Adkins, booing, and a bit of time..

[Barney]

I think we may start to have difficulty attracting players for these reasons

I think he will go at the end of the season if we don't go up. Possibly sacked, but if the atmosphere gets worse I think he will just resign - he's already starting to allude to the negative atmosphere in interviews. All that "if we can be united" stuff he was spouting was his caveat for that scenario and he made sure he got that one in very early and very repeatedly. He'll use that as his get out clause and to preserve his reputation.

Sadly, I don't think he'll go even if we miss out on the play-offs.

He's already damaged his reputation, in quite a big way actually.

He shouldn't have taken on a job as attractive as Sheffield United if he had the arrogance to approach it as amateurishly as he has.

 

[Bartleby]

I wouldn't blame him if he did. If I were him, I'd be giving a list of players to whoever is in charge and saying 'get this lot in the JTW or I'm off'. I wouldn't hang around to see what's left of my reputation destroyed by a tax dodger and a plastic prince.

In his position I would be very wary of staying for another season at this club if we don't go up. With his record and CV he should be at least managing in the Championship and I don't think he'd struggle to get a job at that level. But to stay in L1 another season, faced with a total rebuild and an impatient fanbase would be a massive gamble for his career.

 

[Barney]

In his position I would be very wary of staying for another season at this club if we don't go up. With his record and CV he should be at least managing in the Championship and I don't think he'd struggle to get a job at that level. But to stay in L1 another season, faced with a total rebuild and an impatient fanbase would be a massive gamble for his career.

This season is the gamble. This is the season he's shown his true colours.

Shows what can happen when you actually have to think, and you haven't got the best academy in England to sponge off.

 

[Bartleby]

He's already damaged his reputation, in quite a big way actually.

Hardly. He'll go and he'll get another job - believe you me!

 

[finlaytheblade]

Adkins would have wanted certain guarantee s when he took the job he's no fool!! The club would also have put in place certain things they wanted as a safety valve. He will not run out on us as this is the job that will make or brake him as a top coach it's a difficult job but the rewards for getting it right are big least of all being poached by a top premiership club it's a challenge I think he will relish but with the pressure on all the time (media + fans) ? for his and our sakes I hope he gets the time to acheave it.

 

[mattbianco1]

The biggest problem with Adkins for me was giving everybody that clean slate. He should've assessed the squad and assessed it quickly. Now he knows some aren't good enough and is stuck until January to get shut and to bring in others.

If we are still 9pts or less off top on 1st January then i'll still be confident. If we are 9pts off the play offs by then, then yes, we're screwed.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Then who is to blame. The board for not replacing players sold?

Personally I believe the new Board have provided loads of money for both their managers to gain promotion, maybe Adkins less than Clough, but nevertheless loads.

Clough will go down as a manager who frittered a really good budget from a new owner, much like Kendall under MacDonald and Robson/ Blackwell in the case of parachute payments. These spells of cash richness have to be made to count and never are.

Adkins fancied the challenge and still can rise to it, there are loads of games left in a poor league. BTW when I say "poor league" I mean amongst the top contenders but I honestly believe the bottom half of League 1 has improved beyond recognition in the 5 years we have been there and there are no easy games anymore. Nevertheless Adkins' budget and resources are the envy of all but a couple of other clubs.

 

[Ted Danson]

Personally I believe the new Board have provided loads of money for both their managers to gain promotion, maybe Adkins less than Clough, but nevertheless loads.

Clough will go down as a manager who frittered a really good budget from a new owner, much like Kendall under MacDonald and Robson/ Blackwell in the case of parachute payments. These spells of cash richness have to be made to count and never are.

Adkins fancied the challenge and still can rise to it, there are loads of games left in a poor league. BTW when I say "poor league" I mean amongst the top contenders but I honestly believe the bottom half of League 1 has improved beyond recognition in the 5 years we have been there and there are no easy games anymore. Nevertheless Adkins' budget and resources are the envy of all but a couple of other clubs.

Comparing Clough to Robson is bonkers, the only player he actually splashed much cash on was Brayford and I get the feeling that may have been more to do with McCabe than him as a marquee bums on seats type signing after his great loan spell. He must also have brought in a fair bit of cash with the cup runs and such. If you want to compare anyone with Robson then Adkins and his bore fest sideways slow football is a much better fit.

 

[derryblade]

Totally confused with this recurring theory that there will be a large clearance of players we don't want, to accommodate NA targeted recruits in January. Aren't those players contracted till June 2016 and some even longer, I may be way off the mark but I would be totally gob smacked if there was a list of clubs willing to take them off our hands. So I don't see the over inflated squad being reduced until June, so I'm concerned how much leeway NA will have in January but as usual we live in hope for a decent transfer window.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Comparing Clough to Robson is bonkers, the only player he actually splashed much cash on was Brayford and I get the feeling that may have been more to do with McCabe than him as a marquee bums on seats type signing after his great loan spell. He must also have brought in a fair bit of cash with the cup runs and such. If you want to compare anyone with Robson then Adkins and his bore fest sideways slow football is a much better fit.

The point about the cup income is a good one but I retain my view that Clough wasted a great opportunity. He was given unprecedented control and authority, a good budget and all his own men here there and everywhere. In all of football no other manager will have been given so much power and what restrictions he did have he apparently circumvented the procedures.

BTW the cup income does count as spent money even though it was earned on his watch.

As for boring football, there is no comparison frankly and not as you suggest.

 

[mattbianco1]

Comparing Clough to Robson is bonkers, the only player he actually splashed much cash on was Brayford..

Nigel Clough spent a shit load of money on mediocre players, in his time as Blades manager he signed the following players. I've put in Green if we signed them, Amber if it was a loan and Bold if they were signed from a higher division. I've underlined the players we paid cash for. He managed to attract many players from a higher division, who paid their wages?

Scougall
Harris
Paynter
Brayford
Ben Davies
Freeman
Campbell Ryce
McNulty
Basham
Butler
Ben Davies
J. Wallace
Alcock
McGahey
Higdon
McEverley
Turner
Adams
K. Wallace
Freeman
Coutts
Brayford
Done
McCarthy
O'Grady
Holt
Steve Davies

15 of his signings were from a higher division, 4 were from different countries (mainly Scotland).

For what it's worth, I have put in italics the players I would keep/liked to have kept. His signings in January last year were all good ones/could prove to be.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

Sadly, I don't think he'll go even if we miss out on the play-offs.
.

I really hope that in an extreme break from the norm, you are right. Sacking managers every two minutes whilst selling the best player every season prohibits any sort of progress. We have a manager with the credentials. Now we need to give him the time and backing to do what he’s proven he can do.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

Are you physically unable to hold a conversation?

All i'm saying beyond all the doom and gloom that most of you lot seem to have inherited of late is - It's fine margins, now that is a football cliché. But, if we had found the winning goal in the draws against Southend, Oldham, Burton and Bradford - we would be 3rd and 1pt behind the top 2. We didn't so that must mean the season is over, we're shit and the world is ending

I think to make your point more relevant matt, we would have to concede that on the balance of play and chances, we probably didn’t deserve to get those winning goals at Bradford or Burton. However, Oldham and Southend we dominated the 2nd halves and were denied by the woodwork etc. There’s the fine margins and on those two games alone, we could so easily have been 4 points better off. Think of other incidents like Sharp’s missed pen v Colchester and the other chances we’ve wasted and it might be more like 6 or 7 better off and right in the mix. Simply put, if we’d just been that bit more clinical and/or lucky, things might not look as bleak as they do now. I still think we’ll make top 6 but can’t see us getting ahead of either Wigan or Coventry for the rest of the season. I can see us finishing somewhere between 4th and 8th.

 

[Grecian2000]

Nigel Clough spent a shit load of money on mediocre players

Ok, let's break down that list against those that he got rid of and see how it looks. I've taken out the loans as, although we spend money on them they are transient and those that have since left again (as that would mean they were in both lists):

Scougall
Harris
Campbell Ryce
McNulty
Basham
J. Wallace
Alcock
McGahey
Higdon
McEverley
Adams
K. Wallace
Freeman
Coutts
Brayford
Done

Doyle
Brandy
Taylor
McGinty
Miller
Maguire
Whitehouse
Hill
Westlake
Ironside
Porter
McGinn
McMahon
Johns
Williams

I'd say, given the fee for Maguire, and the fact most of the players he's signed are better than those replaced, that he has actually improved the squad and for slightly less than "shit loads".
All about opinions of course but I like the look of the squad now far more than I did when Weir left the building.

 

[Ted Danson]

Nigel Clough spent a shit load of money on mediocre players, in his time as Blades manager he signed the following players. I've put in Green if we signed them, Amber if it was a loan and Bold if they were signed from a higher division. I've underlined the players we paid cash for. He managed to attract many players from a higher division, who paid their wages?

Scougall
Harris
Paynter
Brayford
Ben Davies
Freeman
Campbell Ryce
McNulty
Basham
Butler
Ben Davies
J. Wallace
Alcock
McGahey
Higdon
McEverley
Turner
Adams
K. Wallace
Freeman
Coutts
Brayford
Done
McCarthy
O'Grady
Holt
Steve Davies

15 of his signings were from a higher division, 4 were from different countries (mainly Scotland).

For what it's worth, I have put in italics the players I would keep/liked to have kept. His signings in January last year were all good ones/could prove to be.

I cant see any of the Scottish lot being on massive wages or big signing on fees, (admittedly its all relative without prem parachute money), lots of them are young unlike the old players Robson signed on 3 year deals and most importantly Clough did get these players to perform for him. I know people like to completely ignore the cup runs to suit their agenda but they did happen and his players played out of their skins. To compare him with the worst manager we've ever had is madness

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

The biggest problem with Adkins for me was giving everybody that clean slate. He should've assessed the squad and assessed it quickly. Now he knows some aren't good enough and is stuck until January to get shut and to bring in others.

If we are still 9pts or less off top on 1st January then i'll still be confident. If we are 9pts off the play offs by then, then yes, we're screwed.

But the clean slate has till now I think paid dividends with central defence. Central midfield now seems more of a priority, at least till Hammond finds his feet/legs.

That said I thought Satdi was Collins' worst game...

He had to assess the squad, including injuries, before he knew where everyone fitted in.

Somebody has mentioned Bash in midfield but he's looked much better at centre back. Then there's the Done Enigma.

Coutts is getting a run of games and looks to be improving, and staying fit (touch wood). But is he what we need?

There's all sorts to consider.

Better to assess the squad under your own management and then buy what we need rather than act in haste, repent at leisure.

"Stay in touch till January and win it from there." I think winning or even autos might be a stretch, but can Adkins secure a statue for himself by winning a play-off?

I thought Satdi was maybe our best performance apart from the goals we let in.

Wanted to do a Hammondwatch if Bergen Blade didn't, but the game was not on Blades Player last time I looked.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

I think to make your point more relevant matt, we would have to concede that on the balance of play and chances, we probably didn’t deserve to get those winning goals at Bradford or Burton. However, Oldham and Southend we dominated the 2nd halves and were denied by the woodwork etc. There’s the fine margins and on those two games alone, we could so easily have been 4 points better off. Think of other incidents like Sharp’s missed pen v Colchester and the other chances we’ve wasted and it might be more like 6 or 7 better off and right in the mix. Simply put, if we’d just been that bit more clinical and/or lucky, things might not look as bleak as they do now. I still think we’ll make top 6 but can’t see us getting ahead of either Wigan or Coventry for the rest of the season. I can see us finishing somewhere between 4th and 8th.

I agree with this. I think we've been unlucky. But you can't realistically be unlucky for 16 games. It has to be something else. 4 points better off wouldn't be flattering us. Anything more might.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

Every time this thread loads I see:

Adkins *boozing*

and think he's a broken man.

Come on Nige. You're doing a great job.

 

[robbiez666]

We're going to struggle to get a lot of our players out before June.

The problem we have is wages.

We could easily find interest in all our squad if wages weren't a concern. Then there's the player actually wanting to go.

The best we can likely get is a few out on loan and look to subsidise other loan deals for those players whose contracts are up in June.

 

[wizadry]

The biggest problem with Adkins for me was giving everybody that clean slate. He should've assessed the squad and assessed it quickly. Now he knows some aren't good enough and is stuck until January to get shut and to bring in others.

I know he said this matt but do you think it could be possible that he said it because we didn't look like moving quick enough to get the list of players he made up? I ask this only because i can't see a manager of his calibre in this league taking that long to decide which shite he was keeping.

 

[2ndtenorblade]

Very thoughtful and positive post tezza pity more fans can't see the bigger picture.

Could somebody please post the bigger picture, fucked if I can see it.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

Could somebody please post the bigger picture, fucked if I can see it.

It's there if you look. If you just want to proclaim your misery and how crap the club is just say so.

 

[derryblade]

Could somebody please post the bigger picture, fucked if I can see it.

I would love to help, but the picture I'm getting is very hazy and distorted, hopefully it will improve in June but January might be a tad early.

 

[Bartleby]

In all of football no other manager will have been given so much power

Really?

 

[2ndtenorblade]

It's there if you look. If you just want to proclaim your misery and how crap the club is just say so.

Any chance of a clue where to look? I've tried being positive, but the misery is creeping in.

 

[spongebobblade]

But the clean slate has till now I think paid dividends with central defence.

So the bigger picture you see is that we are fine in central defence? 24 goals conceded in 17 league games at an average of over 1.4goals per game with a centre half that has been here since the start of our demise. You can't fault Collins for effort but let's be honest, he's shite and is just one of the many reasons we are where we are.

 

[Darthblade]

Yesterday I was relieved that we equalised before half time, it wasn't a goal celebration was it, more of a collective thank f@ck when Collins scored...

With this in mind we need, in my opinion to have a fans vote of confidence in Adkins, quietly on here and private to actual blades, forget barnowl who has to begin every post and end it by wanting our manager out, because he's a pig, stop replying to a thread killing pig, that's a start..

And if we are ever going to do anything then we need to build properly, whilst not being a fan of clough and that was because he spent our clubs money on players got all Mandy tits and sent them off on loan, maybe I'm a bit Yorkshire but I expect to get something when I've spent my brass, and was looking forward to seeing him build a team, he was so close to setting up a great team it was scary, anyway who stopped him? Nigel clough or the board? We'll never know will we..

So now we are here again with a new guy, who might be staring down he barrel of The boards shotgun should he not get us up, we need as fans to think Liverpool (lol) and make sure the board can't sack Nigel 2 should they get the itchy trigger finger again this close season, whilst I admit that I am severely disappointed with the lack of impact NA has had, I do think as a club we need to properly abandon knee jerk reactions and sacking people who have in football terms had five minutes at it...

Let's be a bit more savvy and not hit the panic button as fans, the booing has to stop, I've heard they booed at the final whistle on Saturday, don't know how true it was but I left a few minutes before it finished so I didn't have to hear it, in case they did, at half time they would have been booed off the pitch had they not equalised, and if we had booed them, they would have lost that game, #unitedtogether....it's a bit cheesy I know, but if we're going to get anywhere it won't be fast, but we need to stick together, through thick and thin.... It's not a sprint, it's a marathon..

Have to agree with you here mate.

I'm not happy at all with the way things are being handled down at BDTBL, however, I do think that Adkins is a decent manager at this level, we do need some stability and despite the fact that his transfer dealings and squad selections have been decidedly haphazard so far, I do think that we should judge him AFTER the JTW and the Summer Transfer window have passed and see what he's made of the team then.

By then he will hopefully have had the opportunity and the financial backing to have a massive clearout and rebuild and we can hopefully commence next season with a squad equipped to get us back into the Championship.

Realistically; we need to try to be patient ( I personally find that a gallon of beer or two bottles of red wine on Saturday night helps quite a bit ) and lets reassess the situation next September, by which time we will hopefully be leading League 1 by a modest margin and all have big smiles on our faces.

Be strong guys .......

UTB & FTP

 

[Darthblade]

Why are we out of the Automatics ?

I would suggest its because .... by the time we get around to have a bit of a clearout and bring in a decent spine of the team to make ourselves competitive in this agricultural division ( end of January at the earliest ) we will be so far behind the top two teams ( same as last season ) that there will be no realistic chance of us catching them ( whoever they are ).

Not happy with that but that's the likely situation .......

UTB & FTP

 

[wizadry]

So the bigger picture you see is that we are fine in central defence? 24 goals conceded in 17 league games at an average of over 1.4goals per game with a centre half that has been here since the start of our demise. You can't fault Collins for effort but let's be honest, he's shite and is just one of the many reasons we are where we are.

The thing is, Collins is our best Centre half at the club by trade, that really is all you need to know when asked if he has been sufficiently backed by the board for this position. We focused too much on the attacking side but when that side of the game fails you really are going to struggle if the defensive side hasn't been sorted properly and this has been evident recently. Hopefully Brayford comes back shortly, recovers his loan form which will be hard after a serious injury and gives us that bit extra in terms of confidence, effort and more importantly results.

 

[SandyMcBlade]

I'm not over the moon with results so far but I'd really like to know where we will get a manager with a pedigree like Mr Adkins if he is sacked ?.
Things are not going our way right now I agree but on Saturday they hit the post twice and scored two goals, we hit the post three times got nothing from it.
It's a funny old game I know but luck usually evens it's self out over the season.
(hopefully)..

UTB