati Kid]

Wouldn't any human ask "why?" after being told not to bother to show up for training?

[Weybridge]

The only reason to be told to stay away from others is because you're a disruptive influence.

[Locky_McLockface]

Sorry, but I call BS.

As The Kid says, if you genuinely didn't know what the issue was, you would ask.

The facts (sorry, FACTS) that you have been unceremoniously and very publicly stripped of the captaincy, and then told that you are not welcome at training, means that there is a very serious problem with the relationship with your manager, and it's inconceivable that you don't know what it is.

[Selsey Bill]

To be honest, I don't believe Pitman. He was stripped of his captaincy because he was one of the worst leaders I can ever remember us having had. Mistake of KJ to give him the armband in the first place, but I've heard rumours that the promise of captaincy was the sweetener when signing him. He was also dropped from the team because he wasn't fit enough or good enough anymore, end of. I always got the distinct feeling that he thought he was Billy Big Balls , and the way he spoke to the ball boy that time was unforgiveable. I'll have a wager with any of you that there was far more to his exclusion than meets the eye, or that he is telling us!

[Sam_Brown]

To be honest, I don't believe Pitman. He was stripped of his captaincy because he was one of the worst leaders I can ever remember us having had. Mistake of KJ to give him the armband in the first place, but I've heard rumours that the promise of captaincy was the sweetener when signing him. He was also dropped from the team because he wasn't fit enough or good enough anymore, end of. I always got the distinct feeling that he thought he was Billy Big Balls , and the way he spoke to the ball boy that time was unforgiveable. I'll have a wager with any of you that there was far more to his exclusion than meets the eye, or that he is telling us!

Agree 100%. Maybe part of the deal of him going to train @ Bournemouth was that he kept his mouth shut about his relationship with Kenny or maybe it was simply that he knows he was in the wrong so didn't want to disclose more than he had to for fear of painting himself in a bad light.