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Managerial announcement leaves Portsmouth fans furious

A managerial announcement about Portsmouth boss Kenny Jackett leaves fans furious with the club currently in the League One relegation zone.

It’s another new campaign where Pompey are favourites for promotion back to the second tier of English football, however that is the very thing they keep missing out on.

This will be their fourth season in a row at this level, and fans are and have certainly lost patience in the side’s current boss, with calls for him to get the sack and the hashtag #JackettOut trending on Twitter come many a full time result.

Any hope of him getting axed however has been diminished with The News reporting the manager’s position is currently safe, despite the poor start to the season.

There is concern in their recent performances, not helped when losing 2-1 at home to newly relegated Wigan Athletic, who are under administration.

The coronavirus pandemic has also impacted on the club’s financial struggles, their losses up to £5m and they are missing out on deals and seeing players depart.

Chief executive Mark Catlin has already claimed the side have been losing £700,000 per month.

It would also cost the club around £400,000 just to end Jackett’s contract, which is due to end next summer, plus they would need need to think about the backroom staff and their wishes for new player signings too.

The fans want him out so bad that a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for his dismissal launched by Steve Betteridge.

Though that has since been cancelled following a number of offensive posts. JustGiving stepped in and said it broke their guidelines.

Many comments refereed to the likes of George Floyd, Madeline McCann and Emiliano Sala.

Portsmouth legend Guy Whittingham claimed that it looked like players weren’t trying for Jackett in the game against Wigan and team spirit is lacking.

Whittingham told BBC Solent Sport: “First and foremost, you have to say as a player you can’t let any disagreements you might have in the way you play, or the way the manager treats you, affect your performance on the pitch.

“You have to give 100 per cent all of the time. That’s what you are meant to do.

“But added to that is a cohesion within the team and being willing to work for each other.

“You’d think that would be there from this group of players who have been together a fair while now.

“You wouldn’t expect that not to be there, but it didn’t look like it was there this afternoon.

“Disjointed, definitely and the connections between the midfielder and strikers, full-backs and wide players just wasn’t there. Just wasn’t there at all.

‘They looked like a group of strangers playing a game of football, that’s how it looked.

“There’s times when things don’t come off, but I certainly in my career don’t think I’ve ever been involved in a team who doesn’t look like they’re trying to give their all.

“I’m sure Portsmouth players were. Perhaps they look somewhere else to get some inspiration, and they’re looking to the sideline for some.

“As an ex-player you don’t like to aim at the players and say they’re not trying and I’m sure they were – but that’s how it looked.

“Whether they want a bit more guidance on the pitch might be the case.

“I don’t think I can aim at the players, they stopped trying, but I didn’t see any encouragement for each other out there.

“I saw lots of moaning going on, but I didn’t see it going the other way.”

Whittingham added there were signs evident the togetherness of the Pompey camp isn’t what it should be under Jackett.

He said: “People complain that’s the way Pompey play, and it is the way they play, buy when they play poorly it stands out more I suppose.

“It was a poor performance.

“Even at the end of the game all four of the Wigan subs who didn’t get on were out doing a run straightaway.

“Portsmouth a couple came out with the fitness coach and then one more came out. It didn’t look like they were together.

“I was just wonder if there’s a real team spirit there at the moment.”

Kenny acknowledged his side had shown only ‘bits and pieces’ during the campaign so far.

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He told The News: ‘There’s always pressure in management, we understand how the game works.

“And obviously you do need results.

“That’s three games in now. There’s a lot to go, but we didn’t necessarily”want to be in this position after three games – and that is frustrating.

“Is there enough to go, though? Yes there is, in terms of a talented squad and enough games.

“We’ve shown bits and pieces so far this season.

“I thought we started well on Saturday and lost a bit of confidence when their first goal went in. There was more than enough time to come back, although it looked a strange goal to concede.

“But, similarly for us, in terms of performances we’ve had good spells in games, without that winning performance we need and are capable of.

“We have fired in parts of games, and the first part of Saturday we did look on top. It looked like our day to get our first win.

“Unfortunately we couldn’t get that one over the line and get through.”

Under Jackett , they have finished 8th, 4th and 5th in League One whilst also losing 1–0 on aggregate to Sunderland in the 2019 playoff semi-final and being defeated 5–4 on penalties to Oxford United in the 2020 playoff semi-final.

As mentioned, the managerial announcement leaves Portsmouth fans furious, see what they tweeted below…

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