Wolves Wrap Up Their Jackett

As Kenny Jackett is confirmed as Wolves' new head coach, this blog takes a look at the facts behind his story so far, and attempts to convince fans who are unsure of this appointment just why he is the right man for the Molineux hotseat.

Credit: @midlandsfooty

Former Millwall boss Kenny Jackett was announced as the new head coach of Wolves today, having resigned from Millwall just hours after Dean Saunders was sacked by Wolves just over 3 weeks ago. The Londoner has arrived at Molineux to a mixed reaction from fans, with many seemingly preferring Owen Coyle from the list of potential candidates. But whilst some are happy to give Jackett a chance to impress, others see it as a poor decision and seem happy to turn their backs on the club at this "final straw".

Jackett won the FL Trophy with Swansea in 2006

Personally I couldn't be happier at the appointment of Jackett. From the moment he became available, he was my first choice and I feel he is the outstanding candidate for the job. The problem with a lot of Wolves fans is they still see us as a big club, a club that should be sitting comfortably in the Premier League. The reality is far from that though. For the first time since 1989, Wolves are facing a season of football outside the top two tiers of English football and need to get back to the Championship as quickly as possible. There are few better managers out there who have the track record at this level to do just that. Having previously been in charge of Watford for a year back in the late 1990's, Jackett then spent a lot of time as an Assistant Manager, before taking the lead role at Swansea City - who at the time we in League 2 - in April 2004. Despite an underwhelming start that saw the Welsh side miss out on the Play-Offs, in Jackett's first full season they achieved promotion to League 1. They initially looked on course for a second successive promotion, but slipped away towards the end of the season before losing in the Play-Off Final to Barnsley on penalties. He did, however, bring the Welsh club the Football League Trophy (aka Johnstone's Paint Trophy) that season. The next year (2006-07) started solidly for Swansea, who were hovering around the Play-Offs. But Jackett resigned in February 2007, stating he didn't feel he had the full support of everyone at the club.

Jackett took Millwall up through the League 1 Play-Offs in 2010

Having gone to Manchester City as Reserve Team coach just 3 weeks later in March 2007, Jackett then took up the Manager's post at Millwall in November of that year. The rest of that season was solid before, in his first full season, he took the unfancied club to 5th in League One, beating Leeds United in the Play-Off Semi Finals to set up a date with Nigel Adkins' Scunthorpe United at Wembley. After leading 2-1 at half-time, Scunthorpe came back within the last 20 minutes to win the game 3-2. Millwall weren't to be deterred, however, and after a fantastic second-half to the 2009/10 season, Millwall missed out on automatic promotion by just 1 point. This only seemed to spur them on as they beat Huddersfield 2-0 on aggregate before meeting much-fancied Swindon Town in the Final. Captain (and Lions' stalwart) Paul Robinson scored the only goal in a 1-0 win that saw the club promoted back to the Championship. The London club made an instant impact on the Championship, pushing for the Play-Offs before a late-season slump saw them finish a highly respectable 9th. The following season, despite having hovered around the relegation zone for much of the season, a late surge of 5 wins in a row (as part of a 7 game unbeaten streak) saw them finish safely over the line. Last season Millwall started well, going on a 13 game unbeaten run (including beating Wolves 1-0 at Molineux). But they faltered after December and only won 5 of their last 23 games, narrowly avoiding relegation on the final day. He did, however, guide them to yet another Wembley day out - the infamous FA Cup Semi-Final defeat to Wigan back in April.

Jackett's extremely impressive stats (Credit: Wikipedia)

Whilst I understand some aspects of those facts - particularly the last 2 seasons in the Championship - may not sound too enticing, it is important to note that Jackett operated at Millwall on a shoestring budget and as a result his achievements are ones of great success. He was the club's 8th longest serving manager and one of their most celebrated. In terms of honours, he's won the League One Manager of the Month award 3 times, and the Championship Manager of the Month award twice. At all 3 clubs he has managed, he has a win percentage of over 40%, and when the number of wins and draws at each club are combined, they outweigh the number of defeats he's suffered at each club. He is widely acknowledged amongst the Swansea fans as being the man who laid the foundations there for Roberto Martinez to build on and start their journey to success. He builds teams from the back, with his main focus being on having a side defensively solid - as demonstrated by his sides' defensive records over the years (12 teams conceded the same or more goals as them last season, 13 the season before that and 21 the year before that - all Championship). Given what we've witnessed at Molineux over the last few years, defensive stability is something high on most fans' agendas.

Kenny Jackett may not be the sexiest name linked with the post - some may even say he's an underwhelming choice. He may not be the man to take the club to the Premier League, but right now any fan expecting that needs locking in a mental facility. What Kenny Jackett represents is Wolves' desire to get back to the Championship at the first attempt and to have stability back at Molineux again after a turbulent 18 months. For once, Steve Morgan has made the right appointment at the right time, and this League One season ahead is one that all Wolves fans should look forward to with hope and excitement.

Out of darkness, Wolves may have just found themselves some light.

In Jackett We Trust.