Kenny Jackett makes Portsmouth lockdown revelation

Portsmouth boss Kenny Jackett has revealed the tasks keeping him busy during the current lockdown in an interview with the official club site.

Pompey are fourth in the League One table and were looking to mount a serious push for the top two when the lockdown struck. Despite the blow to their momentum, Jackett has revealed he is using his spare time wisely,

“I’ve been able to use scouting platforms to have an extensive look right across the leagues,” he said.

“That’s an excellent resource and you incorporate some of it into the information that’s gathered by our recruitment team. We’ve been able to really look in detail on the other League One sides and why, for example, some of them have been performing well.”

Scouting platforms such as Wyscout allow managers to look back over whole games and delve deeper into the stats that make up a game of football. Jackett, who has had success in the past with relatively obscure signings such as Jamal Lowe and Ronan Curtis, is not only looking for his next big star, but also for the small advantages that might see them regain their League One status when the crisis is over.

“There’s plenty of interesting feedback and we’re also doing a lot of planning because there’s obviously more time to think about things,” he added.

“When we do come back – although we don’t know when that will be at the moment – we have to be ready. So we do need to pause for thought, reset and be ready to go again in order to capitalise on the good position we’re in.”

Jackett’s side finished inside the play-off spots last season, but despite leading the table for much of the campaign they were disappointingly beaten 1-0 over two legs by Sunderland.

Our View

Many managers will be doing exactly what Jackett is right now. Wyscout gives them such a huge array of options that scouting at games is becoming increasingly obsolete; why travel 300 miles to watch a player who you could just as easily assess in Wyscout, without missing any of his actions?

Portsmouth’s primary concern will be promotion; after a bad start they’ve looked relatively strong, but there are still question marks from some over Jackett’s long-term ability to get them up the Championship table, once promotion is secured.