Who is Kenny Jackett? The man behind the manager

Dressed immaculately in his suit, Kenny Jackett looked every inch the smart manager when he arrived at Wolves.

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But if anything, he has looked increasingly smarter ever since – and that's nothing to do with his attire.

Don't get thinking he is loud in any way – quite the opposite. Jackett doesn't do high profile.

But he is a creature of blinding conscientiousness and diligence and the only extravagances linked to the man are those occasionally seen by his team on the pitch.

Right from that sunny day last June when he was unveiled as Wolves' first head coach at Compton, Jackett examined every facet of the club – and then tried to find a way of bettering it.

Fully briefed on the fabric and heritage of the club when he took the job, following a detailed phone conversation with his mentor and former Wolves manager Graham Taylor, Jackett knew the scale of what he was taking on, and threw himself into it from day one.

He has improved so many little matters along the way that it's little surprise he has had such a positive impact.

For example, whereas at least one of his recent predecessors were happy to do away with the sports science side of the operation, Jackett embraced it, determined to maximise it and justify its expense.

Where the lunchtime menu in the canteen at Compton had been gradually allowed to be dictated by players and expanded, Jackett ordered that it be changed into one of far fewer, but healthier choices.

Where an air of chaos reigned previously, Jackett set up daily staff meetings at 9am where everyone's tasks for the day would be discussed, so everyone knew what each other was doing.

And of course, he has instigated much more obvious changes that have made being a Wolves fan a happier experience again. Crucially, where the relationship between the fans and the players had broken down, he made it a priority to repair it because he sensed the importance of what a force a united Wolves could be.

Words are cheap of course and he knew paying it lip service wasn't going to be enough: Fans were hurt, angry, let down and quite frankly dismayed at the actions of some of the players as Wolves suffered successive relegations.

Recognising that relationship was like oxygen has proved to be one of the foundations for the fresh unity that has followed and then working with the players to rebuild that bond has proved a masterstroke.

At Molineux, players now warm up in front of the South Bank where their most vocal support is. Players now recognise the fans at the end of their warm-ups and at the end of games, whether Wolves have won, drawn or lost.

Little things like that all add up to a big difference.

But along with all that is perhaps his biggest achievement – re-inventing Wolves as a true footballing side while overhauling a squad that had 'damaged goods' written all over it.

Twenty-five players have left since the summer, 13 of which have been on loan, while just seven senior players have been recruited. But what a series of astute choices those arrivals have been.

In Sam Ricketts, Scott Golbourne, Kevin McDonald, James Henry and Michael Jacobs, he has recruited arguably the best players in their positions in League One who possess the quality and ambition to cope with the demands at the next level too.

Nouha Dicko has added pace, strength and hunger to an ailing forward line and surely Leon Clarke will soon fire. Perhaps a crunch time came in the lead-up to the January transfer window when Wolves were wasting too many chances in front of goal.

Leigh Griffiths had been top scorer all season but hadn't been firing on all cylinders for a while, either in front of goal and in terms of his workrate, which came to a head on December 14 against MK Dons when Jackett dragged him and Bakary Sako off at half-time, citing a lack of effort.

With Griffiths later admitted there was interest from Celtic, Jackett knew he had a problem to solve and many fans questioned what the head coach was doing when he allowed three strikers – Griffiths, Kevin Doyle and Bjorn Sigurdarson – to leave in the winter.

But he clearly had a plan and the recruitment of Dicko has proved a masterstroke, with eight goals in his first 11 games, even if his other signing, Clarke, has so far been a much more qualified success. Not only has the arrival of Dicko significantly improved one area, adding much-needed genuine pace to the attack not seen at such a blistering level since Henri Camara.

But it also breathed fresh life to another, rejuvenating a seemingly disenchanted Sako into a formidable force again as he struck up an almost telepathic understanding with his fellow Frenchman.

Jackett's choice of assistant head coach was important too.

Publicly, Joe Gallen remains an almost anonymous figure, but around the training ground he is anything but.

Jovial and always ready with a quip, the bubbliness from the combination of Gallen's Irish ancestry and London roots is vital to any dressing room and Jackett knows his No.2 is the perfect antidote to his own studious, measured style and more than fills the necessary gap from manager's office to dressing room.

Between them is a knowledge surely unsurpassed – certainly as far as recent Wolves bosses go – of players at this level and the one above.

And yet refreshingly, they aren't too proud or egotistical to not court opinions from others. His dealings with the media reflect his appearance: Immaculate.

From that first day at Compton, he asked the local correspondents when they would like to see him. We asked if the hitherto arrangement of Monday and Thursday lunchtimes could be continued and yes, that was fine; in fact better, because rarely in recent regimes has there been a Molineux gaffer so reliably punctual: 1pm on the dot every press conference.

While previous Wolves managers have given their time to the local media on pre-season tours, they haven't been as keen to extend the privilege beyond that.

Indeed, at different times, his predecessors have given off a feeling that a media presence is one that they could do without on tour. Jackett is refreshingly different, immediately promising as much access as was needed in Scotland last summer. He was as good as his word.

People generally want to feel respected in their work, and, in treating everyone with politeness and courtesy from the chairman to the local reporter to the tea lady, Jackett immediately earned that himself from everyone.

A somewhat minor point but nevertheless one that showed his considerate nature was to invite the written press into the relative comfort of the tunnel after home games so we're not exposed to the elements.

Considered and conscientious in everything he does – and never brash or rude – there is never a feeling of being rushed where Jackett is concerned.

Far from mis-managing his time – one of his predecessors was half an hour late for a press conference after bumping into one of his players in the corridor and getting sidetracked – he is considered and measured in everything he does and says.

He will stay to answer every question as fully as he feels able, and there is never a sense of being shortchanged where copy is concerned.

Engagingly – and unlike some of his ego-inflated contemporaries - he is self-deprecating rather than self-indulgent about his own career, regularly referring to Taylor's hugely successful Watford team of the early 1980s as 'John Barnes plus 10 others'.

Along the same theme, he also tells a lovely story of how the comedian and actor Bradley Walsh 'made me a player', so poor was the then youthful Brentford reserve right winger Walsh to Jackett the teenage Watford left-back.

But be warned – for as reliable and thorough as he is in front of the notebooks and cameras, don't expect any help when it comes to transfers.

Highly discreet but as cute an operator as any of his contemporaries, Jackett has a poker face to match anyone.

When speculation started linking Wolves with Barnsley left-back Scott Golbourne last August, Jackett insisted he wasn't on their list. Five days later he signed; similarly Leon Clarke in January. But we must respect it's a manager's prerogative not to spill the beans, and, as the public face of the club, he must protect his employers as and when he sees fit.

Another characteristic is the themes of his press conferences.

Once he has a point in mind, he will ensure he gets it across by repeating it – often, no matter what the question is! Jackett isn't the first hardworking Wolves manager but he sets a high bar some would struggle to match.

If the Under-21s are playing at home or away, he's there, if forthcoming opposition need scouting, he's there again, and if a transfer target needs his expert opinion...you get the picture.

So much so that him having to tell his wife he's off yet again for another evening out watching a game has become something of a standing joke at his press conferences. Such is Jackett's diligence to all things Wolves that he doesn't allow much time for himself away from the job.

You didn't have to look far to know where Mick McCarthy and his staff were if they went on a night out, while Stale Solbakken's trips back to Norway raised a few eyebrows among his employers.

There are no such concerns with Jackett, who certainly has the lowest public profile of any Wolves manager of recent times.

We know he lives in the leafy surburbs of south Staffordshire in between occasional visits to the family home in St. Albans, his youngest son plays rugby locally and his older one is away at university down south.

So little is known of Kenny the man outside of work and I suspect that's the way he likes it – and will be the way it's going to stay. But if his team continues to perform as well as they have this season, I suspect no one will complain.

By Tim Nash