Boss admits contract uncertainty could be having impact on his players’ current form
KENNY JACKETT admitted contract uncertainty could be affecting the form of Pompey’s players.
But the Blues boss explained the club can’t offer any clarity on deals moving forward until there is some clarity from the game’s decision-makers, following the scrapping of the EFL salary cap.
Pompey find their form tailling off dramatically with the season in turmoil off the back of one win in six games.
That arrives with 11 players out of contract this summer, including the likes of Tom Naylor, Craig MacGillivray, Andy Cannon and Jack Whatmough, along with Jackett’s own deal coming to a close.
When asked if a lack of clarity over new deals is affecting form, Jackett said: ‘I don’t know, I don’t know to be honest with you. Things affect people in different ways.
‘Some individuals can play and see it as a positive, while others don’t necessarily like running their contract down.
‘That’s different with different players, but there’s a big picture to it which needs to be decided.
‘Just speaking about our club, it’s tough at the moment to know exactly where you are financially.
‘It’s out of their (the board’s) hands until they get some direction from above.
‘It affects people in different ways, but the club’s hands are tied.’
Pompey have been operating under a salary cap this season which limited a club’s playing budget in League One to £2.5m.
An independent arbitration panel’s decision saw that ceiling removed last month, with a return to the previous Salary Cost Management Protocols (SCMP) system implemented, which indexes spending to turnover.
But it was under that system Bury built huge debts which saw them expelled from the league, before going into administration last year – and it remains to be seen how vigorously those rules are implemented.
Jackett added: ‘Every club at the moment is under an embargo. That’s where it is.
‘Nobody is necessarily going to get fined for that, but we’re going from from the salary cap to the SCMP system.
‘How stringently is that going to be enforced? Is it going to be the same as it was before or is it going to be more?
‘I think it will be the chairman of the clubs and the owners who decide that.
‘There will not be a salary cap in play, but how far do they go with the rules and regulations for next year?
‘That still has to be decided, so it’s hard for clubs to be giving out contracts when they don’t know if that will be the case.
‘The overall picture in the country does look optimistic at the moment for the next year, and for next season there should rightly be some optimism, but things have turned before.
‘So actual planning for next season is very difficult at the moment for all clubs at our level and the EFL.’