JACKETT’S CLOAK OF INVINCIBILITY IS LOST
WHEN Kenny Jackett was appointed as manager of Portsmouth, he didn’t need to scour fan forums to understand what was expected of him.
‘It’s a fantastic club with brilliant tradition and the potential is what attracted me here,’ said Jackett in his first interview. ‘I can promise that I’ll work as hard as I possibly can to make sure that we can bring success to Portsmouth.’
For Jackett, promotion to the Championship would mean success. He took over in the summer at a time when positivity was high. Paul Cook, who left to manage Wigan, had guided the club to the League Two title.
‘I want to continue the good work of last year and see if that can be a step in a successful period for Portsmouth,’ Jackett said.
Portsmouth finished in eighth place last season with 66 points — five points off the play- offs but 30 behind Blackburn who finished second.
But should Portsmouth not be a Championship club by the start of next season, Jackett will have failed. A relief, then, that Pompey are three points clear at the top of the table with 27 points after 12 games. But they are not invincible.
Their impressive unbeaten start to the season was ended by Gillingham, who were without a win in 10 before the trip to Fratton Park.
The weather didn’t exactly allow for a game of pass-and-move football — a style that had seen Portsmouth win eight games — the most in the league — and score 21 goals.
Heavy rain had fallen ahead of kick- off and more arrived as the temperature dropped to 5°C minutes before 3pm.
A few more than 18,000 showed up to watch the game controlled by Portsmouth but won by Gillingham. Tom Eaves’s individual brilliance produced the first of Gillingham’s goals. His volley, after lifting the ball over the head of Gareth Evans and swivelling to meet it, crashed into the roof of Craig MacGillivray’s net. A goal-of-the-season contender that Jackett had to admire.
The second showed where Portsmouth are vulnerable. Portsmouth’s defenders failed to react to a low corner that somehow reached Alex Lacey at the back post and he drilled a shot into the net.
Portsmouth’s fans had seen seven years of Premier League football on the south coast between 2003 and 2010, so this setback was frustrating.
‘That’ll be the kick up the backside they needed,’ one said as he queued to leave the ground.
‘We had the lion’s share of the ball in both halves — and didn’t do anything with it,’ Jackett said.
Managing expectations of a passionate fan base wanting promotion isn’t new territory for Jackett, nor is delivering success at this level.
At Wolves, he won the League One title, securing promotion to the Championship in 2014, and at Millwall, four years earlier, he won the play-off final.
After a six-year absence from the second tier for Portsmouth, promotion to the Championship would represent another job well done by Jackett.
‘ It’s a privilege to be at a club like this, whether you’re a manager, a coach or a player,’ Jackett said.
‘It has a fantastic history and every single supporter who comes wants to see their team do well and you have to see it that way.
‘I don’t see it as pressure. You can call it pressure if you want but I don’t think it is.’
A return to the Championship would also help to erase memories of dark days of rampant overspending, huge debts, unpaid taxes, winding-up orders, points deductions and relegation to English football’s fourth tier for the first time since 1980. The loss of £507,629 last year is regarded as more manageable than the debts of £ 135million that were reported at the height of the club’s crisis years.
There is stability even if supporters remain sceptical of the club’s American owners. Beverly Hills private equity firm Tornante, headed by former Disney chief executive Michael Eisner, bought the club last year, taking it away from the Pompey Supporters’ Trust.
The trick now, according to Jackett, is to harness everything from the atmosphere at Fratton Park — still complete with the constant din of a bell — to getting all he can from his players.
‘When you get that momentum it is a big thing. Portsmouth are a great club and it’s my job as manager to unlock their potential.’