First Post -- A look at Adkins

[Bladesince59]

It's not based on the 3 of 4 good games. It's been a very poor season however, all the blame cannot be laid at his door. He came into a bloated squad with a few decent players, a lot of average ones and a big attitude problem running through the club

He's had Jamie Murphy sold from under him and he has had to keep banging on about promotion despite having a mandate to reduce the squad/Wage bill. He has however worked on bringing academy players through, he has shown (In patches) how effective his brand of football can be when players "Buy in". Sometimes it's looked dreadful but how much of that is due to him and how much is it due to the shower of shit he's got in the team.

He's moved some of said shit on and brought in a few of his own. Billy was a fantastic signing and he has been the best thing about our team this year. Woolford has been woeful and Hammond has had more poor performances than good however would he be more at home in a team with more quality?

Baptiste again a very good signing and it would be fantastic if we could get him permanent and Edgar started well, then had a very bad patch but now looks solid, not a world beater but definitely good enough for this league.

Connor Sammon has been shite, not sure if that was NA's signing or if it was a deal done by Clough before he got the boot.

The point being that this club was a train wreck when he got here. Incredible ground and fanbase but years of mismanagement and poor board decisions have taken its toll. Nigel Adkins has a brilliant record, let'ssee how he does with his own team.

There is no doubt that he will be here another season at least (imo). Hopefully he will do something next year to get us out of this League - preferably upwards. His one decent signing was Billy and he has got a fair improvement out of George but overall no-one else has really performed for him or us. When I was a man manager, my role was to get the best out of the team - he doesn't appear to be achieving that. UTB

 

[metty]

[

Summer recruitment, transfer policy, pretty much every bit of off field management that effects results on the pitch have been there to analyse provided you take the time to do it. A Southampton fan might have done that, but because he is a Southampton fan, I highly doubt he has. I don't blame him either, I couldn't give one solitary shit about Sheffield United.

There you go, fixed it for you.

 

[Nick Jansky]

Not even sure why people bother debating with him.

I was a bit bored, thought I'd give him a poke & get him to say something laughably stupid. Job done. Childish, I know. Sorry everybody, I'll leave him alone now

 

[him behind you]

Wilder, Cotterill or Powell. They cant possibly do any worse than Adkins and may well do a lot better.

OK Higgo, but what if they don't? We just find ourselves back in exactly the same position as we're in now. Of those 3, Cotterill and Powell have some success and some failure on their CV, much the same as Adkins has, and Wilder has a couple of lower league promotions on his CV with small clubs and no expectations (Oxford were 5 points clear and nearly threw it away and went up the play-offs whereas the Northampton one is, admittedly, impressive given what he had to work under). Nothing any of these have done suggests to me that they would be any better than Adkins and would probably want time to stabilise and I'd certainly be more than a little underwhelmed at bringing in either Cotterill or Powell who are just 2 of the many managerial journeymen who are making a career out of being ordinary - IMO of course.

 

[finlaytheblade]

The team last year were awful and the fact we made the playoffs at all shows just how dire the league was. It wasn't all that comfortable either (Remember Yeovil away?) We made a pretty big job of doing that.

Yes we did well in the cups and they were great memories but the players we had only really turned up for those games last season, showing (in my opinion) a lack of motivation in this league. It's all well and good beating southampton at home and doing well against Spurs but I also remember seeing us record pathetic losses to the likes of Fleetwood, Crewe and Barnsley at home and horrible away losses to Port Vale, Fleetwood, Gillingham.

I'm not saying that this season has been tons better but I also don't think it's fair to say that last season we cruised into the play offs after a great season.We played well in the cup, played some of the worst football i've ever seen in the league and lost to a Piss Poor Swindon team in the playoffs.

I don't think he has increased the wage bill this season although with out knowing for sure I'm only speculating (as you are) but getting rid of Higdon, and all the loans that have gone out you'd have to think that it has made a dent even with the arrivals of the others.

Again, a lot of what you say is right, the crap performances against Bury, Shrews etc... HOWEVER, Clough played with a team that he built (and many of us have agreed how poor his recruitment was) and limped into the playoffs.

NA has finished mid table with a team where a lot of players are out of contract in the summer, not many used to his style of management, a lot of bad attitudes, a fair few injuries early on and with the remit to reduce squad size but more importantly not his team.

There is going to be a rebuilding job this summer,we've seen the kind of play NA is going for in the last couple of games (Not saying that this excuses poor performance all season), the fact that some players could have woken up and decided to play for a contract might be the shift in attitude that was needed to see if Adkins style of football works when played right, the answer is that it does.

So surely the best way forward is going to be to let the man build a squad that will "Buy in" to his style of play, respond to his coaching/Man management style and who might have enough of a spine to turn up and play for the shirt.

No Con bought here buddy, just trying to look at it realistically and without the emotion I usually feel when watching us play crap.

You have made a great start, with some great posts about the blades,
but also spelt out what Adkins is about.He has as you say had a lot of problems, you also said it's been a poor season ( I think Adkins would agree with that) . We have the regular decenters wanting change yet again.This time I beleave the owners
will stick with Adkins, he beleave in attacking football as the video Almosthuman put up.Ok that might have been patronising but I will buy (
more importantly I beleave the board have bought into it also.) into that kind of football everyday.,building a team to play like that.,especially a team put together to play a negative way doesn't happen overnight he needs time.

 

[BeatleBlade]

Hi I'm a Southampton Fan, I've joined as I've been keeping an eye out on Sheffield United this season due to the Southampton contingent there. Like many Saints fans I regard Adkins as a club legend.

I just wanted to give some background to this video and why it got made as it might be of interest to some. Adkins did a brilliant job for us, we were still on an upward trajectory when he got sacked and that is why Saints fans were so angry at the time. We were 15th when he got sacked halfway through the season, Pochettino had half a season with the same players and we finished 1 place higher. Whilst I'm not saying he is as good as him, I think it's fair to say objectively that Adkins performance was perfectly comparable to someone considered to be one of the best managers working in the country when possessed with the same tools.

Despite taking us from 22nd in League 1 to 15th in the Premier league in just over 2 years he got sacked with no public thanks of any kind for what he did for what he did at the time of his sacking. Saints fans believe this happened because he did not get on with our then chairman, Nicola Cortese. At the beginning of the OP's video Adkins alludes to some issues to sort out before joining us which I believe was to do with compensation. I'm not ITK but there are a few on a Saints forum at the time who said that Cortese apparently wanted Adkins to resign from Scunthorpe and come to us, thus meaning no compensation would go to Scunthorpe and we'd give Adkins a signing on fee out of that money we saved. Adkins refused to do this out of loyalty to Scunthorpe, he wanted to waive a signing on fee and we would have to pay appropriate compensation to Scunthorpe for his services.

Cortese paid up but it seems that Adkins unwittingly marked his card in doing so and his face never really fit despite his success. It seems he quickly knew it too, in the interview after we beat Coventry 4-0 to gain promotion to Premier League, amongst the euphoria he gave a cryptic comment along the lines of 'whatever ends up happening now, I can say that I left the club better than I found it'. Fans picked up immediately that this was an odd thing to say having just won promotion. ITK posters at the time said it was because he was on borrowed time as his face did not fit with Cortese. That's the context behind the man in the glass poem he recited too. He was basically saying in a veiled way to the media and Cortese himself, 'I can look in the mirror, I'm doing a good job, I'm not walking, if you want to get rid of me you're going to have to make yourself unpopular and sack me while I'm doing well'.

The rest is history and we sacked Adkins anyway despite being on a run of 1 defeat in 12. Cortese left the following season too, having run out of people to fall out with he fell out with our owner and resigned. Ever since then the new board has been righting the wrongs of the previous regime. So basically this video got made as a way of finally thanking Nigel for what he did with us and to publicly give him the credit and appreciation he is due and undo some of the ill feeling caused by Cortese.

A personal observation before I wind up. I can understand the frustration with how its gone there but I think its too easy to say he's failed at Brammall Lane already. People say he failed at Reading too and the fans were calling for his head, they got their way but its not really picked up after his departure. In fact its the opposite, they haven't got close to the 7th place they finished under him, finishing 19th the following season under Clarke, still not close to that since the return of fans favourite McDermott. That is the kind of thing I think you should be concerned about happening as I think you could go either way if you're not careful. You're losing money, selling your best players to service wages of a bloated and average at best squad and I don't see many people around the club with a track record of success. I wouldn't necessarily be in a hurry to chuck the people with the best records out. He's obviously made mistakes there but I think he will turn it around if the board give him time.

I think you're spot on with his interviews. I know he grates on some people but you really can find out just as much as you could in the past about what was going on if you just read between the lines a bit. I like that he doesn't name and shame publicly like Clough did with McNulty all the time for not winning games for us when he's only been the on the pitch 10 minutes.
He will sometimes say things that you allude to and I think that's right because you can't dodge everything nor cover poor behaviour all the time.

 

[Bladesman]

I think you're spot on with his interviews. I know he grates on some people but you really can find out just as much as you could in the past about what was going on if you just read between the lines a bit. I like that he doesn't name and shame publicly like Clough did with McNulty all the time for not winning games for us when he's only been the on the pitch 10 minutes.
He will sometimes say things that you allude to and I think that's right because you can't dodge everything nor cover poor behaviour all the time.

Not many can be bothered to read between the lines of any of Adkins interviews. If he repeated himself a bit less then i think people could tolerate the interviews.

 

[BeatleBlade]

Not many can be bothered to read between the lines of any of Adkins interviews. If he repeated himself a bit less then i think people could tolerate the interviews.

If a Southampton fan passing by can read between the lines then I'm sure that an avid Sheffield United fan can.

 

[Bladesman]

If a Southampton fan passing by can read between the lines then I'm sure that an avid Sheffield United fan can.

I can read between the lines, just some of our fans can't be bothered to.

Although I think the managers should be interviewed less and be left go about their job. A post match interview is all we need really and maybe the odd extra few interviews during a transfer window.

Adkins must be interviewed about 4 or 5 times a week and most of the time there is nothing new for him to say.

 

[Higgo's Belly]

Clearly Southampton fans love Adkins, however if you asked the majority of Reading fans, they would have a much different view. Sometimes a manager is a good fit for a club and everything clicks. Adkins is simply not right for the Blades. Yorkshire fans like straight talking people, who tell it as it is. They dont tend to warm to a spin merchants who attempt to pull the wool over their eyes. Adkins career is in decline. He got lucky by taking over at Scunthorpe when they were going to get promoted anyway (its funny how he is supposed to have done a brilliant job at Scunthorpe after taking over a team at the top of the table, however if Clough takes Burton up it will be all down to Jimmy Floyd Haaselbank).
Cotterill did a fanastic job ktaking Bristol City up as champions, likewise Powell at Charlton. The job Wilder is doing at Northampton will result in them going up as champions. He has served his apprenticeship and is ready for his chance to manage a big club. He is a manager on the up unlike

 

[Almosthuman]

There is no doubt that he will be here another season at least (imo). Hopefully he will do something next year to get us out of this League - preferably upwards. His one decent signing was Billy and he has got a fair improvement out of George but overall no-one else has really performed for him or us. When I was a man manager, my role was to get the best out of the team - he doesn't appear to be achieving that. UTB

Billy best signing by far but I would say Edgar started well, he did go through a very poor patch when he came back from first international break then got injured but since then he's gradually got better. Not a world beater signing but not an outright failure.

Woolford has been his worst in my opinion (Topping Sammon because am unsure if Sammon was Cloughs work and also we have Woolford on a perm). He may have had something in the past but he has definitely lost it now. I think this is one of NA's mistakes as he should have realized that Milwall let him go for a reason.

Dean Hammond - Remember how excited most of us were in the build up to this load signing. I was happy when we signed him. Since then he has been mainly poor but if NA was trying to influence the culture and implement a new attitude in the club then you can see the logic behind the signing. If he stays next season (Most probably) it's likely that his attitude/graft will play a major part in influencing the youngsters I hope we sign. Not defending some of the utter shite performences this season but could play an important role going forward. NA seems to love him so maybe even integrating him into his back office staff eventually?

Also Alex Baptiste has been a class above since his patchy debut. Shows you how solid a back 3 can look when you have someone getting to everything and generally holding them together. Definitely not a failure.

Reckon it's a situation where he's managed to shift a lot of crap and now a bulk of the players are starting to perform for him you;ve got Billy, Bash, Baptiste, Mahguy, Che, Mcceverly, Edgar, Long, Hammond are all improving all be it a bit too late for this season.

In my opinion Coutts and Flynn are also doing a little better but really need shipping out with the rest.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

Whoops sorry that's a typo! A particularly irritating one seeing as I spell checked before to prevent that from happening. I was able to edit the post yesterday but dont seem able to do that now?!

I just wanted to clarify as well as not sure it is clear in the post but that video was created by Southampton F.C themselves, its the usual media team interviewing him. We don't often do half hour videos dedicated to one man, so it shows how much the club respect his achievements. I very much doubt we will get a half hour video celebrating Pochettino anytime soon.

I know that some people find Adkins interviews jarring and certainly if you take them at face value they can be but he does give you snippets of revealing information if you listen for them. In that interview for example he says that 'before the Reading game things were going off behind the scenes' and that is apparently to do with Cortese making it clear there would be issues if he did not beat them and win the league and as we didn't the fall out set in then.

I make this point as he is constantly dropping innocuous comments that if you know the context actually reveal quite a lot about whats happening there too. I've noticed he keeps hinting at the same thing and thought you may be interested to know that whilst he does have a habit of repeating himself week in week out, the message coming from Bramall lane (sorry again trigger!) is markedly different to what I heard when he was at St Marys.

I've heard him discuss player motivation, calling out an individual player in public for not training hard enough (unheard of for him to be negative about an individual in this way, he's more polite about Cortese in that interview!), he keeps repeating the inability of players to play 40 games of football as well, he clearly doesn't think they are fit or have the appetite to push and play hard through the whole season. The other one I notice was where he was calling out a lot at the beginning saying players about asking themselves 'why they were in that division', did they have the pride, drive, professionalism etc to get out of the league, I even saw one where he was calling out one player for simply ignoring him during a game. Its unprecedented to hear him talk like that and I think very revealing about the issues he has faced there.

Still, Nigel always gives players who have erred a chance to get back in the team before he discards them, so when players have been shipped out, it means they have been given chances to redeem themselves but then repeatedly caused issues or been insubordinate. I think this is part of the reason its taken so long to stamp his authority on this squad, the sheer numbers of players who have been moved on tells you a lot. Adkins likes to stick with the same players week in week out, making small rotations for injuries (he is very good at managing injuries and preventing them before they happen) and for tactical tweaks. Apart from that he values consistency and I think its fair to say that's not what has happened there until recently (coincidentally when the team has started to improve too).

I have seen general signs of improvement, the attitude is better and think he's got players playing for him now. I just hope the board don't shoot themselves in the foot and sack him as I genuinely believe he can build on it over the summer with some targeted additions and get automatic promotion next season. I'll be hoping for that as like many Saints fans, I'd like to see Adkins get his reputation restored but obviously time will tell.

Only part way through this buy I think he's phrasing things positively.

General principle is tell people what they need to do to improve.

"You're lazy," is just a moan. In fact it's a lazy moan.

Identifying X, Y, and Z, and saying, "You need to do X, Y, and Z to improve," is good management and much more likely to yield improved outcomes.

In the heat-of-the-moment interviews straight after a match he might very occasionally slip into personal/negative comments, but with the 40 games a season I think he phrased it as 'We need players who can play 40 games a season,' rather than explicitly saying Bob, Scoogs, Freeman are all useless crocks.

 

[davidpinder]

Welcome aboard mate,

If Adkins does remain he will certainly have his work cut out next season, we need almost half a new team and there is little money for it, let's hope he can spot a bargain or two

No money ?? he still hasn't spent the Murphy money lol , not to mention the money from the Adams sale, should get £3m i reckon. Loads of cash for more, Hammonds, woolfords and Sammons

 

[1danewhitehouse]

Belongs in a different thread but I strongly disagree with this.

It just reads like a self-serving, self-satisfied, romanticised view of the "fans".

Go to matches. Call McEveley a cunt, scream deathwishes at George Long's family, jeer players when they're warming up, jeer when they're subbed, join in with chants of "We're fucking shit," etc etc but I can't see how any if this is patient, supportive, or the reasonable expectations and pressures of a big club.

Good OP.

I think the reality lays somewhere between the posted scenarios. The atmosphere has been poisonous at times. Rochdale was horrible. The discord between players and fans had never been greater. However, we’ve just drawn 0-0 at home to Gillingham, a result which has pretty much ended our season and the players were roundly applauded because of the shift they put in. It’s a bit chicken and egg but for me, the fans of this club have been let down for many years and only recently had started to turn nasty (bar the few idiots all clubs have).


Even with the slightest encouragement we were behind them on Saturday. If the players were the honest hard working professionals Adkins has referred to them as, I strongly suspect they wouldn’t have had the crowd on their backs. When Clough took us on that run in 2014, we all saw that our crowd can be a big advantage. It’s up to the players whether the crowd are on their side or not. Show the right attitude and we will back them. There’s signs that might be starting to happen. Let’s hope it continues.

 

[Almosthuman]

Clearly Southampton fans love Adkins, however if you asked the majority of Reading fans, they would have a much different view. Sometimes a manager is a good fit for a club and everything clicks. Adkins is simply not right for the Blades. Yorkshire fans like straight talking people, who tell it as it is. They dont tend to warm to a spin merchants who attempt to pull the wool over their eyes. Adkins career is in decline. He got lucky by taking over at Scunthorpe when they were going to get promoted anyway (its funny how he is supposed to have done a brilliant job at Scunthorpe after taking over a team at the top of the table, however if Clough takes Burton up it will be all down to Jimmy Floyd Haaselbank).
Cotterill did a fanastic job ktaking Bristol City up as champions, likewise Powell at Charlton. The job Wilder is doing at Northampton will result in them going up as champions. He has served his apprenticeship and is ready for his chance to manage a big club. He is a manager on the up unlike

Scunthorpe were also relegated and he took them back up. That can't be down to luck can it? Agree regs straight talking. I genuinely don't think he is a spin merchant his interviews are flawed but there is good info if you listen closely and read between what he's saying. Warnock was very straight talking and the amount of stick he got for some of his interviews was laughable (Seems us Yorkshire folk just wanna moan whether it's straight talking OR brutally honest).

I don't believe his career is in decline. He dropped unlucky with Reading and then walked straight into this club and we all know what a state it was in (We spent the majority of last season complaining about it). If he's given proper time I am confident (My opinion only) that he will turn it around.

Cotteril was sacked this season after proving how tactically inept he was in the championship (Even with money to spend). Powell again sacked from his last role (Perhaps his career is in decline also ) Wilder is largely untested in this league and with a club of this side. He may turn out to be the savior, he might do what no other manager has done since the premier league drop and bring stability and success to the club. Then again........ How has chopping and changing helped us so far?

 

[1danewhitehouse]

Adkins knew what he was taking on when he took the job. Unless he is even more clueless than I believe he is, he will have sounded out previous managers and contacts for background on the job, before taking it. He is so vain and sure of himself (as are many other managers), that he will have believed that despite all of the problems, he is that good, he will be successful anyway.

So how has he improved the team or what has he he done right so far,
1. Lowered the wage bill
2. Signed Billy Sharp (although we already had a half a million pound striker, Done and it appears they cant play together)
I'm strugling to think of anything else

What has he got wrong,
1. Turned a play off team into a mid table team
2. Contributed to reducing fan morale to its lowest place ever
3. Lost the dressing room
4. Made some terrible signings (Woolford, Hammond, Sammon)
5. Spouted endless positivity and spin after spin, believing that our fans are so stupid they will believe it
6. Told the fans we are going for promotion this season, but now says its a three year project and thinks thats acceptable
7. Allowed his personal dislike of certain players to interfere with his judgement, resulting in Freeman, Scougall, Harris and McNulty leaving (probably because they were Clough signings), when they are better players, than some that remain
8. Made a terrible player who should be nowhere near the team captain
9. Failed to address the need for defensive signings, contributing towards the failiure this season

The list goes on and on. I rest my case, get rid now.

3. Added some much needed height and muscle to the squad


4. Found a system where Done can go some way towards replacing the width lost with the sale of Murphy.


5. Added some leaders to the squad (Hammond and Edgar)


6. Got some bang average to poor squad players (McNulty, Freeman, Harris, Scugall, Higdon, Alcock, Dimaio, Wallace, JCR, McFadzean etc.) many of which with questionable attitudes out of the club either on loan or permanent deals.


7. Has disciplined wayward teen Che Adams without bombing him out of the club like Clough probably would have.


8. Only a handful of points worse off than last season despite losing his best player, and having a net spend of around -£1million on fees and reducing the wage bill.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

He says it's Tiger Woods, it's probably Spongebob.

He says “Tiger Woods” “5 years ago” and “good”. He probably means a clip of Ernie Els’ putting the other day.



Seriously though, I do find the perception that managers become shit over time an odd one. It’s not like players who are reliant on their athleticism. There’s no reason a 60 year old manager should be worse than when he was 40. If anything, his experience might make him a better manager. Warnock, a very old manager that many fans who think Adkins is past it want back, talks about experience and getting one over on young managers with their notebooks etc.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

Wilder, Cotterill or Powell. They cant possibly do any worse than Adkins and may well do a lot better. Stability with a clueless manager does not mean promotion. He's had a chance to build and has displayed nothing to show that he is the right man to take us forward. Previous failings of managers resulting in them being sacked, should not mean we have to keep Adkins, just to avoid sacking another manager. I dont cae if we are seen as a sacking club or not, I just want to escape this league. Adkins now stating its a three year project to take us to the next level, strikes me that he's resigned to no promotion next year and is getting the excuses in already.

Let’s take an example you suggest then. Chris Powell. I assume you suggest him based on his success with Charlton.


Let’s look at the circumstances of that success. He was appointed in January 2011 so had plenty of time to assess the squad and decide who to release at the end of the season. He proceeded to move out 15 players and bring in 21 permanent players and 5 loans before winning the title. Incomings included players like Danny Green, Leon Clarke, Yann Kermmogant, Michael Morrison, Rhoys Wiggins etc.


If instead of that he’d been able to bring in 1 purchase, 1 freebie and 4 loans through the whole season, do you think he’d have been successful?


He also released Simon Francis and Jose Semedo on free transfers. Players who are now playing for teams above them.


Further, he played a pretty negative style grinding out results which many of our fans wouldn’t like and criticised Clough for.


What Adkins wants to do is play expansive attacking football and he’s been trying to find ways to do that this season with ill equipped personnel. It’d be a real shame to bin him

 

[1danewhitehouse]

Precisely. There are countless reasons and pieces of evidence to go on this season. Where as the main two arguments for keeping him is just "we can't keep sacking managers" and "we've played well the last two games". How that renders the previous 39 games totally irrelevant I have still to find out.

Along with


“He’s been hamstrung in terms of ability to recruit”


“He’s had to continuously trim the squad all season”


“We’re only slightly worse than last season after selling our best player”


“He has an excellent track record”


“Paying his compensation would reduce the player budget”


“Another new man would have to assess the squad and start rebuilding all over again”


“Any replacement coming in won’t have achieved as much as he has in the game”

 

[1danewhitehouse]

Hi I'm a Southampton Fan, I've joined as I've been keeping an eye out on Sheffield United this season due to the Southampton contingent there. Like many Saints fans I regard Adkins as a club legend.

I just wanted to give some background to this video and why it got made as it might be of interest to some. Adkins did a brilliant job for us, we were still on an upward trajectory when he got sacked and that is why Saints fans were so angry at the time. We were 15th when he got sacked halfway through the season, Pochettino had half a season with the same players and we finished 1 place higher. Whilst I'm not saying he is as good as him, I think it's fair to say objectively that Adkins performance was perfectly comparable to someone considered to be one of the best managers working in the country when possessed with the same tools.

Despite taking us from 22nd in League 1 to 15th in the Premier league in just over 2 years he got sacked with no public thanks of any kind for what he did for what he did at the time of his sacking. Saints fans believe this happened because he did not get on with our then chairman, Nicola Cortese. At the beginning of the OP's video Adkins alludes to some issues to sort out before joining us which I believe was to do with compensation. I'm not ITK but there are a few on a Saints forum at the time who said that Cortese apparently wanted Adkins to resign from Scunthorpe and come to us, thus meaning no compensation would go to Scunthorpe and we'd give Adkins a signing on fee out of that money we saved. Adkins refused to do this out of loyalty to Scunthorpe, he wanted to waive a signing on fee and we would have to pay appropriate compensation to Scunthorpe for his services.

Cortese paid up but it seems that Adkins unwittingly marked his card in doing so and his face never really fit despite his success. It seems he quickly knew it too, in the interview after we beat Coventry 4-0 to gain promotion to Premier League, amongst the euphoria he gave a cryptic comment along the lines of 'whatever ends up happening now, I can say that I left the club better than I found it'. Fans picked up immediately that this was an odd thing to say having just won promotion. ITK posters at the time said it was because he was on borrowed time as his face did not fit with Cortese. That's the context behind the man in the glass poem he recited too. He was basically saying in a veiled way to the media and Cortese himself, 'I can look in the mirror, I'm doing a good job, I'm not walking, if you want to get rid of me you're going to have to make yourself unpopular and sack me while I'm doing well'.

The rest is history and we sacked Adkins anyway despite being on a run of 1 defeat in 12. Cortese left the following season too, having run out of people to fall out with he fell out with our owner and resigned. Ever since then the new board has been righting the wrongs of the previous regime. So basically this video got made as a way of finally thanking Nigel for what he did with us and to publicly give him the credit and appreciation he is due and undo some of the ill feeling caused by Cortese.

A personal observation before I wind up. I can understand the frustration with how its gone there but I think its too easy to say he's failed at Brammall Lane already. People say he failed at Reading too and the fans were calling for his head, they got their way but its not really picked up after his departure. In fact its the opposite, they haven't got close to the 7th place they finished under him, finishing 19th the following season under Clarke, still not close to that since the return of fans favourite McDermott. That is the kind of thing I think you should be concerned about happening as I think you could go either way if you're not careful. You're losing money, selling your best players to service wages of a bloated and average at best squad and I don't see many people around the club with a track record of success. I wouldn't necessarily be in a hurry to chuck the people with the best records out. He's obviously made mistakes there but I think he will turn it around if the board give him time.

Fantastic post Bob. Thanks for taking the time for making the points I’ve been making for a while and making them better (and from a different perspective) than me. Adkins is one of very few genuine assets we have at this club. If he’s given the time and backing, I’m convinced he will come good for us.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

It's easy to look at things from afar and say "Oh, he's been unlucky - give him time." But when you have been able to analyse his management in far more depth, it is, unfortunately, a whole different kettle of fish.

This “far more depth” is from his armchair Bob. I’d take your analysis any day.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

3 or 4 decent games and suddenly we are starting to think Adkins is the man. What about the other 30 odd?

I’ve always thought Adkins was the man. Some think the last couple of games prove that. I don’t. I think it will be proven next season if he is backed to rebuild.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

So the bloated average team as you call them ( minus Murphy plus Sharp, Woolford, Edgar, Baptiste, Hammond and Sammon ) that comfortably finished fifth last season and pushed Tottenham (currently lying second in the Premier League) all the way in the League Cup Semi Final after beating Southampton and West Ham along the way was expected to finish mid table - Sorry, I am not buying that at all !
My bet is that Mr Adkins has substantially increased the wage bill this year and has the team turning in woeful performances week after week !
Has it taken him all season to get them playing as they did against Walsall and Gillingham - what about their performances v Bury (twice), Shrewsbury, Millwall, Crewe etc etc
Seems to me Almosthuman that you along with others have 'bought the con' !!

Murphy, Doyle, S. Davies, B. Davies, Holt, Dimaio, McNulty, Scougall, Freeman, Harris, J. Wallace, JCR, McFadzean, Alcock, Collins and soon to be Baxter.


15-16 players moved out on loan or permanent (or in the case of Holt and Davies loans ended) from last season’s team compared to the 6 in (including loans). I very much doubt the wage bill is increased.

 

[Torrix1889]

Hey,first time poster, long time reader

Found this video that was done pre season for Southampton - Interview with NA reflecting on Southampton Career.

I looked but don't recall it being posted before (Apologies if it was). There is a lot of negativity around NA this season,True he has under performed to an extent. There has been a lot of factors such as a lot of terrible legacy players from previous managers tenures, a historically difficult board and a huge amount of frustration and pressure from fans.

I think this video is a good way to look at what Nigel does actually bring to a team, a good look at why he does things and why he values players like Hammond. I have been overly critical at times about him but this does offer some clarity and hope (In my opinion) on what we can expect if we stick with the man and let him build.

Here is the link, it clocks in around 30 mins -

Apologies from poor grammar/spelling mistakes in advance

Welcome to the forum Nigel, good use of grammatical and spelling errors to throw us of the scent. You are still getting sacked..

 

[Almosthuman]

Welcome to the forum Nigel, good use of grammatical and spelling errors to throw us of the scent. You are still getting sacked..

Still Endeavoring to win a game of football as I've alluded to before

 

[1danewhitehouse]

Welcome to the forum Nigel, good use of grammatical and spelling errors to throw us of the scent. You are still getting sacked..

I must say opening the post with a "Hey" made me think we might have Kevin McCabe on our hands,

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

Welcome to the forum Nigel, good use of grammatical and spelling errors to throw us of the scent. You are still getting sacked..

 

[Higgo's Belly]

3. Added some much needed height and muscle to the squad


4. Found a system where Done can go some way towards replacing the width lost with the sale of Murphy.


5. Added some leaders to the squad (Hammond and Edgar)


6. Got some bang average to poor squad players (McNulty, Freeman, Harris, Scugall, Higdon, Alcock, Dimaio, Wallace, JCR, McFadzean etc.) many of which with questionable attitudes out of the club either on loan or permanent deals.


7. Has disciplined wayward teen Che Adams without bombing him out of the club like Clough probably would have.


8. Only a handful of points worse off than last season despite losing his best player, and having a net spend of around -£1million on fees and reducing the wage bill.

3. Anyone can find and sign tall, muscular players. Its not difficult, however those he has signed have been poor (Hammond, Woolford, Sammon). A decent manager would have signed better than this.

4. Done was signed as a half a million pound striker. He was bang average as a left back at Barnsley and Rochdale.

5. Hammond may be a leader, however his contribution to the team has been very poor. On an estimated ten thousand pound a week wage. Joke of a signing, who was signed on previous reputation alone, who doesn't deserve a place in the team on his performances so far. Edgar, between his trips away when playing or often as not playing for Canada, has never been a leader.

6. Got rid of McNulty, Freeman, Harris and Scougs, who I would argue are better than some that remain. Freeman was widely regarded as one of the best performing players in the early part of the season and should not have been allowed to leave.

7. Adams has been disciplined more than once this season. He is clearly one of the squad who has no respect for Adkins. Clough did not bomb McNulty out of the club, despite having issue with his performances.Fans moan about Clough for what he used to say about McNulty, however Adkins has done just the same with Adams, but nobody seems to have an issue with this.

8. However anyone would like to dress it up, we are in a worse position than last year. Yes we lost our best player, however Adkins has been allowed to bring in six expensive signings. Adkins was not brought in with a remit of make us a mid table team instead of one challenging for promotion.

 

[BeatleBlade]

3. Anyone can find and sign tall, muscular players. Its not difficult, however those he has signed have been poor (Hammond, Woolford, Sammon). A decent manager would have signed better than this.

4. Done was signed as a half a million pound striker. He was bang average as a left back at Barnsley and Rochdale.

5. Hammond may be a leader, however his contribution to the team has been very poor. On an estimated ten thousand pound a week wage. Joke of a signing, who was signed on previous reputation alone, who doesn't deserve a place in the team on his performances so far. Edgar, between his trips away when playing or often as not playing for Canada, has never been a leader.

6. Got rid of McNulty, Freeman, Harris and Scougs, who I would argue are better than some that remain. Freeman was widely regarded as one of the best performing players in the early part of the season and should not have been allowed to leave.

7. Adams has been disciplined more than once this season. He is clearly one of the squad who has no respect for Adkins. Clough did not bomb McNulty out of the club, despite having issue with his performances.Fans moan about Clough for what he used to say about McNulty, however Adkins has done just the same with Adams, but nobody seems to have an issue with this.

8. However anyone would like to dress it up, we are in a worse position than last year. Yes we lost our best player, however Adkins has been allowed to bring in six expensive signings. Adkins was not brought in with a remit of make us a mid table team instead of one challenging for promotion.

Freeman can't even make it on the Pompey bench. Scougs and Harris aren't doing much on loan either. McNulty seems to be doing well but he's been benched a lot. I don't know too much apparently his attitude has been questioned. Hopefully, he'll come back better next year.
Edgar has been pretty good when not held back by Collins.
Hammond hasn't been great but he's improved recently and his wages aren't that high.
Adams being disciplined doesn't mean he has no respect for Adkins, he's a kid who came from the non league so he's going to have the odd run in (not to mention personal issues). If he doesn't though, his problem, he's not bigger than the club.
The signings were not expensive that expensive in context.

 

[Sirius]

Another good post but I'm beginning to think that you are actually Nigel Adkins!

No I'm sure it' my lads father in law