Adkins Interview

[wizadry]

It's really easy to bemoan the fact that the owners won't fund yet more signings but you have to accept that it's their hard earned money they'd be pissing up the wall.

I said more or less exactly same when someone asked for the Prince to get his hand in his pocket on another thread.

 

[BushBlade]

We only have one scout? Yet we are losing money big time every year?

I'm not sure who the scouts are but surely a professional football club can't only have one?

I'm not saying all our money is being spent on scouts, that would be stupid, but other than players wages our money is going somewhere and it's not all on the academy either. We like giving good wages out so i see no different when our scouts are concerned as the club as a whole knew this needed improving after Cloughs' reign.

We have one permanent scout as far as I'm aware, Turnbull, and two permanent academy scouts. Obviously, they will have 'contacts' who will be paid for tip offs and might get 'expenses' for watching certain players or games.
Adkins has gone on record saying how poor our scouting set up is. We're more or less entirely reliant on whoever the manager is at the time.

Anyway, whether we have one or a hundred, they're just scouts, they don't sign the players; the board does.

 

[wizadry]

We have one permanent scout as far as I'm aware, Turnbull, and two permanent academy scouts. Obviously, they will have 'contacts' who will be paid for tip offs and might get 'expenses' for watching certain players or games.
Adkins has gone on record saying how poor our scouting set up is. We're more or less entirely reliant on whoever the manager is at the time.

Anyway, whether we have one or a hundred, they're just scouts, they don't sign the players; the board does.

Fair enough, mate. You certainly seem to know your stuff regarding this matter, all i can add is something needs sorting regarding our recruitment because overall i think it's been mediocre at best, which sort of sums our club up really.

 

[BushBlade]

Fair enough, mate. You certainly seem to know your stuff regarding this matter, all i can add is something needs sorting regarding our recruitment because overall i think it's been mediocre at best, which sort of sums our club up really.

It's been shocking and has been for a long time. Unfortunately it does seem to sum up how the club is run, and why we're in the third division.

 

[wizadry]

It's been shocking and has been for a long time. Unfortunately it does seem to sum up how the club is run, and why we're in the third division.

Yes, you're only as good as your players springs to mind. Whoever makes the decisions to bring the players in are the ones who should probably be judged. So that's anyones guess as i'm pretty sure Adkins didn't particulary want Sammon.

 

[BushBlade]

Yes, you're only as good as your players springs to mind. Whoever makes the decisions to bring the players in are the ones who should probably be judged. So that's anyones guess as i'm pretty sure Adkins didn't particulary want Sammon.

I've just written on another thread, how have we now got too many players when we allowed Clough to sign them all? It obviously wasn't too many at the time.
I suspect Sammon was on the cards while Clough was still here and the deal completed by Brannigan. NA probably didn't want to veto it early in his tenure because by doing so he would have snubbed Brannigan and could have created problems for the future.

 

[HoodedClaw]

I don't get all the frustration/anger about this. Adkins has said from the start that the squad isn't good enough to get promoted and that it's too big and we need to ship players out which is easier said than done. Why is it a surprise then that it may be the end of Jan before/if anything happens he's been warning us for months. Im currently preparing for nothing to happen given the huge task we have of getting any of our ridiculously overpaid players out.

We have one permanent scout as far as I'm aware, Turnbull, and two permanent academy scouts. Obviously, they will have 'contacts' who will be paid for tip offs and might get 'expenses' for watching certain players or games.
Adkins has gone on record saying how poor our scouting set up is. We're more or less entirely reliant on whoever the manager is at the time.

Anyway, whether we have one or a hundred, they're just scouts, they don't sign the players; the board does.

If the above is true, and I'm in no way doubting it Bush, then wow it certainly explains alot regarding the recruitment of players on their way down/ones that have worked with the manager previously.

 

[BushBlade]

I don't get all the frustration/anger about this. Adkins has said from the start that the squad isn't good enough to get promoted and that it's too big and we need to ship players out which is easier said than done. Why is it a surprise then that it may be the end of Jan before/if anything happens he's been warning us for months. Im currently preparing for nothing to happen given the huge task we have of getting any of our ridiculously overpaid players out.



If the above is true, and I'm in no way doubting it Bush, then wow it certainly explains alot regarding the recruitment of players on their way down/ones that have worked with the manager previously.

I'm kind of hoping someone will come on and contradict me with some facts. From memory (and probably a bit of hearsay) I think Blackwell, like Clough,used his brother, Speed, not sure, Adams seemed to use Bassett, Wilson had Billy Dearden, I think Weir just signed some kids he'd seen play and either FM or BladesMad and Cloughie nipped down the newsagent for a Daily Mail, a packet of mints and a cheap Scottish player every now and again.

 

[Hunkerby]

If anyone is interested a large part of the turnaround at Coventry has been the implementation of a professional scouting system.
This is something that was missing when Tony Mowbray arrived.
This is something that amazed him and was one of the first things that he rectified.

http://www.coventry.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=398822

 

[Esablade]

Adkins brought in Lee Turnbull back as Head of Recruitment and Scouting last June:

http://www.sufc.co.uk/news/article/sheffield-united-lee-turnbull-2508966.aspx

..and of course 'top' transfer 'negotiator' Mal Brannigan left recently...maybe it's being sorted?

 

[1danewhitehouse]

Hammond didn't come in until late October and it wouldn't surprise me if we're paying most of the wages for the players loaned out.

Anyone can see we have too many players.

I don't disagree that we have too many and I agree we need players out. The point is that if we could afford Burn and Hammond and have since signed Hammond, loaned out a few and about to make Alcock permanent, I can't see how we can now not afford Burn or the equivalent.

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

I don't disagree that we have too many and I agree we need players out. The point is that if we could afford Burn and Hammond and have since signed Hammond, loaned out a few and about to make Alcock permanent, I can't see how we can now not afford Burn or the equivalent.

I take your point re the apparent maths but I don't think anyone has said we can't afford it as such. Everyone knows we need to trim the squad, in an ideal world, before anyone else comes in giving us more room for movement and spending power.

 

[BushBlade]

I take your point re the apparent maths but I don't think anyone has said we can't afford it as such. Everyone knows we need to trim the squad, in an ideal world, before anyone else comes in giving us more room for movement and spending power.

I don't think we do need to trim the squad significantly. There are a couple we could lose, like Alcock, Higdon but realistically we're unlikely to ship out a large number until the end of the season. If our incomings are dependent on players leaving then we'll struggle to make the playoffs and if we do, we'll limp into them with key players missing, as we always do.
If the board are happy to write off this season that's up to them, it's their money but if so, don't put too much pressure on NA by saying we HAVE to go up this year.
If it is a priority we go up this season, treat it as such and spend sufficient money to make sure it happens.

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

If the board are happy to write off this season that's up to them, it's their money but if so, don't put too much pressure on NA by saying we HAVE to go up this year.
If it is a priority we go up this season, treat it as such and spend sufficient money to make sure it happens.

Nail on head I think. I am still confused about NA's 'keep in touch 'til January then kick on' comments which suggests he had a couple of major targets planned and this year was a priority (which lets face it it should be anyway). Maybe his assessment of the squad and results have changed things in which case we may just bumble through, if we make the play-offs see what happens, but the major re-build will be in the Summer.

We should still have been good enough with the squad he inherited and added to IMO but given we are where we are, I'm really not sure whether he's on a 1 year or 2 year remit. The next few weeks may give us a few clues but his latest interview suggested to me that we shouldn't bank on this season.

 

[BushBlade]

Nail on head I think. I am still confused about NA's 'keep in touch 'til January then kick on' comments which suggests he had a couple of major targets planned and this year was a priority (which lets face it it should be anyway). Maybe his assessment of the squad and results have changed things in which case we may just bumble through, if we make the play-offs see what happens, but the major re-build will be in the Summer.

We should still have been good enough with the squad he inherited and added to IMO but given we are where we are, I'm really not sure whether he's on a 1 year or 2 year remit. The next few weeks may give us a few clues but his latest interview suggested to me that we shouldn't bank on this season.

I'm not sure if the squad was good enough for the autos. We lost Doyle, Davies x2, Murphy and Holt and replaced them with Edgar, Sharp, Woolford, Hammond and Sammon. It's an upgrade but not a twenty point upgrade, which is what we needed.

I don't even feel convinced he knows exactly what his remit is, I'm not sure the board even know really, they just seem to make it up as they go.