Kenny Jackett outlines the importance of analysis in his Portsmouth recruitment

Pompey boss Kenny Jackett. Photo by Dave Haines/Portsmouth News

The Blues boss has told how he uses statistical analysis to streamline his hunt for new players.

But Jackett feels there’s still no hiding place when it comes to making a judgement over signings as the man at the top.

The Pompey manager has long turned to technology to assist his work as a manager.

He explained earlier this month how he’s used innovations to test the conditioning of his players, stretching back to his time as a manager of Swansea 15 years ago.

And it’s no different when it comes to statistics to help guide him in the right direction on signings.

Most clubs, of course, now employ analysis staff to some degree with the use of platforms like Wyscout commonplace when it comes to managing data.

The Moneyball revolution in baseball preceded the growth in its use in football, after the Oakland Athletics used analysis to compete with big-budget rivals at the start of the millennium.

Jackett feels embracing the information has aided his work.

He said: ‘Football is opinion but there’s a lot of very good analytical information around - and it’s needed.

‘I use it in different areas. You have to use the statistics.

‘It doesn’t make you a good judge of player but it makes you define where you look and who you look at quicker.’

Using analysis to make the recruitment process more efficient has been an obvious benefit in the eyes of Jackett.

The Pompey boss knows all-too-well the frustrations of working on bringing in a target, to only see the player move elsewhere and it become apparent your club was never realistically in the hunt for the signature.

The interest in Mo Eisa last summer before he finally made the move to Championship side Bristol City from Cheltenham is one such example.

Anything which can streamline recruitment is useful in Jackett’s book.

He added: ‘You can chase players for months and months and then realise at the end you never had a chance and you miss out on others.

‘So I think in terms of stats a big one is recruitment.’