Pompey boss: I could hear all the criticism but I always thought we had a lot of ability

THE calls for the dismissal of Pompey’s manager reached a Kingsmeadow crescendo.

Certainly Kenny Jackett admits he couldn’t plug the earsplitting message delivered by sections of the 712 away following.

That last-gasp 1-0 defeat at AFC Wimbledon left the Blues 17th in League One in mid-October.

Since then, they have embarked on a 10-match unbeaten run in all competitions, while Jackett has been nominated for the Sky Bet Manager of the Month award for November.

Those supporter comments could not be ignored, yet the Blues boss had faith in his side to turn things around.

He said: ‘As a manager, you have to be resilient. But the nature of football these days is it comes on pretty quickly if you don’t win.

‘At Wimbledon, you can see the faces can’t you, and hear the comments.

‘People say to managers “Do you feel it?” You feel it and know what is going on. People that say they don’t, well they do. You know what people think and people feel, 100 per cent.

‘It’s not like you have some way of being immune to it.

‘We have given ourselves a chance. The big one in the football club is always the players.

‘What are they capable of? Are they playing to their maximum? Are the combinations there?

‘I always felt there was a lot of ability there – and I’ve watched them build up their confidence. You can’t just switch it on or off, you have to build it brick by brick.

‘It has slowly built to a stage where we have given ourselves a chance going forward, that’s it, nothing more than that.

‘But we have a chance. We are in and around it, and now have a chance if we get it right.’

Pompey will head to 18thplaced Accrington Stanley tomorrow seeking to continue a run of four wins and three draws from their seven league outings since the Wimbledon reverse.

Jackett added: ‘That Wimbledon game we were right on top. The stats I do in a lot of those games showed we were clear winners on many of them.

‘I am not saying that shows you deserve to win, it doesn’t. I think you get what you deserve.

‘Similarly, I did think with perseverance, we could turn it around.’

The other nominations for the League One Manager of the Month award, incidentally, are Wycombe Wanderers boss Gareth Ainsworth, Bristol Rovers chief Graham Coughlan and Rotherham United’s Paul Warne.

– NEIL ALLEN

Pompey are undefeated in their last 10 matches in all competitions