Kenny Jackett's 'conscience is clear' as he responds to Jamal Lowe's parting shot at Portsmouth 'decision makers'

Kenny Jackett admitted his conscience was clear following Jamal Lowe’s parting shot at the Pompey ‘decision makers’ after his move to Wigan was confirmed.
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And the Blues manager added the club should have no regrets with how they handled things, after bagging in excess of £2.5m for the former Hampton & Richmond winger.

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He immediately went on Twitter to pay tribute to those Pompey fans he’s left behind, thanking them for their support during his two-and-a-half years at the club.

But as he apologised for a lack of communication throughout the transfer saga, he took issue with some of the senior staff members at Fratton Park.

His statement on Twitter read: ‘I want to apologise to the fans for being quiet about the situation over the last few weeks but you have to understand its complexity.

‘It wasn’t an easy decision but a lot of things happened behind closed doors which left me questioning the integrity of some of the decision makers at the club.

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‘Not only this but being able to test myself in the Championship has only ever been a dream of mine.’

Pompey boss Kenny JackettPompey boss Kenny Jackett
Pompey boss Kenny Jackett

The comments were put to Jackett and chief executive Mark Catlin at BBC Radio Solent’s Portsmouth FC Fans’ forum on Thursday night.

Jackett said Lowe was entitled to his opinion – but stressed he, nor the club, had anything to apologise for.

He told BBC Radio Solent: 'The world we live in now is open to opinions, you know, and everyone is entitled to theirs.

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'I've got to say, on behalf of everyone at the club, my conscience is clear, both for myself and how we've handled everything we've done and it's not something I want to necessarily comment on any further.

'My conscience in how we've dealt with everything is very clear.’

In his response, Catlin admitted having an employee or ex-employee of the club questioning the management structure’s integrity was something he had yet to experience in his role as chief executive.

And he raised the subject of players honouring their contracts, with Lowe having one year left on his Fratton Park deal – and the club having the option of a further year.

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Catlin said: 'I think anyone who has been an employee of the club and or ex-employee is entitled to an opinion of how we run the club.

‘I think you'll find in the last six or seven years I've been here that's never been levelled at us.

'I'm not digging Jamal out here, but I think generally when players sign contracts, as a club we expect them to honour those contracts.

'The fans deserves that, as a club we deserve that.

'When we enter into contracts and a player gets injured a few weeks later they still expect us to pay their wages in full - they don't expect us to start renegotiating it.

‘So, likewise, we have that responsibility I feel to the fans and, you know, on behalf of the club, we expect players to honour those contracts and those who don't, to me, lack that integrity.’

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