Adkins Interview Ahead of Fleetwood (A)

[grafikhaus]

So it can't be done overnight but if we get a charge going we can reach the play offs with momentum?

When does that begin then?

3 months ago, Barnsley were bottom of the table. Now they've won something like 10 out of the last 12 and are serious promotion challengers. Already at Wembley in the JPT, their fans are buzzing (bloke on FH last night said he 'couldn't wait to go to Oakwell nowadays'.)

Like every other team, they have had injuries and have also just lost their manager. Is a manager really that important or is it collective determination in the dressing room? Fitness? A will to win? Even with just 12 games left, it can be done. But not by the shower that Adkins has regressed.

The only thing that can prevent another utterly embarassing capitulation by United at Fleetwood tomorrow is if the game is called off.

 

[sitwell]

DCL has got pace. Man, do we need pace.

If we are pinning our hopes on DCL then we are more in the shit than I thought. I have not seen a single thing that makes me think he can make it at League level never mind with us. I hope Im wrong with this but he looks like Joe Ironside to me quality wise. Whiteman was quite impressive in his short cameo ,at least he had the balls to look for the ball and not scared to make mistakes. I like to see young players coming through but if DCL is the level ,I really do worry for us under Adkins ,this time next year we could be in even more shit.

 

[Tazzy]

the young uns need a few games to bed in first find their feet then lets judge them .At the min it must be horrible for them to come on and play with the fans on the players back. I don't for 1 min disagree with that because we have a lot of very average or lower players picking up a good fecking wage . for them its not pride of wearing the shirt or playing for the blades its cash and that's where the game has gone wrong average Joes being paid thousands of pounds a week
for kicking a bag of wind around as my dad used to say

 

[S1blade]

Utterly embarrassing waffle, yet again. A rambling cliché-riddled interview which borders on taking the piss at times. I thought Weir was bad, but at least he had the grace to look worried and concerned when he was failing. Adkins just regurgitates BS that sounds like it's come straight out of a sports psychology seminar on positive thinking.
He can make speak for another twenty minutes, it won't erase the memory of the woeful, uninspiring one-shot-on-target rubbish that I saw Tuesday and for most of this season. Enough is enough.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

Utterly embarrassing waffle, yet again. A rambling cliché-riddled interview which borders on taking the piss at times. I thought Weir was bad, but at least he had the grace to look worried and concerned when he was failing. Adkins just regurgitates BS that sounds like it's come straight out of a sports psychology seminar on positive thinking.
He can make speak for another twenty minutes, it won't erase the memory of the woeful, uninspiring one-shot-on-target rubbish that I saw Tuesday and for most of this season. Enough is enough.

Utterly embarrassing waffle. Cliche ridden. Woeful. Uninspiring. Etc etc.

All could be applied to the post quoted.

Difference being it got *no* shots on target and so was even worse than we did on Tuesday.

 

[Fulwood Blade]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03ld5hb

• annoyed that we didn't perform
• met with players individually and collectively
• was excited by formation
• one thing didn't quite materialise
• poor goal we gave away
• their 21st 1-0 victory
• we haven't performed
• is the player still involved in the group - doesn't answer
• learn and move on
• we demand a lot of them training dressing room pitch but allow for mistakes as long as it's not the same one
• confidence important need to talk people up - do what they are good at
• Q: Do some players think they are on to a good thing? A: This is the biggest club many of them have ever played for, it's a great club doesn't really give a straight answer but then why would he? I think McCabe made this point in his interview some players had made it when they got here
• in some ways a baptism of fire for Ben Whiteman, got confidence in him
• players have to perform in the arena
• can you handle it on game day
• need to keep pushing - 4 points off
• if we get a charge going we'll be in the play-offs with momentum
• can't switch it on and off - it's about habits and behaviours
• do the basics well to an elite level - it has to be second nature
• I take full responsibility it's my job to lead and take forward
• want to play exciting football, be attack minded - I think this is long term
• need to get the best out of the players
• need pathway for the youngsters who feel for the club
• but that's pressure on the Academy bc they have to produce good enough players
• want verve, energy, pass quickly
• can't do it overnight
• good relationship with both owners - all frustrated
• have to understand the business side of it, might not like it
• we're not where we want to be
• still fighting for promotion - not focusing on the clear out
• talks about opinions versus decision making - I agree
• looks forward to managing the club
• talks about mentoring [auto-correct wants tormenting ] younger managers
• talks about climbing a mountain to promotion - It's Adkins Analogy Time
• we will get promoted in time
• have to deal with everything that gets in your way results, players not coming
• foundations need to be built
• Bob/McNulty regret? McNulty would have been on the bench here
• DCL excellent pre-season - believe he will be a top drawer striker
• Bob on the bench at Fleetwood
• Freeman not on the bench at Portsmouth
• Wallace injured at Shrewsbury
• McNulty on the bench at Portsmouth - this list is way too specific - who's going to take our loan players if we can hoodwink teams like this
• Talks about Sharp and Adams - seem to be his preferred partnership from hereon in
• DCL spring, good in the air, pace - not sure about the pace
• good meeting this morning - get the good and the bad out of it
• can mope and feel sorry but we have to move on
• this is the situation - what are we going to do
• chance of more loans - but not talking it up particularly
• players here are fighting for contracts, fighting for careers
• got to be hunger, got to be a fear, but got to be confidence too
• Baxter, No Comment
• a few issues injury wise - I reckon this is Jay and Flo, at least

Overall for me it comes across as a long term focus with short term plans for promotion still in place, but having to work around various obstacles.

yes thanks for that.

The reason to me why we are in mid table is that he said EVERY player would get a chance - fucking stupid idea - he SHOULD have asked Morgan (plus a few others at the club) or virtually EVERY BLADES FAN.

The DEFENCE was a problem 2 years ago - it's still a FUCKING problem now...........we might have got away with other deficiencies if Adkins had properly fixed the defence.......ARGH !!!!!

He said it himself - Burton, 21 games at 1 nil - don't concede, don't lose - simple

UTB

PS: the rant isn't against you WHF

 

[SB_90]

im with giving adkins a 2nd year without some of these numpties but fleetwood is going to be every interesting (if it goes ahead) because them players looked 2nd half like they were already on their summer holidays in march & i can a few people dropped in line up tomorrow

 

[Superblades]

Thanks for the summary. What he's saying is pretty much the view I have. It's going to take time but we will get there with Adkins, just hope the board hold their nerve.

 

[I should coco]

A completely random response - discovered white wine tonight,

We might be shit right now, but we're Sheffield United and we are one of this countries major clubs.

How's the head today? I would suggest you discovered 8 or 9 bottle of white wine with that post.

We ARE in the shit right now and it's debatable whether we are even one of the third division's 'major' clubs, given how crap we currently are.

Have a like though for the YFUMS/COYRAWW.

Sadly, stupidly, wearily, we do need to keep the faith......

ISC

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

DCL has got pace. Man, do we need pace.

Well he's keeping it a secret if he has.

Two or three times he's had a one on one where he could push it and chase but instead he's checked inside. He's not shown much carrying the ball yet.

Hopefully this part of his game will show itself but it hasn't yet.

Adkins seems to have confidence in him, and some of the Northampton fans were enthusiastic.

Really hope he takes the next step or two up.

At the moment he's having the ball lumped up to him and using his spring to win headers - not great as far as his bigger picture goes.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

feel for the guy on that interview . I think he's working with players that don't want to be here . As he says he picked a team to go forward but if the player thinks fuck it I cant be arsed what do you do
so he's waiting till the dead wood has gone so he can build for next year also sounds like both mcabe and the prince think the same

That's exactly the way I heard the recent round of interviews including this one.

I'd add in that while we are (incredibly) 4 points off the play-offs it'd be wrong to give up publicly or privately.

No matter what the obstacles in your path you try to find a way.

And if something does click then it's likely we'll be going in to any play-offs with momentum, as he said.

 

[Lord Bos of Eckington.]

That's exactly the way I heard the recent round of interviews including this one.

I'd add in that while we are (incredibly) 4 points off the play-offs it'd be wrong to give up publicly or privately.

No matter what the obstacles in your path you try to find a way.

And if something does click then it's likely we'll be going in to any play-offs with momentum, as he said.

It will click if Adkins could bring in one or two additional players in on loan .

We are still in the running , God knows how , but we are .

Every game is a cup final , defining moment . Thing is the players collectively and individually don't seem up for it , mores the pity .

UTB

 

[bornablade]

I've written off this season and look forward to the Summer of the long Blades when I hope there will be an extensive cull. Adkins has to play and say the party line. 'Still focusing on promotion.....etc.'

An interesting comment on WHF's summary (appears just below half way down)

'we will get promoted in time.'

Now I haven't listened to the interview but just from this summary was that a slip? Is it a case if it's not this season then there are other seasons. Has Adkins given up?

 

[Woodwardfan]

If we are pinning our hopes on DCL then we are more in the shit than I thought. I have not seen a single thing that makes me think he can make it at League level never mind with us. I hope Im wrong with this but he looks like Joe Ironside to me quality wise. Whiteman was quite impressive in his short cameo ,at least he had the balls to look for the ball and not scared to make mistakes. I like to see young players coming through but if DCL is the level ,I really do worry for us under Adkins ,this time next year we could be in even more shit.

We all have our opinions and there's no doubt Lewin is raw and not quite strong enough. However, please don't close your mind and start launching insults at him for months. Just calmly watch him develop or not as the case may be. Surely nobody bar Sharp can claim any right to a first team place in the remaining ten games when valuable experience can be given to young lads.

Lewin has pace and he has a spring to his jumps. Last Tuesday he won three headers in a game nobody else won a thing. Let's give him a chance.

I thought Whiteman looked purposeful without doing much. Good to see him there in place of Coutts though as he surely has had his time with us.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Well he's keeping it a secret if he has.

Two or three times he's had a one on one where he could push it and chase but instead he's checked inside. He's not shown much carrying the ball yet.

Hopefully this part of his game will show itself but it hasn't yet.

Adkins seems to have confidence in him, and some of the Northampton fans were enthusiastic.

Really hope he takes the next step or two up.

At the moment he's having the ball lumped up to him and using his spring to win headers - not great as far as his bigger picture goes.

He shows his pace when he is chasing. At present he hasn't the confidence to run at players with the ball. Early days.

 

[PeteBlade]

Utterly embarrassing waffle, yet again. A rambling cliché-riddled interview which borders on taking the piss at times. I thought Weir was bad, but at least he had the grace to look worried and concerned when he was failing. Adkins just regurgitates BS that sounds like it's come straight out of a sports psychology seminar on positive thinking.
He can make speak for another twenty minutes, it won't erase the memory of the woeful, uninspiring one-shot-on-target rubbish that I saw Tuesday and for most of this season. Enough is enough.

Utterly embarrassing waffle, yet again. A rambling cliché-riddled interview which borders on taking the piss at times. I thought Weir was bad, but at least he had the grace to look worried and concerned when he was failing. Adkins just regurgitates BS that sounds like it's come straight out of a sports psychology seminar on positive thinking.
He can make speak for another twenty minutes, it won't erase the memory of the woeful, uninspiring one-shot-on-target rubbish that I saw Tuesday and for most of this season. Enough is enough.

Wilson took stick for having his arms folded during games and Adkins for not having the good grace to look co concerned enough.

Sigh.

 

[spongebobblade]

I don't know why people get so agitated about these interviews when he will always give professional responses and don't forget, gets asked the same questions every week.

It's what he says behind closed doors that matters, at the moment that's not working but at least the 'scripted bullshit' people are referring to is actually correct. Whether he can put it into practice, time will tell, if he doesn't, all the talk won't mean a jot anyway.

It seems clear he's had a few 1-1s with certain players, let's see if we get a response.

I suppose all managers have there own ways but it's refreshing when a manager tells it like it is rather than try and flannel us. Darren Ferguson has already done this a couple of times at Donny. Why doesn't he publicly challenge the players to earn new contracts etc? From the outside he appears a positive thinker but for me appears to lack real passion and most of all, fight.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

I've written off this season and look forward to the Summer of the long Blades when I hope there will be an extensive cull. Adkins has to play and say the party line. 'Still focusing on promotion.....etc.'

An interesting comment on WHF's summary (appears just below half way down)

'we will get promoted in time.'

Now I haven't listened to the interview but just from this summary was that a slip? Is it a case if it's not this season then there are other seasons. Has Adkins given up?

He actually said something like we will get promoted either this season or next season...or even the season after that. It might have been even more vague than that.

Can't recall exactly and reading the inaccurate transcript and then forensically analysing it isn't really a productive use of.anyone's time, unless you enjoy bashing the club. (Don't mean you.)

The basic sentiment, the way I heard it, was to convey a, er, quantifiable determination to get promoted.

What this boils down to is we will get promoted in the future.

Taken literally that could mean we will finally get promoted on Stardate 8.34599713 in a play-off on a colonised exoplanet in the Betelgeuse system.

Maybe with Dan Burn's great-great...grandchild netting the winner on debut after several centuries of contract negotiations are finally.resolved.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

We all have our opinions and there's no doubt Lewin is raw and not quite strong enough. However, please don't close your mind and start launching insults at him for months. Just calmly watch him develop or not as the case may be. Surely nobody bar Sharp can claim any right to a first team place in the remaining ten games when valuable experience can be given to young lads.

Lewin has pace and he has a spring to his jumps. Last Tuesday he won three headers in a game nobody else won a thing. Let's give him a chance.

I thought Whiteman looked purposeful without doing much. Good to see him there in place of Coutts though as he surely has had his time with us.

I liked Whiteman on not much evidence.

One thing DCL did was when a ball was played towards the edge of the box, he had his back to goal, and he tried to sweep a first time, maybe blind, pass out wide.

It didn't reach its target but it was bold and creative.

It's those sorts of "mistakes" he has to be allowed to make, as long as some of them start getting through.

The present is dark on and off the pitch but I think the future is bright.

 

[spongebobblade]

Utterly embarrassing waffle. Cliche ridden. Woeful. Uninspiring. Etc etc.

All could be applied to the post quoted.

Difference being it got *no* shots on target and so was even worse than we did on Tuesday.

Kettle calling pot black. Show me any evidence that we are going to miraculously turn things around and Adkins belief and positivity is going to pay off this season

 

[sitwell]

We all have our opinions and there's no doubt Lewin is raw and not quite strong enough. However, please don't close your mind and start launching insults at him for months. Just calmly watch him develop or not as the case may be. Surely nobody bar Sharp can claim any right to a first team place in the remaining ten games when valuable experience can be given to young lads.

Lewin has pace and he has a spring to his jumps. Last Tuesday he won three headers in a game nobody else won a thing. Let's give him a chance.

I thought Whiteman looked purposeful without doing much. Good to see him there in place of Coutts though as he surely has had his time with us.

No doubt we have different opinions ,I haven't insulted him ,in fact if you care to read I said I hope Im wrong I think our opinions on players and football are about as polarised as you can get.
I notice you haven't mentioned Adkins not buying any black players yet.

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

I suppose all managers have there own ways but it's refreshing when a manager tells it like it is rather than try and flannel us. Darren Ferguson has already done this a couple of times at Donny. Why doesn't he publicly challenge the players to earn new contracts etc? From the outside he appears a positive thinker but for me appears to lack real passion and most of all, fight.

As long as he does it behind the scenes that's what really matters. It doesn't take a genius to work out which players are in the bad books and which have been knocked down a peg or two, there's no need to discuss it in public however much the media and fans would like him to.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

The players we have got should be counting there blessings that they are playing for a club like SUFC . The standard of players we have would be playing at lower end league clubs if not at BDTBL.

Salary , playing conditions , facilities - someone tell me why the fuck any of these players would not , do not want to ply there trade with us . It's sheer lunacy . They either think they are better than they really are or deluded. Clubs unfortunately for us will not be cueing up to take anybody off our hands .

What is wrong with them.

UTB

This is the point McCabe made in his interview.

He seemed to be characterising some of the playing staff as complacent within the financial security provided by the club - in large part provided out of his own pocket, though he didn't say that.

 

[Woodwardfan]

No doubt we have different opinions ,I haven't insulted him ,in fact if you care to read I said I hope Im wrong I think our opinions on players and football are about as polarised as you can get.
I notice you haven't mentioned Adkins not buying any black players yet.

It's not Lewin insults I'm thinking about, it's Reed and George Long in particular. Want me to quote them Sitwell? I'll be happy to on your invitation.

As for black players, keep up Sitwell.

 

[spongebobblade]

I've written off this season and look forward to the Summer of the long Blades when I hope there will be an extensive cull. Adkins has to play and say the party line. 'Still focusing on promotion.....etc.'

An interesting comment on WHF's summary (appears just below half way down)

'we will get promoted in time.'

Now I haven't listened to the interview but just from this summary was that a slip? Is it a case if it's not this season then there are other seasons. Has Adkins given up?

He says if not this season then next. If we don't make it next season then he says the season after that. Does he really think he would still be here by then? Unless we were playing scintillating football and were close to the promised land he hasn't a prayer

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

We could conceivably have a (rounded up to) 50% Academy team tomorrow.

Long, Reed, Whiteman, DCL, Billy.

 

[spongebobblade]

As long as he does it behind the scenes that's what really matters. It doesn't take a genius to work out which players are in the bad books and which have been knocked down a peg or two, there's no need to discuss it in public however much the media and fans would like him to.

We are a passionate bunch and it seems lacking in him. For me it's taken him far too long to work out who is/ isn't good enough. I'm desperate to have confidence in him but he gives me none

 

[Woodwardfan]

We could conceivably have a (rounded up to) 50% Academy team tomorrow.

Long, Reed, Whiteman, DCL, Billy.

Actually Kennedy is back playing now isn't he? Well worth his place when fit.

With a broad brush I reckon 'Academy' should really also include those signed as 'development players' like Adams, K.Wallace and McGahey,

 

[Woodwardfan]

No doubt we have different opinions ,I haven't insulted him ,in fact if you care to read I said I hope Im wrong I think our opinions on players and football are about as polarised as you can get.
I notice you haven't mentioned Adkins not buying any black players yet.

.

 

[sitwell]

If we field a team containing Long, Reed, Whiteman, DCL, Adams, K.Wallace and McGahey we will get tanked in this division ,unless the other 4 are Messi ,Ronaldo , Suarez and Robben.