Kenny Jackett details damage to Portsmouth budget and recruitment prospects amid crisis

Kenny Jackett admitted the coronavirus pandemic has decimated Pompey’s recruitment plans.
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And the Blues boss is facing up to the prospect of his playing budget being slashed as the economic reality of the Covid-19 crisis bites.

Jackett confirmed Pompey will not be able to pay decent-sized fees or hand out long-term contracts, with the club looking at a massive hole in their balance sheet and preparing for football to go behind closed doors.

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He feels the challenge for his club is to adapt to the terrain the game faces moving forward better than their rivals - and Pompey are well placed to do so.

Jackett said: ‘It is (the prospect of giving long-term contracts and paying significant fees gone). We will have to see how next year looks, before we commit to any further contracts than the ones we’ve got.

‘The whole of football is going to change. It’s going to be a different landscape financially.

‘It will certainly be in the EFL and maybe the Prem as well, but in the Prem there’s more chance of sustaining their budgets.

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‘It’s going to be a different landscape financially and it will be for Portsmouth.

Kenny JackettKenny Jackett
Kenny Jackett

‘I would suggest we would be one of the more solid clubs with the way the board of directors run it.

‘But, similarly, will budgets be affected next year? Definitely. Will it be a different landscape in terms of signing players? Yes, it will.

‘But it will be the same for all, if not the vast majority of clubs.

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‘So when we do start we have to adapt better than the competition.’

And the 58-year-old is adamant that work will not be wasted, despite facing up to a very different future than previously anticipated.

Jackett feels the nature of recruitment means signings can be revisited at a later date, while there still may be different possibilities presenting themselves.

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He added: ‘It may do (the recruitment may lead to something), you never know.

‘It might be this window, it might be the next one but a lot of recruitment work is like that anyway.

‘It’s knowing the market and being better prepared for when things come up. You’re then better prepared. That’s where it is.

‘The summer is a big one for any club and if you get that wrong it’s hard to recover until the following summer.

‘For this summer, it will be very difficult to plan but I don’t think any of that work is ever wasted.

‘It just might be used at a later date.’

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