'A fine manager and a good man': Neil Allen's tribute to late Portsmouth boss Kenny Jackett and reflection on his Blues achievements
Jackett is among six managers who have won silverware for Pompey in the post-war era
As Kev McCormack prepared to drive his wife to Guildford Hospital, the phone rang - it was Kenny Jackett.
Having been diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer, Sarah McCormack was scheduled to undergo an operation to remove a cancerous growth on that July 2020 morning.
Barely 36 hours earlier, Pompey had endured the agony of elimination from the League One play-offs by Oxford United, with their kitman absent from both legs having been granted compassionate leave.
Yet as a city reeled from the devastation of suffering successive play-off semi-final heartbreaks, Sarah’s health was occupying the thoughts of the manager, who personally wanted to deliver his best wishes to the McCormack family.
It was a touching gesture from the then-Blues boss which epitomised the class of a man whose passing on Thursday at the age of 64 has been mourned by football.
211 games as Portsmouth boss
By the time his managerial career arrived at Fratton Park, Jackett preferred to separate emotion from football, portraying himself as a largely undemonstrative person on the touchlines, while keeping players at arm’s length to avoid intimacy.
His devotion to the job over those three-and-a-half years focused on establishing working relationships, removing feelings from decisions to avoid clouding his professional judgement. There could be no distractions from his drive to accomplish success.
Yet Jackett carried himself with tremendous dignity, always respectful to staff, media and supporters in his dealings, on occasions under heavy pressure. As that phone call to Kev McCormack demonstrates, he also cared.
His time at Pompey is often harshly judged, with opinions primarily influenced by the unquestionable failure to bring Championship football back to Fratton Park.
Granted, his playing style could be pragmatic and rigid at times, while some decisions baffled, with the treatment of Brett Pitman, Craig MacGillivray and ‘winter footballer’ Tom Naylor immediately springing to mind.
However, the Blues won 51.66 per cent of his 211 matches in charge, while the former Wolves and Swansea boss led them to two play-off semi-finals and two EFL Trophy finals in his three-and-a-half seasons.
Matt Clarke flourished under him, Jamal Lowe blossomed, Ronan Curtis enjoyed the best football of his career, he brought out levels in Ben Thompson arguably never scaled since, while Jack Whatmough finally came of age.
He gave us Norwich away, Wigan at home over Paul Cook, created a club Football League record of nine successive victories, twice registered runs of eight consecutive wins, established the best start to a Blues season for 57 years, oversaw 20 away wins in the 2018-19 campaign, and topped League One in consecutive Christmases.
One of six Pompey managers to win silverware post-war
And, of course, there was Sunderland at Wembley in March 2019, watched by a competition record crowd of 85,021. Incidentally, only six managers since the end of WW2 have won trophies with Pompey - Jackett was the fifth.
Indeed, had it not been for Covid, he may well have secured that cherished League One promotion in 2019-20, with the Blues having fine momentum and in fourth - two points behind Rotherham in second spot - before the campaign was curtailed in March 2020.
Despite 11 fixtures still to fulfil, an unweighted points per game model was used to decide promotion, with Jackett’s men subsequently placed fifth. Then they lost to Oxford on penalties in two behind-closed-doors legs.
That season also saw the EFL Trophy final against Salford postponed for a year, with Pompey expected to sell 50,000 tickets.
When it eventually took place in March 2021, no supporters were present and the Blues lost 4-2 on penalties. The following day, Jackett was dismissed, with the club seventh in League One.
Perhaps to his detriment in the eyes of some, Jackett was never a showman, he didn’t court attention and was largely a reserved figure on the touchline, deep in his thoughts and entirely focused on match proceedings.
The pre-match media routine consisted of him emerging from his office at 1pm on the dot, before sitting down and answering every question directed at him with patience, honesty and respect, usually with lengthy answers. Occasionally he would call in Bobby Bacic to clarify injury news.
There was never any suspicion or paranoia which characterised some of his predecessors, who could gaze far too deeply into the motivation of a question when actually they possessed the power to control the answer. You never saw him lose his composure, even in the aftermath of defeats.
Upon the conclusion of those press conferences, there was never any chat or off-the-record talk enjoyed by some Blues boss. Instead Jackett would politely announce his goodbyes before returning to his office, his duties fulfilled, the absolute professional.
During one pre-season, a junior on the sports desk, Will Rooney, was dispatched to ask Pompey’s manager alternative questions in a traditional Match magazine-style format in a bid to catch a glimpse beneath the real character.
When asked about his favourite TV show other than Match Of The Day, Jackett replied: ‘Monday Night Football’ without a hint of a smile or mischief. You knew he meant it too. Incidentally, he had no urge to appear on I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here.
Remarkable dedication
His dedication to the job was remarkable. In July 2018, during pre-season in Fota Island, Cork, the players were prohibited from playing golf at any of the three Links courses at the resort and laid down the law that, while they could watch the World Cup clash against Columbia, no alcohol was allowed to be consumed - and it had to be on site.
As he firmly explained to the players, their focus needed to be on the forthcoming 2018-19 campaign, with drinking reserved until after they had secured their goal of promotion to the Championship.
For those who had been present on Paul Cook’s two Pompey pre-seasons, Jackett’s approach contrasted hugely. Christian Burgess and Gareth Evans even broke curfew one night at Fota Island by climbing out an upper storey hotel window and fleeing into the night to watch an Alanis Morissette concert.
In terms of the transfer market, Jackett unquestionably made mistakes, including the costly purchase of John Marquis and the woeful January windows of 2018 and 2019, but there were successes too, as his win ratio reflects.
Putting football aside, however, Kenny Jackett was a gentleman and a class act. Admittedly enigmatic, undeniably a closed book, but beneath that sphinx-like exterior was a beating heart and generous nature.
A fine manager - and a good man. He will be missed.
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