‘Play up Pompey’ is how the famous song goes, but after a season that promised so much and delivered so little, it could stand for ‘poor old Pompey’.

Their campaign was a real rollercoaster of emotion, with great highs and devastating lows. They came out of the traps on fire, surging to the top of the table and looking unstoppable as they opened up a gap.

In beating Sunderland 3-1 just before Christmas they seemingly drew a line under the automatic promotion race. Surely, from then on it would be a battle for who might finish second.

That wasn’t the case and a massive collapse after the festive period saw them lose the top spot, then fall out of the automatic promotion places as well. From expectation and belief, they found themselves hoping for change.

Winning the EFL Trophy final gave the fans something to cheer and sparked another good run. A Wembley final is always a great event and once more they seemed to be on their way back.

Last week they meekly surrendered to Sunderland at Fratton Park, turning in a weak display when they needed a big performance. Their tepid 0-0 draw said as much about the manager’s tactics as anything. They needed to attack, but it wasn’t to be.

Jackett has now left himself facing one of the toughest summers of his career. Top stars such as Jamal Lowe and Matt Clarke are already attracting interest, whilst those who remain at the club may feel they need to move on for a fresh challenge too.

Brett Pitman and Ollie Hawkins were in and out of the side and may also be considering their future.

It leaves Jackett facing the possibility of a big rebuild as the summer draws on. If the transfer of Lowe does happen, it could be dragged out leaving Pompey desperately scrambling around as deadline day approaches, having not been able to make decisions on new players.

Both Clarke and Lowe were top performers for Jackett and along with Ronan Curtis, any moves for them would leave huge boots to fill. Is Jackett up to the task or, like his tactics in the final game against Sunderland, is he going to be left coming up short once more?