‘More to come’ for Salford as Pompey sack manager Jackett

EFL Trophy Final 2019/20 Salford win 4-2 on penalties

SALFORD fans will soon have more to celebrate, pledges Brandon Thomas-Asante.

The attacking midfielder’s previous Wembley appearance was as a fan watching Tottenham in the Champions League.

And he emulated fellow ex-MK Dons star Dele Alli with an impressive performance on the hallowed turf as Pompey finally called time on boss Kenny Jackett.

Thomas-Asante converted his spot-kick in a penalty shootout that was eventually decided in Salford’s favour by Jason Lowe, who last found the net in an actual game in November 2013.

Given that this was the 2020 Papa John’s Trophy final, held over for more than a year because of Covid, lifting the trophy – for 24 hours – has made Salford’s rise even more rapid.

A club that began the Millennium languishing in mid-table in the First North

Western Trains

North West Counties League has gone through the leagues quicker than Ryan Giggs in his prime since the Class of

’92 took over in 2014.

Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville (inset) were at Wembley to witness history and Thomas-Asante (right, with James Wilson and Bruno Andrade) predicted the famous co-owners would plot and pay for more. He said: “We are new to the EFL so for us to come and stake our claim in a tournament like this really sets the tone for what we want to do as a club in the next few years, which is to climb through the leagues. From the ownership down to the players, everyone knows where we are trying to head so things like this really help us in doing that.”

Only the excellence of keeper Craig MacGillivray prevented a thrashing – and Jackett duly paid the price with his job yesterday.

It was inevitable as Portsmouth had been so poor against opponents a division below in a competition they won in 2019 in front of 40,000 happy Hampshire folk.

The fans had already turned on the former Millwall boss following just one win in their last seven league outings. Chief executive

Mark Catlin said: “It has been an emotional past few weeks for everyone associated with Pompey.

“We now begin the process – which will be as short as possible – of appointing someone who we believe can give us the best possible chance of finishing inside the top six.”

MK Dons boss Russell Martin is an early name on the shortlist.

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