Nigel Adkins

[Notts Blade 123]

Listening to Adkins interviews and the way we are playing, do people think he should be more ruthless. Hence, rather saying how well the other team played (e.g. Colchester/ Crewe) say how poor we were, we ain't going to get better by fannying around our team is not true. Dean Hammond for example, why the hell he praised him for his performance on Saturday is beyond me. What do other people think of his management style and approach tp the media?

 

[Woodwardfan]

His conduct is almost exemplary. Any manager who bollocks his players in public, particularly individuals, is losing the plot.

Adkins always says if there are faults in conceding goals for example. He usually says how he tried to combat the opposition's strengths. He respects his audience by talking formations and phases of the game.

Anyway, media work must be a sham to a degree, let's be right. Isn't it how he deals with the players that matters far more than how he deals with us.

In truth interviews and credibility are far easier when things are going well.

 

[Notts Blade 123]

Yes I agree that he shouldn't slag off his players, however he should acknowledge our poor performances.

One of his great quotes is 'stick it in one end and keep it out the other' I remember my sunday league manager telling me that when I was 12.

Recently, he has really starting to irritate me both tactically and his conduction with the interviews, honestly I don't believe this man is a long term solution, yes I know it's my own opinion and I hope I'm proved wrong...

 

[S1blade]

Just listened to his 'thoughts' ahead of tonight. Asked what he wants to see from his team, in order to get three points. Pure waffle to begin with, then he bigs-up Shrewsbury, then he finally answers the question, with more waffle about sideways football and putting 30 'crosses' in during recent matches. He does very little to inspire hope and confidence.
Still think a tougher gaffer, one with a bit of fight and hunger could get this squad promoted this season. Adkins seems to be trundling along without any real plan or ambition outside of getting to the JTW. Another one who's rolled up at the Lane, got their nice contract, and have now put their feet up. Hope he turns it around, starting tonight, but I currently have him on par with Robson, Adams and even Weir at the moment.

 

[super_pig]

His conduct is almost exemplary. Any manager who bollocks his players in public, particularly individuals, is losing the plot.

problem is that his consistent positive outlook is starting to sound like he is taking the piss out of the fans

 

[chipsncake]

As each game and each interview goes by, it gets harder and harder to have any real faith in what Adkins is doing. If he persists with the midfield pairing of Hammond and Coutts then any chance of promotion will have gone before the JTW arrives, and that, under any circumstances, cannot be deemed acceptable.

 

[sitwell]

He needs to start looking at his bench and be pro active with at least 20 minutes to go ,he has players on there who can change a game.

 

[Rodley]

Warnock defended his players to the hilt and slagged off officials, and people moaned and referred to him as Colin.

Cough was miserable and use to arbitrarily call out players, often when they performed well, and people moaned.

Weir was dour to the extreme and people moaned.

Blackwell moaned about performances and people moaned stating he was conducive to poor team spirit.

Let's face it, if you listen intently to a 10 minute interview with any football manager... (a) in and amongst that particular manager's schtick & rhetoric you may well get a couple of nuggets of meaningful information but no more than that, and; (b) it will never satisfy what some people are looking to hear, yet they still listen.

And the circle of life continues...

 

[Trigger Blade]

Just listened to his 'thoughts' ahead of tonight. Asked what he wants to see from his team, in order to get three points. Pure waffle to begin with, then he bigs-up Shrewsbury, then he finally answers the question, with more waffle about sideways football and putting 30 'crosses' in during recent matches. He does very little to inspire hope and confidence.
Still think a tougher gaffer, one with a bit of fight and hunger could get this squad promoted this season. Adkins seems to be trundling along without any real plan or ambition outside of getting to the JTW. Another one who's rolled up at the Lane, got their nice contract, and have now put their feet up. Hope he turns it around, starting tonight, but I currently have him on par with Robson, Adams and even Weir at the moment.

Do you seriously believe that he's managing at Bramall Lane for the money and doesn't care about getting us promotion? Given his track record to date, I think that's unlikely and the fact that it isn't yet working out as we hope it will shouldn't lead to the conclusion that he's coasting.

 

[Fiery Blade]

I am really disappointed - Whilst I was against the sacking of Nigel Clough I thought the appointment of Nigel Adkins a positive move - how wrong I was !

His tedious interviews, his soundbites and his disparaging remarks regarding supporters that can't see the tremendous work that Dean Hammond puts in really took the biscuit !

He has not proved anything yet, his buys and loans have not been very successful and if Hammond, Woolford, Sharp and sammons are prime examples of his transfer judgement I fear we are in for yet another season in Division Three next year.

Waffle and Bullshit seems to be his thing !

 

[Stretch]

A colleague of mine supports Scunny and when Adkins got the Blades job he warned me about his interviews. How his ultra positive style would grate when results weren't going our way. His advice, which I wholeheartedly agree with (and always have when it comes to manager interviews) was to either take it all with a pinch of salt or ignore it completely.

Quite frankly I have never understood the need to interview managers after every game. Throwing the same predictable questions at a bloke twice a week, and having the same platitudinous drivel coming back adds absolutely nothing to the match day experience. When a manager does regularly speak their mind (Warnock, Evans etc) they normally turn out to be utter knobs and equally tiresome anyway.

 

[Revolution]

I don't care what he says, save in one respect - I'm sick of hearing him big up the opposition. You'd think Crewe were Barcelona the way he praised them. It's defeatist.

 

[derryblade]

My biggest frustration with NA has to be his ability to identify the areas we fail to perform on match days, yet seems unable to find a solution. It's not a new problem, it was obvious last year and remains obvious throughout this season, nothing has improved, despite his signings or his tactics.

 

[BushBlade]

Couldn't give a shit. It's what he says to the players in private and, more importantly, what he does.
Just because he doesn't go on like he's John Wayne doesn't mean he's not tough. I've worked for some people who you'd think were soft as shit nice guys until someone crossed them.
And every single manager who has to defend his players during poor runs of form sounds like a twat. There's nothing you can say that makes up for a lack of points.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

When teams are winning, the manager's interviews are generally well received. When teams are losing, the interviews are poorly received. It's the results that dictate our perceptions of the interviews. For what it's worth, generally speaking I like Adkins. I like his positive outlook. I don't agree with every decision he makes and at times, I feel like telling him to fuck off down the radio when listening to him after a loss but that's probably more down to my raw emotions when we lose. He said when we were doing better than we currently are, he had to make sure not to get carried away when we were on a winning run and not to get downbeat when we're losing. He spoke of the consistency having to come from him as an example to his players. I think so far, his players have let him down. My guess is some just don't buy into his methods and it has an adverse effect on team spirit. Hopefully, when he weeds out the rotten apples and adds 1 or 2 more, there will be some improvement although, as per WWFs thread about autos, I think that will now be too much to ask.

 

[bornablade]

Warnock defended his players to the hilt and slagged off officials, and people moaned and referred to him as Colin.

Cough was miserable and use to arbitrarily call out players, often when they performed well, and people moaned.

Weir was dour to the extreme and people moaned.

Blackwell moaned about performances and people moaned stating he was conducive to poor team spirit.

Let's face it, if you listen intently to a 10 minute interview with any football manager... (a) in and amongst that particular manager's schtick & rhetoric you may well get a couple of nuggets of meaningful information but no more than that, and; (b) it will never satisfy what some people are looking to hear, yet they still listen.

And the circle of life continues...

The new guy Klopp seems to interview well. We should learn something from him. 'Think Liverpool' anyone.

I listen to Adkins interviews just hoping we are going to hear something different. This is the one interview that's gonna make all the difference. A new approach. Our return starts today. Unfortunately at the end of the interview I feel totally deflated.

I don't want the guy to be sacked. I didn't want Clough, Weir or Wilson to be sacked. I hoped each of them would turn it around.

This time it's different. The JTW is the defining time. If he fails to deliver then it's

(A) the board are not giving him the funds
Or (b) he truly believes what he's been saying since August that the group of players we have are good enough.

If it's (b) then I'll give him until the end of January.

 

[Jonboy60]

What he should be saying.
The players are not playing to their potential, while no team in this division has the right to say they should win every game, we, ( sufc) if we have aspirations of getting out of this league should be winning against the likes of Crewe and Colchester when we play at home. I have faith in the players at my disposal, but they have to start to show that potential, starting with a win against our opponents at home tonight. That imo is along the lines of what he should be saying, or something similar.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

Listening to Adkins interviews and the way we are playing, do people think he should be more ruthless. Hence, rather saying how well the other team played (e.g. Colchester/ Crewe) say how poor we were, we ain't going to get better by fannying around our team is not true. Dean Hammond for example, why the hell he praised him for his performance on Saturday is beyond me. What do other people think of his management style and approach tp the media?

Not read the thread yet and someone might have constructive criticism, but for me his style and approach really couldn't be better.

If you want to get the best out of people you support them. Be positive and in the main they will respond. There are exceptions but they can be moved on.

It'd be hard for me to overstate how good I think he is at his job. Tactics. Training. Man management. Interviews. Ethos. Everything.

And very early on - first couple of games - he said it will become clear to some players that they are not being selected. (You don't have to be dismissive, antagonistic if you're releasing players. Get rid. Dead wood. Stealing wages. All that sort of language.)

But and it's a big but...results. So far.

Despite reactionary nonsense blowing in from some quarters it's still early to judge.

In contrast to this, several posters have said given him at least till it's clear where we are going to finish at the end of next season and I'd agree.

And btw the motivation stuff is backed up by research - and an entertaining animation.

Autonomy. Mastery. Purpose.

 

[robbiez666]

This is one of the least motivated United teams I've ever seen..........

What I want to hear ahead of a game where we're favourites at home:

"We're going to get three points tonight by winning every battle all over the pitch. We're going to tackle harder, win every second ball, defend better, attack with pace and purpose and take our chances. We're going to out-muscle, out-fight, outclass and outsmart the opposition. Every player is going to give over 100% effort, we're going to play for each other and we're going to do it for the fans."

That will do.

 

[Alfreton14Blade]

Agree with those who've said his interviews will inevitably sound better when (if?) we're on a winning streak, what with his relentless positivity. That's the time they'll rub off & be infectious.

As for now, when things aren't going well, I'm less bothered about how his interviews affect me (or anyone else for that matter) - I'm more concerned about him personally staying positive, upbeat & in control. The time he starts losing his mojo is the time we're really in trouble. But he hasn't. He's still as positive as ever, & there's no sense of defeatism about him whatsoever (at least not in public there isn't... ).

Can't say I'm happy with things right now, generally speaking. But I've still got faith in Nige to tough it out. He's showing some balls & not crumbling.

These bad times, & seeing them through, are far more a test of a manager's resolve, & indication of his resilience & character, than jollying it up when things are going great. Yeah, it'd have been far better if he'd come in & got us flying from the off. But he hasn't, so how do we want him reacting to that & acting now, with things as they actually are?

Stay positive, Nige.
( ... And get us going on a 10-game winning streak too, while you're at it, eh?)

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

Agree with those who've said his interviews will inevitably sound better when (if?) we're on a winning streak, what with his relentless positivity. That's the time they'll rub off & be infectious.

As for now, when things aren't going well, I'm less bothered about how his interviews affect me (or anyone else for that matter) - I'm more concerned about him personally staying positive, upbeat & in control. The time he starts losing his mojo is the time we're really in trouble. But he hasn't. He's still as positive as ever, & there's no sense of defeatism about him whatsoever (at least not in public there isn't... ).

Can't say I'm happy with things right now, generally speaking. But I've still got faith in Nige to tough it out. He's showing some balls & not crumbling.

These bad times, & seeing them through, are far more a test of a manager's resolve, & indication of his resilience & character, than jollying it up when things are going great. Yeah, it'd have been far better if he'd come in & got us flying from the off. But he hasn't, so how do we want him reacting to that & acting now, with things as they actually are?

Stay positive, Nige.
( ... And get us going on a 10-game winning streak too, while you're at it, eh?)

Great post.

 

[zablade]

He is correct to not single out players for criticism, but he should also not take the fans for fools by singling out players for praise who clearly have not been up to the job.

Keeping quiet on Hammand and speaking about the team In general terms, along the lines of "we know we must improve and are doing all we can in training to get there" would have been an acceptable cliche.

 

[sitwell]

Hes also making Hammond look a bit of a twat ,he must know as must his team mates that he is playing shit.

 

[UnitedBlade]

I would like to hear him answer the following.

"Fourteen points from the last 13 games is relegation form in everyone's book. What's gone wrong and how are you going to fix it, starting with tonight's game ?"

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

Hes also making Hammond look a bit of a twat ,he must know as must his team mates that he is playing shit.

Long was interviewed and supported Hammond.

 

[sitwell]

Long was interviewed and supported Hammond.

You could put that the other way around ,they are both crap and hes hardly likely to say so is he ?

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

You could put that the other way around ,they are both crap and hes hardly likely to say so is he ?

Of course.

I'm reserving judgement on Hammond given his (and Adkins') track record.

I disagree with bald statements of his crapness - like it's established fact.

 

[sitwell]

I too am reserving judgement on Hammond but he has been poor so far ,no denying that. Long will never be good enough in my opinion ,simply because of his lack of presence. He seems to be getting a free ride from some because he is 'young' and came through the system ,but not for me.

 

[Bladesman]

Not sure it benefits anyone slagging them off in public.

Judging by his actions he won't tolerate indiscipline from certain players. So I think Adkins prefers to deal with players behind closed doors.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

I would like to hear him answer the following.

"Fourteen points from the last 13 games is relegation form in everyone's book. What's gone wrong and how are you going to fix it, starting with tonight's game ?"

That's just reads like aggressive posturing.