Why Swindon's Brett Pitman will be gunning for Kenny Jackett at Portsmouth reunion after bitter Fratton Park split

‘I’m not angry. I’m still healthy, my family’s healthy, obviously it has been tough times for everybody,’ he told The News in July.

‘I’m actually disappointed. It would have been nice to have finished it differently.’

Pompey’s second-highest scorer of the 21st Century was unquestionably harshly treated following a complete breakdown in his relationship with Jackett.

The other side to the story is there were those inside the Blues’ dressing room who felt Pitman’s departure was essential in terms of removing an off-field presence purported to be disruptive.

SEE ALSO: Jackett speaks on relationship with Pitman as he prepares for striker’s return

Jackett clearly agreed.

Nonetheless, tonight sees Pitman return to Fratton Park for the first time since a summer exit which had long been inevitable.

Since snapped up by Swindon as a free agent, the 33-year-old has netted five times in 23 appearances.

A satisfactory tally, but Pompey were fortunate to have Pitman at his peak. A brilliant goalscorer, natural finisher and often inspirational influence.

The former skipper struck 42 goals during three Fratton Park seasons. Only Yakubu Aiyegbeni has netted more for the Blues in the last 23 years.

Admittedly, his productivity declined following that 25-goal haul in his maiden Pompey season after joining from Ipswich in July 2017 for an undisclosed fee.

Pitman’s 99th – and final – appearance arrived on December 29, 2019, signified by an 18-minute entrance from the bench in a 3-1 defeat at struggling MK Dons.

He never featured for Jackett’s men in 2020 – in fact, he barely trained with them.

The former Bournemouth man spent the second half of the 2019-20 campaign in exile, aside from a flurry of four outings as an unused substitute before football’s lockdown.

When the Blues suffered League One play-off semi-final elimination to Oxford on penalties, their most clinical spot-kick taker was watching at home. Snubbed for one last time.

It was quite a fall from grace for the first Pompey player to break the 20-goal barrier since Svetoslav Todorov’s 26-goal return in 2002-03.

In 2017-18, only Peterborough’s Jack Marriott netted more times in League One, while Pitman was runner-up to Matt Clarke in The News/Sport’s Mail’s Player of the Season.

The following year, an uneasy relationship with Jackett developed and he was instructed to train away from the first-team.

Pitman’s training routine was switched to Whitecliff Park near his Poole home, or running on Sandbanks beach. His Saturdays consisted of watching Bournemouth under-18s and Jeff Stelling.

Then, within 34 days of a subsequent first-team squad recall at Charlton, he skippered Jackett’s side to Checkatrade Trophy success over Sunderland at Wembley in March 2019.

The costly arrivals of John Marquis and Ellis Harrison then saw Pitman slip further away from first-team reckoning, despite netting seven times in the 2019 pre-season.

Then, following a 1-1 draw at Blackpool, in which Pitman was unused from the bench, Jackett removed the captain’s armband and handed it to Tom Naylor.

A stoppage-time winner against Altrincham in the FA Cup in November 2019 would be his 42nd – and last – Pompey goal.

Given permission to find himself a loan club in the January transfer window, he rejected several offers, one reportedly from Swindon.

But there were to be no more Pompey comebacks, instead seeing out his final six months under contract by training with Bournemouth’s under-21s, run by former team-mate Shaun Cooper.

‘Ultimately, the manager does what he thinks is right for the team. Whether I agree with it or not, it wasn’t going to have any effect on his decision,’ Pitman told The News in that July interview.

‘I can have my opinion and he will have another I guess. It is what it is.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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