Ex-Portsmouth & Coventry man Carl Baker: The best team spirit of my career - then Kenny Jackett made it boring

Carl Baker still chuckles while reflecting on the best team spirit he experienced in 22 years of professional football.

Then he mourns what the Pompey dressing room became after its lightning conductor controversially walked out to join Wigan.

To this day, the retired midfielder remains in the dark over Paul Cook’s motivations just 26 days after winning the League Two title on an emotional afternoon against Cheltenham.

That successful 2016-17 season brought Baker a place in Fratton folklore, life-long bonds, a promotion baby, and memories he clearly treasures.

Yet he had long since departed when Cook’s managerial replacement Kenny Jackett led the Blues to the Checkatrade Trophy and successive League One play-off semi-finals.

Having witnessed the painful dismantling of that cherished team atmosphere, Baker quit two-and-a-half months into the new era - to avoid becoming ‘bored’.

‘That Pompey dressing room under Cookie had the best team spirit of my 22 years as a footballer,’ the 40-year-old told The News.

‘Then, after the title win, it all fell apart - Kenny Jackett came in and the atmosphere changed.

‘It was like having one nan who, when visiting, you’d have a cup of tea and no-one speaks. Then you’d go to your other nan and the house is bouncing with all kinds going on.

‘Cookie was a big, big character, while Kenny was the total opposite. Cookie was really loud, in your face, he’d have a laugh with you, he’d give out a rollicking, he had a bit of a split personality.

‘Whereas Kenny, a really nice fella, sat in his office and you wouldn’t see or speak to him. I never really talked to him other than “Morning Gaffer”, then that was it for the rest of the day.

‘My only season under Cookie went dead quickly. I loved training, I would be buzzing on the Saturday for games, I loved those lads, an unbelievable bunch who all got on.

‘That wasn’t there any longer under Kenny. I thought “I don’t know if I can do this for another year”. I wouldn’t have enjoyed it at Pompey any more, I would have got bored. So I left.’

Baker was Cook’s third summer capture as he sought to fine-tune a team which had suffered last-gasp League Two play-off semi-final heartbreak at the hands of Plymouth.

Arriving in June 2016 after turning down a fresh deal with MK Dons following a season of Championship football, the former Coventry man established himself on the right-hand side of Pompey’s midfield.

Missing just one league game all season, he totalled 46 appearances, while weighed in with nine goals, including netting twice in the final three matches during that memorable title run-in.

However, 26 days following the dramatic 6-1 triumph over Cheltenham, Cook walked out to join fellow League One side Wigan.

Skipper Michael Doyle, The News/Sports Mail Player of the Season Enda Stevens, and loanee David Forde had already departed before their manager followed suit.

His replacement was unveiled in June 2017 - Jackett.

Baker said: ‘I was surprised when Cookie left. To be honest, I don’t know why he did it, I’ve never really spoken to him about it. I’m sure there will be a logical reason why.

‘I suppose it came down to money, he had that offer on the table from Wigan. Unfortunately it’s the way football works.

‘Then Kenny Jackett arrived. Any new manager is a nightmare for players who have been playing and it’s a godsend for those who haven’t. 

‘You’ve worked your backside off for a year to get to that point - only for it to be wiped out with a clean sheet for everyone, I had to do it all again, proving myself to someone who doesn’t know me.

‘With any new manager, they want to stamp their authority on the team and bring in their own players. Yet this was a great group of lads, good players in a good place.

‘On the back of promotion, he could probably have left it the way it was and we still would have gone up again. I don’t think those changes needed to be made.

‘I was treated okay by Kenny. I wouldn’t say I got along with him great, but I didn’t dislike him either. I can only speak for the couple of months I was there with him, but I wasn’t enjoying it, it was a different vibe.

‘He was more of a headmaster type, where you don’t really speak to him. You’d train and then everyone would go home. Whereas under Cookie, the lads would still be there two hours after training ended.

‘At the training ground there was a big projector in the meeting room and sometimes after training we’d put on the golf or the horse racing. There'd be 10-12 of us there for an hour or two, watching bits and bobs, having a chat.

‘Under Kenny, that’s the last thing you’d think of doing. You would get showered, have your food, and then get away to do your own thing.

‘Some of the new players compared to those who left were different people, quiet lads. We never had anyone like that in the title season. Curtis Main was a strange lad, but actually funny, some of Christian Burgess’ gear was terrible, but you looked forward to seeing what he turned up in next. Such funny times.

‘Don’t get me wrong, Cookie was tough, he had split personalities. If we had won he was the best fella to have around, if you’d lost you would almost walk the long way round so you didn’t have to cross eyes with him in case he said something.

‘There used to be 100 yards of green Astroturf leading to his office, which we called the Green Mile. When you were summoned, you’d think “What have I done?” and that 30-second walk could take five minutes.

‘Then it would be “Bakes, I thought you were class on Saturday” - and you’d come back bouncing and buzzing.

‘He’d challenge us to a game of head tennis for a tenner, we’d play him and the staff, but could never win because they’d cheat until they got the victory. It was funny.

‘Sometimes he’d organise golf at Skylark Golf & Country Club on a Wednesday. There’d be 10-12 of us and we would sit together and have food in the clubhouse afterwards, all mates.

‘We’d have meetings analysing our performances, showing games, and if someone had made a bad pass, Cookie would pause it, rewind, and take the mickey out of them, making everyone laugh.

‘Under Kenny, you’d watch the game clips and no-one would say anything. Then it was “Right lads, training in 10 minutes”. It was miserable and boring.’

Baker featured in the Blues’ opening four matches of the 2017-18 season under their new boss.

Having been converted to a holding midfielder for the final pre-season friendly against Bournemouth, the veteran started in the unfamiliar role for the visit of Rochdale on the opening day.

Despite a 2-0 success, with debutant Brett Pitman netting twice, Baker found himself dropped, with youngster Adam May instead preferred alongside Danny Rose.

The final outing of his 50-game Pompey career would arrive in August 2017, with a 60-minute appearance in the Checkatrade Trophy against Fulham Under-21s which finished 3-3.

He added: ‘Kenny had told me I wasn’t going to play, although was happy for me to stay and be in the squad. He also now saw me as a CDM.

‘After playing a big part in getting the club promoted and now aged 34, it’s not really what I wanted to hear. I still wanted to play every single game for as long as I could.

‘The older you get, the faster seasons go and the more conscious you are of wasting or losing a year. I didn’t want to be on the bench at Pompey, I wanted to be playing. I knew my time was up.

‘Personality-wise, I just don’t think he could have got the best out of me. Kenny has obviously been a good manager, he’s had a good career and managed at a high level, but just didn’t fancy me as a player.

‘I wasn’t going to get what I needed out of it, so there was no point at my age wasting time and hanging about. Leaving was right for both of us.

‘I’m happy in a way. I can be playing golf with a mate and, when he asks about Pompey, I have a smile on my face talking about it. I only have positive and good memories.

‘I can’t recall the two-and-a-half months under Kenny Jackett, I just remember the full season under Cookie, winning promotion and enjoying one of the best years of my football career.’

The remaining 12 months on Baker’s Fratton Park contract was cancelled by mutual consent, opening the door for him to rejoin Coventry and be closer to his Meriden-based family.

Then he received a phone call from Teddy Sheringham, head coach at Indian Super League side ATK - and instead signed for them for the forthcoming campaign.

Although an Achilles injury sustained in his final pre-season game meant the veteran never made an appearance for the West Bengal-based club.

He said: As a kid, my ambition was to experience something different in football at the end of my career, whether it be going to America or somewhere else. Now I had the opportunity.

‘I had never been to India before and absolutely loved it. It was a fantastic, eye-opening experience, even though injury meant I never played over there.

‘I was spending every day with Teddy Sheringham and Robbie Keane and it was a class five months. There were crowds of 80,000 and you’d drive up to the stadium and there’d be a 30-foot billboard with my picture on.

‘Financially it was the best pay I ever received in my whole career. I earned more money from my contract in India than when I was captain of Coventry in the Championship.

‘India was only a five-month season, you’re there and back before you know it, so I fancied a good little payday, with options in England still there.

‘Yet the Achilles injury killed me. It could have happened anywhere, I suppose - then happened again after I eventually went back to Coventry.’

After signing for Coventry in March 2018 following his Indian adventure, another Achilles set-back days before a scheduled second debut rendered him a long-term casualty, prompting the mutual decision to rip up his contract.

It marked a return to non-league football after 11 years away, seeing out his career with Nuneaton Borough (twice), Brackley Town, AFC Telford United and Quorn, before hanging up his boots in the summer of 2023 aged 40.

Baker remains in football and runs the Carl Baker Football Academy, which continues to flourish since its 2018 inception, to date supplying 14 talented youngsters to professional club academies, including Aston Villa, Leicester City, West Brom, Wolves, Sheffield United, Northampton and Walsall.

That title-clinching victory against Cheltenham would be his final Football League appearance - and also provided another reason to celebrate in the Baker household.

He added: ‘My son Keegan is a promotion baby!

‘We already had two sons and never planned on having another child, but it turned out he was conceived over the weekend we won the League Two title.

‘All the wives and girlfriends came down that weekend of the Cheltenham game and we went out together on the Saturday night after winning 6-1. We later discovered my wife was pregnant - and traced it back to that fantastic weekend.

‘Pompey stuck in League Two was crazy. I hope they get back to where they deserve to be and, when that happens, I’ll always feel I played a big part at the very beginning.

‘I’d like to think we were the team which got the ball rolling. When that promotion occurs, I’ll be watching from afar with great pride thinking “We started that”.’