Comments of 'he is bound to play a long ball game' and 'he has no contacts in the game' and 'he is not respected' are bourne out of no factual element at all just a 'gut feeling' placed by some of the supporters who were expecting a bigger 'name' to be appointed as successor to Brian Flynn. I cannot see an evidence that back up any of these statements at all because in truth none of us actually know a great deal about the man widely expected to be appointed tomorrow at the Vetch.
Although nothing has been said officially by the club, Queens Park Rangers have formally announced that Jackett will be appointed by the Swans once personal terms have been agreed.
But it is the condemning of a man who has yet to start work that is starting ot puzzle me. Over the past three days we have seen visits onto the web site from fans of both Queens Park Rangers and Watford who have nothing but the highest praise for the man and what he has achieved, both in his playing days at Vicarage Road and also his coaching days there and, more recently, as number two to Ian Holloway at Loftus Road. These are people that are actually speaking from seeing what Jackett has agreed rather than making assumptions on his ability based on nothing more than guesswork.
Luther Blissett, a former team mate at Watford is under no illusions that Swansea have got a good 'un in Jackett. He told the Wales on Sunday "Kenny is a fantastic man, a great organiser, a very good planner who is particularly meticulous at what he does. He understands football better than most and he knows players extremely well. His biggest strength is hid organisation and tactical know how. His teams are always organised and disciplined - they do the basics right. Ken is also a very honest man. He's straight up with you. He won't feed players a line, if he thinks a player isn't doing the correct job or isn't good enough then he'll tell them. Sure, Swansea fans may not think Kenny Jackett is the real big name that they had dreamed about but they must remember he was involved with Watford for a long time in various capacities and their rise to the Premiership under Graham Taylor had a lot to do with Kenny's coaching and organisational ability. Ken has also done a great job for QPR. Both clubs that he has been involved with were not the richest so enjoyed their success due to the organisation of the team and that is down in no small measure to Kelly."
Those comments surely make for decent reading and from someone who actually has an idea of what Jackett is about and not just working of speculation alone.
Jackett was a regular in the Watford side between 1980 and 1990 before injury curtailed his career early at the age of just 28. He made 428 appearances for the Hornets in that ten year span on top of his 31 caps for Wales. Watford appeared in both and FA Cup final and a UEFA Cup campaign during that spell before being relegated from the top flight back in 1988. However, Jackett helped them back to the Premiership whilst on the coaching side before leaving the club after 21 years following the appointment of Gianluca Vialli as manager in 2001. Three years have followed at QPR including a play off final last season and currently the hoops lie in 2nd place behind Plymouth Argyle in division two.
Jackett may not have a household name but he has everything that was promised to us - experience, standing and international caps. I do believe that this is a brave appointment by the board of the Swans but one that could pay dividends over the course of the coming years. I have to say that I am not convinced he was first choice in terms of all along (i.e. the one that we wanted immediately) but I do believe that we have quite possibly got the man who can do a job for us.
There is no doubt that the majority of Rangers fans are not happy at losing Jackett and believe that he could well be the one who provides the real nous behind their recent success. Watford fans are not in agreement and as the fans of the two clubs who have seen Jackett working his stuff, their word is much more reliable in my opinion than the words of people who are hazarding guesses.
The more I think about this appointment the more I like it - welcome to the Vetch Kenny and prove the few doubters out there wrong?
ONWARDS AND UPWARDS WITH KENNY JACKETT'S BARMY ARMY
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