The simple truth is only one person knows what factors are contributing towards Paul Cook quitting Pompey for Wigan - and that's Paul Cook.

And even when he does give an interview about the move, which we assume he will once it is completed (and it's only right to stress at this point, the move has not been officially confirmed), will we hear the full story of his thought processes?

It is a surprise that he is leaving just three weeks after saying, as he basked in the glory of leading Pompey to the League Two title, that he never wanted to quit Pompey.

Did he mean that? Perhaps he was caught up in the moment as players, fans and staff celebrated an astonishing last-minute rise to the top of the division, but even so - it's a funny, and unecessary, thing to state in such definite terms if you have any inkling you are going to be moving on.

Many suspect he is simply going for the money. If he is, well, can you blame him, really? It makes the world go round; it is a factor to all of us when deciding where to work and who to work for, isn't it?

We don't know how much Wigan have offered him - nor how much Pompey have waved in front of him to try to tempt him to stay. If he has taken in details of Wigan's offer and then asked Pompey to match it, he is not the first to adopt such a tactic and won't be the last. Players do it all the time. It's what you're asking for if you turn a sport into such a money-obsessed world.

But if that has happened and Pompey have said 'Sorry Paul, our offer is our final one' then most will agree they have done the right thing. Yes, Cook has been successful - he has led Pompey to the prize he was appointed to deliver. But that does not mean he can name his price - because Pompey, under the PST or Michael Eisner, are surely not a club ready to splash unsustainable amounts of cash to buy success in that way. At least we hope they're not, don't we?

By all accounts, Cook was already on one of the better pay scales of the bottom two divisions of the Football League, even before any new and improved deal was put to him. Maybe those extra pounds, be they hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands, coupled with the fact he can move himself and his family back closer to where he calls home, added up to an offer he didn't feel he could turn down.

The other factor that has to be analysed is the Eisner effect. When Cook stated on May 6 that he never wanted to leave, the Tornante takeover was well on the way to being approved. The Guildhall meeting had boosted the 'Yes to Eisner' campaign which already had plenty of support before that. It's clear that at the time Cook stated his desire to stay at Pompey, it already looked like Eisner would become his employer. He knew who was coming over the horizon.

Cook has met Eisner and to those looking in from the outside, the two seemed to be getting along just fine, certainly before that meeting at any rate. Eisner had spoken of his admiration for Cook's achievements - Cook had talked of the exciting times for the club the new investment could bring.

There'll be a strong suspicion that talk of the new owners appointing a director of football could have unsettled Cook. He doesn't strike me as a manager who needs or would welcome someone in such a role. He is his own man. He can pick his team, choose his transfer targets and talk directly to the chairman and board, and does not need anyone to do it for him.

In any case, we still don't know if the director-of-football plan is a definite aim of the Eisners. Is it something they are set on, or just one of many ideas they'll look at once they get here? But if that has convinced him to walk away, then let's hope it's not anything like as catastrophic as when Velimir Zajec was parachuted in against Harry Redknapp's wishes back in 2004.

The likelihood, in my opinion, is that all the factors I have mentioned above have come together to persuade Cook the Latics are the club for him to lead. Only he can tell us, if he wants to, which of them have really swung it - and what changed between May 6 and now.

Wouldn't it be typical if the fixture computer throws up Pompey v Wigan for the opening weekend in League One? It would almost be more surprising if it didn't. So how will Cook be welcomed? It's difficult to say but I don't think he'll get a strong reaction either way.

People will be tempted to salute him for leading the Blues to the League Two title and enjoying considerably more success than the three managers who preceded him in the job; they'll also be tempted to show him what they think of him walking out so soon after saying he would not do so.

It's not unlike Michael Appleton's exit in 2012. He was widely admired for managing Pompey in testing financial times but when he was pictured holding up a Blackpool scarf a day after sidestepping questions about whether he was on his way from Fratton, his stock among Blues fans plummeted - to the point where any Fratton Park return since has seen him virtually ignored.

I think it's churlish to suggest - as I have seen some fans say - that Pompey went up DESPITE Cook rather than because of him. I'm not buying that view. The fact is he nearly succeeded in getting us up at the first time of asking - and did succeed the second time.

He and Leam Richardson, who seems likely to go to Wigan with him, will forever deserve great credit for getting us out of a division in which we spent longer than we wanted to. He got his best players at the top of their game, collectively, at exactly the right time. He got us up with three games to spare and then delivered the title that, at the start of February, had looked completely out of reach.

If Cook's move does go through, as expected, I hope he is good enough to explain some of the background to it to Pompey fans. I think we deserve that. After that, to quote the man himself, we move on. Who to? Who knows?

STEVE BONE @stevebone1 on Twitter

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