Adkins Interview After Wigan (H)

[yorkshirecoast]

It's not really though. We keep making the mistake of getting players in for the sake of it. We should take our time. Of course, it's a money thing, but first and foremost getting players in that are better than we have already is something that hasn't happened for a decade.

UTB

Of course we should bring in players better than we already have - I am not disputing that. The point I was making is that this shouldn't be too difficult given the standard of most of our current players.

 

[stringjunior]

It's not really though. We keep making the mistake of getting players in for the sake of it. We should take our time. Of course, it's a money thing, but first and foremost getting players in that are better than we have already is something that hasn't happened for a decade.

UTB

No place for common sense round here alcoblade

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

Do we admit ( not you WHF) but collectively, that the players Adkins as brought in are not good enough, omitting sharp in this, but that if the team as a whole, rather than the parts of it, played as a team, then these players would not seem quite as bad as they do.
I know that I'm probably saying the obvious there, but I can't believe that Adkins, who most of us at the time thought was a good appointment, could get it so drastically wrong with so many players.

Off the top of my head:

Sharp - very good
Sammon - started the season very well, since then has become Scapegoat of the Month, has lost confidence. I have strong views on what has happened to Sammon which belong really in another thread.
Woolford - the biggest disappointment, does offer defensive discipline but nothing going forwards, seems to lose the ball more than any player I've ever watched, his warm-ups are fantastic (so were Freeman's) why none of this appears on the pitch I don't know
Edgar - doing fine, remember how nervy the centre of defence was last season? Collins still has his detractors but it's nothing like as bad as it was
Hammond - I agree that a lot of his best work is invisible, nullifying threats that then by definition don't appear - hence the invisibility, no coincidence we've been hard to beat since he came but the big problem is a lot of his visible work is so poor: being tackled, and/or muscled off the ball by younger fiercer players, and getting booked every game - how is he not suspended? Expectations were too high I think (me included). I thought we'd be getting a Division 1 reserves playmaker/club saviour, we didn't

That's not a bad strike rate.

We could have gone for young players on the up with, say, the Hammond money but as Adkins says you want them straight in the first team, and I can't see there are many of those - any available at our level will be like Adams: raw talent needing, but development

I think a lot depends on where we go from here.

There was a massive (existential almost!) overreaction to Saturday I think the defeat was coupled with the lack of transfer activity and added up to critical illness for the club. Wigan are flying and it was looking like 0-0 till Bash went bonkers. He also missed a very good chance just before. (Not a criticism btw.)

We could win our next three against teams below us and it all looks very different.

 

[Jonboy60]

So it's the "whole" part of it then, unbalanced, tactics or just unable to do what Adkins asks of them.

 

[nopigfansintown]

Hangman, hangman, hold it a little while,
I think I see my friends coming, Riding many a mile.
Friends, did you get some silver?
Did you get a little gold?
What did you bring me, my dear friends, To keep me from the Gallows Pole?
What did you bring me to keep me from the Gallows Pole?

I couldn't get no silver, I couldn't get no gold,
You know that we're too damn poor to keep you from the Gallows Pole.
Hangman, hangman, hold it a little while,
I think I see my brother coming, riding many a mile.
Brother, did you get me some silver?
Did you get a little gold?
What did you bring me, my brother, to keep me from the Gallows Pole?

 

[MobileBlade]

Interesting point about wanting two or three players in, then not signing anyone, may be having consequences in the dressing room.
While we didn't really know who the targets were, did the players know, and if they did would the players that the new players would have replaced, have an effect on their performances from now to the end of the season.
Remember these players, in Adkins own words would have to be better than what we have, and be able to fit straight into the team.
Trying to think how I would feel if my company was trying to replace me, but unfortunately failed to do so at the last minute, ( unfortunate for the company anyway) and were then stuck with me until as and when.

He said in his programme notes on Saturday that all three were younger, hungry players that would have improved on what we had now. Appreciate last bit based on Saturday would not have been difficult but the other two ..... may have been reading this forum.

 

[nopigfansintown]

He said in his programme notes on Saturday that all three were younger, hungry players that would have improved on what we had now. Appreciate last bit based on Saturday would not have been difficult but the other two ..... may have been reading this forum.

This is the thing I'm clinging to - along with the academy players bit in the same article. This, and more patience, should have been the club policy that saw expectations tempered before the season started, allowing the manager to build foundations in a less pressured environment.

 

[PeteBlade]

Sammon is as bad as he is because of fans getting on his back?

If WHF isn't careful he's going to run out of completely ridiculous excuses to defend a very, very poor striker.

 

[alcoblade]

Of course we should bring in players better than we already have - I am not disputing that. The point I was making is that this shouldn't be too difficult given the standard of most of our current players.

Throw in a short transfer window, and the availability of those players, at a realistic price, and I can imagine it's far more difficult that most of our understandably frustrated fan base can accept.

UTB

 

[Bladebri]

A friend of mine at work who is a Rotherham supporter, bless him, say sammon was the worse player he had seen at Rotherham in years, no control of the ball not good in the air so god knows whoever watched him and told Adkins he would be a good addition to the club needs his eyes testing.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

NA is just a weak YES MAN. Perfect for McCabe

I think pretty much every manager is a yes man. How many come out with “I’ve had no backing from the board, I’m stuck with this shit squad but I’ll keep trying to polish this turd”?


A manager who is not a yes man, unless they prove themselves to be indispensable, is an unemployed manager.


Employees are answerable to those above them, not vice versa.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

The question I would ask Adkins is if he explicitly instructs the players to move as little as possible and not attempt to attack until two goals down, or if the players ignore all his instructions and (as many suspect) none of his players care at all about SUFC or playing football at all (except poor Billy Sharp).

I'd also ask if suspension is the only thing that would keep Hammond out of the team, or would he still pick him anyway and take the points deduction and fine.

I’d say the likes of Long, Brayford, Collins, McEveley, Basham, Sharp and possibly a couple more care very much. It’s just that some of them simply don’t have the required ability. There were so many one on one situations Saturday where regardless of whether it was our player trying to take theirs on or vice versa, they came out with the ball. That’s because they had better individual players. That’s because their chairman went out and bought better players whereas we just “retained top talent” and “right-sized”.


But it’s OK. We may have a squad of players lacking in pace and ability but we can take comfort that we didn’t do any “panic buying” or “cosmetic recruitment”

 

[judge]

A friend of mine at work who is a Rotherham supporter, bless him, say sammon was the worse player he had seen at Rotherham in years, no control of the ball not good in the air so god knows whoever watched him and told Adkins he would be a good addition to the club needs his eyes testing.

He was really good before the rotherham fans got on his back and made him scapegoat of the month

 

[1danewhitehouse]

. Tell me what he is good at and what is he ideal for?

Working the channels, bringing balls down on his chest and releasing the wide man, pressuring defenders and generally making a nuisance of himself.


Unfortunately, he is utterly crap at reading the flight of an aerial ball which means he gets nowhere near for most headers. I think he’s a better player than he’s currently showing and not so bad as to deserve the abuse he gets. He must be praying for McEveley and Collins to start dropping bollocks again just to take some of the abuse off him.


He’s still better than Porter or Higdon for me.

 

[Deadbat]

Off the top of my head:

Sharp - very good
Sammon - started the season very well, since then has become Scapegoat of the Month, has lost confidence. I have strong views on what has happened to Sammon which belong really in another thread.
Woolford - the biggest disappointment, does offer defensive discipline but nothing going forwards, seems to lose the ball more than any player I've ever watched, his warm-ups are fantastic (so were Freeman's) why none of this appears on the pitch I don't know
Edgar - doing fine, remember how nervy the centre of defence was last season? Collins still has his detractors but it's nothing like as bad as it was
Hammond - I agree that a lot of his best work is invisible, nullifying threats that then by definition don't appear - hence the invisibility, no coincidence we've been hard to beat since he came but the big problem is a lot of his visible work is so poor: being tackled, and/or muscled off the ball by younger fiercer players, and getting booked every game - how is he not suspended? Expectations were too high I think (me included). I thought we'd be getting a Division 1 reserves playmaker/club saviour, we didn't

That's not a bad strike rate.

We could have gone for young players on the up with, say, the Hammond money but as Adkins says you want them straight in the first team, and I can't see there are many of those - any available at our level will be like Adams: raw talent needing, but development

I think a lot depends on where we go from here.

There was a massive (existential almost!) overreaction to Saturday I think the defeat was coupled with the lack of transfer activity and added up to critical illness for the club. Wigan are flying and it was looking like 0-0 till Bash went bonkers. He also missed a very good chance just before. (Not a criticism btw.)

We could win our next three against teams below us and it all looks very different.

We could win the next three games. We could also lose them and then we are in a relegation scrap. i know what looks more likely at the moment.

Admire your glass half full attitude WHF but you really do need to be brought back to some kind of reality.

To say Sammon is ideal is ridiculous. The guy is an awful footballer who is destined for Scotland or non league (same thing).

Edgar is not really doing fine -we are still shipping goals. I remember how nervy the centre of defence was. It still is. We let in 2's and 3's routinely. Collins has his detractors as he is crap and it is as bad as it was.

Hammond/Woolford poor.

So 5 signings and he has got 1 right. An awful strike rate.

Massive overreaction to Saturday? We are 11th in LEague One, miles of automatic promotion, not signed anyone to improve a side that is clearly not good enough and seem set for another season in the third tier.

I would say the reaction was not strong enough either at the game or on message boards. The board/management are getting away light. I expected protests and a lot more negativity Saturday. The fans actually let them get away with it.

 

[Bartleby]

working from illegible scribbled notes.

that's what keyboards are for My writing was always at a fairly illegible standard but after 30 odd years working in the IT industry when hand written communication was barely used I struggle even to achieve that standard.

 

[sheffielder]

if anyone didn't notice before, WHF is off his tits.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

you really do need to be brought back to some kind of reality.

I reject this ongoing notion of exclusive access to reality that certain people possess and others don't.

You have an opinion. So do I.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

To say Sammon is ideal is ridiculous. The guy is an awful footballer who is destined for Scotland or non league (same thing).

Sammon was ideal at the start of the season.

"An awful footballer"? As posted elsewhere Trappatoni for instance had a different and far more positive opinion. So, obviously, did Adkins, and incidentally Clough - but the Kangaroo Court of the Internet has sat and verdict has been reached.

When he is playing well he is a very important player for us.

Most recently the Blackpool away highlights show this - he is involved in every attack of note, and in a variety of ways - and should have had a penalty by all accounts. His defensive work gets a look in too. He also started fairly well yesterday but then failed to collect a simple ball that was his bread and butter early in the season. A bad player? No. In poor form? Yes.

Right now he is Scapegoat of the Month and we're recycling all the old Jay McEveley debates.

McEveley seems to have come through that and the focus is elsewhere. Istm it is affecting Sammon much more.

His loss of form may be the most significant factor in our season.

 

[Rodders]

McEveley seems to have come through that and the focus is elsewhere. Istm it is affecting Sammon much more.

His loss of form may be the most significant factor in our season.

I'd say it'd be the loss and lack of replacement for Jamie Murphy myself but hey ho.

 

[carthesis]

Working the channels, bringing balls down on his chest and releasing the wide man, pressuring defenders and generally making a nuisance of himself.


Unfortunately, he is utterly crap at reading the flight of an aerial ball which means he gets nowhere near for most headers. I think he’s a better player than he’s currently showing and not so bad as to deserve the abuse he gets. He must be praying for McEveley and Collins to start dropping bollocks again just to take some of the abuse off him.


He’s still better than Porter or Higdon for me.

EXACTLY - word-for-word - what I was going to post. I was getting my tin-hat ready just in case though.

 

[Revolution]

I reject this ongoing notion of exclusive access to reality that certain people possess and others don't.

You have an opinion. So do I.

But some opinions are more valid than others. And when every other poster on the board questions your opinion on Sammon, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that your opinion of his abilities has no basis in reality.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

I think pretty much every manager is a yes man. How many come out with “I’ve had no backing from the board, I’m stuck with this shit squad but I’ll keep trying to polish this turd”?


A manager who is not a yes man, unless they prove themselves to be indispensable, is an unemployed manager.


Employees are answerable to those above them, not vice versa.

Not a direct response but as it's come up here...

I don't buy that the Board and the manager have to be in conflict.

Adkins was experienced enough to carry out due diligence and will be fully aware of his working conditions and the long term plan. It's evident in all his interviews: he has a detailed knowledge of all aspects of running a football club. He said at the start of the season we would be sixth or seventh (I think) in terms of what we can spend.

I am frustrated that I cannot sign players, does not mean I am frustrated that the Board won't let me sign players.

He sounded more frustrated, in fact he even said he was more frustrated, that long term targets had become unavailable.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

But it’s OK. We may have a squad of players lacking in pace and ability but we can take comfort that we didn’t do any “panic buying” or “cosmetic recruitment”

Do we want the current squad plus cosmetics and panic?

 

[1danewhitehouse]

Do we want the current squad plus cosmetics and panic?

No but I think these terms are used merely as tools to deflect from the club's failure to add a single player that could improve us from the current mid-table mediocrity we have. There are tonnes of players out there who would improve us within a realistic price range if the club were willing to push through the deals. We talk about only brining in quality and not quantity and only bringing in players good enough to go into the first team. We've been saying that since Warnock was in charge. More often than not, we fail to do it. By bringing in nobody, we ensure that we fail to do it.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

Not a direct response but as it's come up here...

I don't buy that the Board and the manager have to be in conflict.

Adkins was experienced enough to carry out due diligence and will be fully aware of his working conditions and the long term plan. It's evident in all his interviews: he has a detailed knowledge of all aspects of running a football club. He said at the start of the season we would be sixth or seventh (I think) in terms of what we can spend.

I am frustrated that I cannot sign players, does not mean I am frustrated that the Board won't let me sign players.

He sounded more frustrated, in fact he even said he was more frustrated, that long term targets had become unavailable.

There's one thing that makes me disagree with this and that's the number of times that Adkins has talked of staying in touch til January. He's lost or moved out Murphy, Alcock, McNulty, James Wallace, Higdon, Dimaio etc. yet the club hasn't managed to bring in one player to give him a chance of kicking this squad on. I suspect he is bitterly disappointed by that failure but has to do what he can with what he has left.

 

[Houston_Blade]

So 5 signings and he has got 1 right. An awful strike rate.

I don't think many managers in recent history (last 30 years) have done much better though have they? It was just that they would sign 15 players so the 3 that were decent actually made a difference to the cause, Adkins has only signed 5 and his 1 in Sharp can't drag us up the leagues himself.

I can remember a simpler time when we relied on newspaper speculation and Neil Warnock was in charge where there wasn't a day went by over the summer or in January when we weren't linked to someone obscure, many of whom he signed but he had the nucleus of a decent squad to make sure that these mistakes weren't as noticeable. We don't have the good players to carry the bad now so poor players stick out like a sore thumb amongst a squad of average players.

For every Rob Hulse there was a Tens Heuvels, Dries Bousatta, Benoit Croissant, Dave Carney & Lee Baxter. Might just be my memory though.

 

[BushBlade]

Not a direct response but as it's come up here...

I don't buy that the Board and the manager have to be in conflict.

Adkins was experienced enough to carry out due diligence and will be fully aware of his working conditions and the long term plan. It's evident in all his interviews: he has a detailed knowledge of all aspects of running a football club. He said at the start of the season we would be sixth or seventh (I think) in terms of what we can spend.

I am frustrated that I cannot sign players, does not mean I am frustrated that the Board won't let me sign players.

He sounded more frustrated, in fact he even said he was more frustrated, that long term targets had become unavailable.

Whatever due diligence Adkins carried out would have revealed that the board in its current form had backed the two previous managers almost without question. NC was able to bring in players in every one of his transfer windows.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

Whatever due diligence Adkins carried out would have revealed that the board in its current form had backed the two previous managers almost without question. NC was able to bring in players in every one of his transfer windows.

Too specific?

Due diligence would be a player budget. Complicating factors such as wages and transfers being basically inseparable.

Adkins has most recently been backed with Hammond who is not a transfer obviously but is almost certainly a big financial commitment.

Unless someone's really playing games it looks like they would have backed him with the mythical figure of Dan Burn. Though I'm beginning to doubt he really exists.

I like to think the board (who appointed him) and Adkins are committed to the long term, and the existential angst after Satdi is a wild overreaction.

At the moment we're beginning a clear out *and* attempting to maintain a challenge.

Best case scenario is play-offs now.

Worst case, more Division 3, in which case summer recruitment could be walking a rickety rope bridge over a deep and deadly canyon.

Third tier mediocrity Christmastime 2016 is the time to despair.

Right now a winnable game at Donny on Satdi is next up.

 

[Bladepicker]

William Henry Foulkes as has been said when listening to the interview two things stood out a mile for me.

When asked if we are pulling in the same direction he said something along the lines of 'we need to be'.
When asked if the players are hurting he at first evaded the question by saying that stuff stays in the dressing room, he then said something along the lines of 'they should be'.

These were massive red flags. When I looked on here I was glad to see others had picked up on this - especially the bit about players hurting as it would have been easy to answer 'yes' if that was the case - it's a positive thing. Speaking to others off here they also noticed this bit of the interview, people who have different opinions on our current state too.

Just curious as to why you would miss these things out of your summary given that they are at least very intriguing answers.