Getting it wrong with Wilson, Weir and Clough could save Adkins

All advertisments are hidden for logged in members, why not log in/register?

This is an excellent thread and I think a lot of us are "pinching ourselves", wondering if what has happened this season has really happened.

On the face of it we have appointed a quality manager with four past promotions on his C.V. and one who took a club up two levels from L1, and another small club up from L1 twice.

On the face of it his five signings should be plenty good enough to take us close to automatic promotion, yet they look thoroughly dejected and lack confidence.

Watching the team last Sunday we saw the players get stuck in for the first time this season but everything else about the performance was really poor. The system had changed again, we had picked our biggest players just like a playground bully boy would choose all the big lads to play in his team. We defended at home as though we were playing against Arsenal. We were dead jammy but we were due a bit of luck.

On the face of it our manager has no idea who are his best players or what system to play. His early season statements about playing attacking football and promotion being "imperative" seem an age ago.

I will always maintain that it takes at least a year to judge a manager but is this really happening? The Shrewsbury home defeat was Adkins "nadir", I think he's started again since that night. Fingers crossed and good luck to the manager.

For Blades fans this is yet another "script" which beggars belief. The O.P. describes a sorry, pathetic period and the 4 years before then were if anything worse. "Phipps and Co" must wonder if it's really happening. Do Saudis believe in curses because we seem to have had annual crazy "scripts" on an annual basis ever since the Tevez travesty of justice. Blades fans can only take so much.

Adkins simply must know what he's doing, surely. Are our players a rag bag collection of individuals who don't care two hoots about their careers or the club? Do they "want out" and are they happy to rely on finding another club when United ditch them at the end of their contracts or even in January? It doesn't make sense if they do but we shouldn't turn up at a game in mid-December and see them show any aggression for the first time.
 

On the face of it his five signings should be plenty good enough to take us close to automatic promotion, yet they look thoroughly dejected and lack confidence.

On the face of what? They are all recent failures.

The idea that they are good players just because they come from higher divisions is the kind of nonsense that has got us into this mess.

They were people Adkins knows. We haven't done any scouting worthy of the name.
 
Harry Maguire played 11 times for Hull, Kevin Mcdonald 7 games this season for Wolves can't get in the team, Lee Morris, Wayne Quinn, Curtis Woodhouse, Jordan Slew, Mat Lowton on the bench for Burnley, Michael Tonge. 15 Million for that lot. I'm happy with that!!!!!

Are you happy how the managers invested the 15 million?

We accept we sell our best players , but they should try and acquire a decent replacement
 
This is an excellent thread and I think a lot of us are "pinching ourselves", wondering if what has happened this season has really happened.

On the face of it we have appointed a quality manager with four past promotions on his C.V. and one who took a club up two levels from L1, and another small club up from L1 twice.

On the face of it his five signings should be plenty good enough to take us close to automatic promotion, yet they look thoroughly dejected and lack confidence.

Watching the team last Sunday we saw the players get stuck in for the first time this season but everything else about the performance was really poor. The system had changed again, we had picked our biggest players just like a playground bully boy would choose all the big lads to play in his team. We defended at home as though we were playing against Arsenal. We were dead jammy but we were due a bit of luck.

On the face of it our manager has no idea who are his best players or what system to play. His early season statements about playing attacking football and promotion being "imperative" seem an age ago.

I will always maintain that it takes at least a year to judge a manager but is this really happening? The Shrewsbury home defeat was Adkins "nadir", I think he's started again since that night. Fingers crossed and good luck to the manager.

For Blades fans this is yet another "script" which beggars belief. The O.P. describes a sorry, pathetic period and the 4 years before then were if anything worse. "Phipps and Co" must wonder if it's really happening. Do Saudis believe in curses because we seem to have had annual crazy "scripts" on an annual basis ever since the Tevez travesty of justice. Blades fans can only take so much.

Adkins simply must know what he's doing, surely. Are our players a rag bag collection of individuals who don't care two hoots about their careers or the club? Do they "want out" and are they happy to rely on finding another club when United ditch them at the end of their contracts or even in January? It doesn't make sense if they do but we shouldn't turn up at a game in mid-December and see them show any aggression for the first time.
The Sheffield United story is a basket case, it's a story littered with underachievement, missed opportunities & rank piss poor decision making.

I am struggling to understand why the team is under performing it doesn't stack up, new management team + significant investment + early season optimism & high levels of feel good factor should have equalled top 2 performances - not so.

The manager hasn't impacted the level of performances, I note another post who cited Ferguson at Donny - if he can manage it why can't our manager?

There's something not right & the obvious solution to this lies with those entrusted with Stewardship.
 
I always het annoyed about the "Sheffield Unitrd are a selling club argument"

Every club apart from Real Madrid and Barcelona are selling clubs.

Any club that doesn't have unlimited funds runs their club as a business must consider all offers.

All players have a price and if another club offers a good bid then most clubs would accept that includes Sheff Utd and Man Utd,
 
I always het annoyed about the "Sheffield Unitrd are a selling club argument"

Every club apart from Real Madrid and Barcelona are selling clubs.

Any club that doesn't have unlimited funds runs their club as a business must consider all offers.

All players have a price and if another club offers a good bid then most clubs would accept that includes Sheff Utd and Man Utd,

That's fine if that's the approach the Club decides to take - the problem for is that year on year, we weaken the side. Year on year we've sold our best player, don't invest in subsequent quality - and every year we look further and further away from promotion. Correlation somewhere?
 
The Sheffield United story is a basket case, it's a story littered with underachievement, missed opportunities & rank piss poor decision making.

I am struggling to understand why the team is under performing it doesn't stack up, new management team + significant investment + early season optimism & high levels of feel good factor should have equalled top 2 performances - not so.

The manager hasn't impacted the level of performances, I note another post who cited Ferguson at Donny - if he can manage it why can't our manager?

There's something not right & the obvious solution to this lies with those entrusted with Stewardship.


I struggle to imagine how "those entrusted with Stewardship" stop Adkins and the players succeeding when they provide, in your words "significant investment". They appoint the manager and provide the investment. What more can they do? It's surely down to the manager who brought all his own men with him and has obviously chosen his (expensive) signings to date.

Anyway, it's early days as yet.
 
When we get to the point of feeling sympathy for Cloughie, and Danny Wilson, we should remember the quality of football we were forced to endure under these two was dreadful. We have to be honest, we could see Wilson was due to miss the cut for top two, and Cloughie from memory looked close to missing out on a play off spot at one point and we the fans were restless as usual.
True, hindsight would be a wonderful aid in football, but we are not blessed with such, but if we were would you really take either of these managers back?
 
Memories fade and bad managers become good ones sometimes.

Wilson had been a manager for many years and had a C.V. of one promotion and more relegations. He was a sensation at Barnsley as a young manager but failed badly everywhere else.


Which one of Barnsley and Hartlepool doesn't count as a promotion then?
 
I struggle to imagine how "those entrusted with Stewardship" stop Adkins and the players succeeding when they provide, in your words "significant investment". They appoint the manager and provide the investment. What more can they do? It's surely down to the manager who brought all his own men with him and has obviously chosen his (expensive) signings to date.

Anyway, it's early days as yet.
Perhaps there are certain situations & atmospheres which are not allowing the manager & players to produce?
 
I remember a really poor team with an inept manager heading towards the third tier. A new manager was appointed, having recently been sacked after a brief tenure at another club had ended in failure.
He changed things around, tried to sort it out but to no avail and the club were relegated.

Obviously he was shit, a yesterday's man only interested in signing his 'mates'. A southern chancer. Why the club stuck with such a loser I'll never know. Perhaps it was his four promotions on his CV or the fact the club where he had made his name went on to even further success, lifting the FA Cup.

Had he been around now, I doubt Harry Bassett would have had the chance to take the Blades back into the top tier.
 
Perhaps there are certain situations & atmospheres which are not allowing the manager & players to produce?


Like I say, I struggle to imagine those "certain situations and atmospheres".

The prince is never there, Phipps is there occasionally and McCabe lives outside the U.K.

There's hardly anybody interfering. We've had goodness knows how many M.D's, almost one a year for a decade, it can't be each and every one of them.

Isn't it down to the training ground, the dressing room and the football pitch? Maybe you are thinking of the terraces?

Are we cursed? Is it the "Tevez curse" delivered by lifetime Owl Richards through his accomplice Scudamore 8 years ago? How long do curses last?
 
I struggle to imagine how "those entrusted with Stewardship" stop Adkins and the players succeeding when they provide, in your words "significant investment". They appoint the manager and provide the investment. What more can they do? It's surely down to the manager who brought all his own men with him and has obviously chosen his (expensive) signings to date.

Anyway, it's early days as yet.
Transfer committee is one. Transfer policy. No one can provide the detail on why we appear badly run because we don't know the ins and outs of what happens behind the scenes at our club, or at others to provide a benchmark.
 
Like I say, I struggle to imagine those "certain situations and atmospheres".

The prince is never there, Phipps is there occasionally and McCabe lives outside the U.K.

There's hardly anybody interfering. We've had goodness knows how many M.D's, almost one a year for a decade, it can't be each and every one of them.

Isn't it down to the training ground, the dressing room and the football pitch? Maybe you are thinking of the terraces?

Are we cursed? Is it the "Tevez curse" delivered by lifetime Owl Richards through his accomplice Scudamore 8 years ago? How long do curses last?
There's an awful lot of assumptions in both mine & your comments - truth is we don't know the facts & we're guessing
 

On the face of what? They are all recent failures.

The idea that they are good players just because they come from higher divisions is the kind of nonsense that has got us into this mess.

They were people Adkins knows. We haven't done any scouting worthy of the name.
It's possible i suppose - and i'd have to give him the benefit of the doubt on this - that because he came in so late, didn't have much of a pre-season to prepare, couldn't get his targets worked up and the retain/release list had already been put through - that Adkins decided to go out and bring in his ex-players because he theoretically knows what they are capable of, how they play, and that they can deal with his system of management and football. The fact it hasn't worked out too well, with only Sharp looking like a reasonable ex-Adkins-boy to bring back, isn't necessarily his fault.

If he's given licence in the transfer window in Jan to have a clear-out, bring in some new players that fit his system more etc. then we'll be in a better position to judge in that respect.

I've got to agree with the "just because they come from higher divisions" comment though. Not many of the clubs that have gone up since we've been down here have followed that approach. They've either kept their Championship squad mostly intact and "bounced" in a single season (such as Wolves and Donny), or they've bought cherry-picked top players from this league and put together a squad that can get them up followed by a decent rebuild following promotion (Huddersfield, Charlton, The Filth). Both these approaches are then supplemented by targetted loans from Championship and Premier League teams in certain positions. We've not really followed either approach, instead going for ex-Championship players from mid-table sides that are towards the end of their careers, supplemented by whoever looks decent in the Scottish pub leagues.
 
I think basing your game around a prolific striker before losing him in the final straight (for rape) qualifies as unlucky, though I take your point about the other players.

The pigs had grasped what our new ethos followers had demanded that we dropped, physical presence (spit), hence were well tooled up to overtake us.

The following season, the Christmas sale of Blackman was such an obvious self destruct button, that only a clueless chairman would have pressed it. Enter Kevin McCabe.

UTB


Whilst promising we would finish January stronger than we started it.
 
Harry Maguire played 11 times for Hull, Kevin Mcdonald 7 games this season for Wolves can't get in the team, Lee Morris, Wayne Quinn, Curtis Woodhouse, Jordan Slew, Mat Lowton on the bench for Burnley, Michael Tonge. 15 Million for that lot. I'm happy with that!!!!!


I’m not cos I reckon if you add Maguire, McDonald, Blackman and Murphy to our squad now we would destroy this league. Better yet, if we’d not sold Blackman we might very well have gone up in 2013. If we’d not sold McDonald (hands tied I guess) we might have gone up in 2014 and if we’d not sold Maguire, we would have had a good chance of going up in 2015. If we’d not sold Murphy, we’d have a better chance of going up this year.
 
It's possible i suppose - and i'd have to give him the benefit of the doubt on this - that because he came in so late, didn't have much of a pre-season to prepare, couldn't get his targets worked up and the retain/release list had already been put through - that Adkins decided to go out and bring in his ex-players because he theoretically knows what they are capable of, how they play, and that they can deal with his system of management and football. The fact it hasn't worked out too well, with only Sharp looking like a reasonable ex-Adkins-boy to bring back, isn't necessarily his fault.

If he's given licence in the transfer window in Jan to have a clear-out, bring in some new players that fit his system more etc. then we'll be in a better position to judge in that respect.

I've got to agree with the "just because they come from higher divisions" comment though. Not many of the clubs that have gone up since we've been down here have followed that approach. They've either kept their Championship squad mostly intact and "bounced" in a single season (such as Wolves and Donny), or they've bought cherry-picked top players from this league and put together a squad that can get them up followed by a decent rebuild following promotion (Huddersfield, Charlton, The Filth). Both these approaches are then supplemented by targetted loans from Championship and Premier League teams in certain positions. We've not really followed either approach, instead going for ex-Championship players from mid-table sides that are towards the end of their careers, supplemented by whoever looks decent in the Scottish pub leagues.

Amen to that.

If a manager wants to get us out of this league, it will be by identifying the best young players in it and actually buying them.

It will not be by waiting until players are out of contract at the end of the season and sweeping up the crocks and also rans; it will not be by buying players that once played for you because you know them; it will not be by bringing in journeymen loans from the divisions above that can't get in their present teams because they aren't good enough.
 
Back in the summer all we needed was two centre backs, a replacement for Doyle and a goalscorer. That combined with a more positive approach should have been enough for a successful season. .


Adkins signed 1 CB (Edgar) brought one back into the fold (Collins) signed a replacement for Doyle (Hammond) and a goalscorer (Sharp). He also brought in a “target man” (Sammon) and also signed a winger to try to help cope with the pending loss of Murphy. Ok, he didn’t get all the business done as early as he and I’m sure we would have liked and it turns out whatever Woolford once had, he doesn’t anymore. He’s been unlucky with injuries too. I personally think Edgar, Hammond and Sharp all improve our first team and that Sammon has his uses. So I only make that one really bad signing (Woolford). I think he needs more pace and power either at CM or a winger and ideally a better CB than Collins to partner Edgar. Then, the squad would start to look decent. A few months of indifferent results don’t make a previously good manager a poor one. Manager’s need players who respond to their methods. Look how Bassett struggled at Watford because he couldn’t get the players to buy into what he wanted. Adkins might be having similar issues. Hopefully, the more of “his” players he brings in, the better we will be.
 
Also recall that Evans, as useful as he was most of the season, started it very poorly. For the first 10 or so games he was pretty useless as he had been in the Championship the year before, and it was only after Matty Phillips came in on loan (and then annoyingly went back never to be seen in a Blades short again) that Evans picked up his game and realised what he could do to defenders in this league.


To be fair he was injured. He scored on something like his 1st or 2nd game back against Scunny and caused them all sorts of problems. Then he tore the pigs a new one in that first half before we threw it away but was then inexplicably dropped in place of Billy Clarke.
 
But let's look at the '...could save Adkins' part of the thread. His appointment, like most things United, was an entirely reactive action by our board. Another manager goes and we're left scrambling about for anybody who may have had a degree of 'success' in the dim and distant past (Forgetting, of course, all the failures). Far from being 'the cream of the cream', Adkins was out of work when we got him - hardly indicative of a mad scramble for his services. I'm convinced that, post-Reading, Adkins had decided to hang up his managerial boots and live off the wealth he's no doubt accrued from a lifetime in football. When United called (no doubt with an extremely attractive package), it was too good to resist. BUT...he'd 'hung up his boots' and spent 6 months out of the game. This would have left him unaware of players available, the loss of contacts etc. In other words, he wasn't able to join United and hit the ground running, something we - halfway into the season - are still paying for.

After the Scunthorpe game on Saturday, we can write a 'half tem report' on Adkins. It won't make for good reading. His results and signings have been dire. The consensus is that only 3 - maybe 4 - players are worthy of a place. So what's been achieved in the last 6 months? (It is possible to make an impact. Look at Ferguson at Donnie.) Meanwhile, we're still being fed bull like 'still not sure of my best team'.



Can’t get on board with this view at all. No way was Adkins retired and living off his fortune. His big break didn’t come till he got the saints job about 5-6 years ago. Before that he’d been a low level player, a manager in the welsh league an then Scunny manager. He did well at Scunny so Southampton took a punt on him when they were at their lowest ebb. He then went on to achieve great things there before being very harshly let go to pave the way for a fantastic new manager. OK, it didn’t work out for him at Reading and he had been out of work about 4-5 months when we appointed him. Still had a very good CV overall despite a very unglamorous start. He has educated himself within the game obtaining two relevant degrees whilst playing and coaching and working his way up the ladder to earn a great reputation within the game.


I’d agree his first 6 months here have been disappointing. He has made some mistakes. He has gone for tried and tested players probably due to the pressure for instant success and it hasn’t really worked out though I’d argue all but Woolford offer something.

I keep saying it but look at Bassett at Watford. Sometimes, a manager joins a club and the players don’t buy into his methods. In that scenario, the club has 2 choices. Sack the manager or back him to turn over the squad to bring in players who will respond to his methods. We’ve done the former so often, I’d like to see us try the latter.
 
Some good points, dane. Bassett was a 'one-off' where our (and his) cards fell just right. Can't see it happening in the modern game though. I'll stick by what I said about everything being reactive and a panic measure by our board. Was Adkins let go 'very harshly'? Or did Saints board think he'd gone as far as he could at the club and their ambitions were higher? (Rather like Klopp at Liverpool or Stuart Gray at Wendy.). These instances were almost certainly the result of careful pre-planning. There's too much at stake for our continued knee-jerk sacking and appointment of managers.
 
I wish I could agree with that, but why does it feel like we are going backwards again

I think we're undergoing a significant transformation. It's like asking why tadpoles can't jump. :-)

This is based on everything I see coming out of the club, apart from the most obvious one: results.

Results are poor for various reasons, one of which I think - but tbf nobody else does - is finishing.

JTW housekeeping, a summer clearout and recruitment and I think we'll eventually go up next season at the latest.
 
With regard to previous managers

Wilson had run out of ideas in his second season I know the Blackman sale didnt help, he inherited a good squad for League One when he joined the club I was glad to see him go in the end
Hes also failed at Barnsley since his previous record wasnt great either

Weir what can be said about him I suppose it was worth a punt on a bright new managerial prospect but hes better off suited to being a No 2

Clough turned us round for which Im grateful but his football was for the majority of the time dull and uninspiring The Cup games were great but he could not reproduce that form in the League, was it the players, were his tactics better suited to a team being the underdog rather than the favourite who knows. I probably would have given him until this month if he agreed to try and play a more attacking game, not sign injured / over the hill players / midgets / ex Derby or Scottish players and address the CB problem the board meeting they had after the season decided his fate as he probably said my way or the highway or was Adkins availabilty a reason Clough went as McCabe said he always fancied Adkins

Thus we have Adkins as manager we cant get rid of another manager we must give him time to address the problems with the squad too big in numbers, lacking in pace and creativity and proper commanding CBs he has made mistakes in his recruitment so far lets hope he has learnt from them
 
Can’t get on board with this view at all. No way was Adkins retired and living off his fortune. His big break didn’t come till he got the saints job about 5-6 years ago. Before that he’d been a low level player, a manager in the welsh league an then Scunny manager. He did well at Scunny so Southampton took a punt on him when they were at their lowest ebb. He then went on to achieve great things there before being very harshly let go to pave the way for a fantastic new manager. OK, it didn’t work out for him at Reading and he had been out of work about 4-5 months when we appointed him. Still had a very good CV overall despite a very unglamorous start. He has educated himself within the game obtaining two relevant degrees whilst playing and coaching and working his way up the ladder to earn a great reputation within the game.


I’d agree his first 6 months here have been disappointing. He has made some mistakes. He has gone for tried and tested players probably due to the pressure for instant success and it hasn’t really worked out though I’d argue all but Woolford offer something.

I keep saying it but look at Bassett at Watford. Sometimes, a manager joins a club and the players don’t buy into his methods. In that scenario, the club has 2 choices. Sack the manager or back him to turn over the squad to bring in players who will respond to his methods. We’ve done the former so often, I’d like to see us try the latter.

Good post.

Woolford has been disappointing - and he knows it.

If I had to advocate for him I'd say he is positionally disciplined and so keeps us tight at the back. Not a surprise he started v Coventry.

Going forward he offers next to nothing and loses possession more than any player I can recall.

That said, his warm ups are outstanding. If he can't reproduce this in a match then I'd make DVD of his half-time changes of direction, flicks, and tricks, and sell him to a gullible (foreign) buyer for £15m.
 
I appreciate you taking the time to read my post twice as it took a bloody age to write!

As co- chairman, and the Prince's rep, Phipps certainly should have been involved in Clough's sacking and Adkins's appointment.

I also hope beyond hope that you're right about Adkins and whilst he wasn't my no1 choice as Clough's successor, I wasn't disappointed when he got the job. His cliched style is likely to polarise the dressing room and his success will probably depend on his ability to quickly assemble a squad in his image - in many respects the polar opposite of Clough's (which may explain the current malaise).

Very good opening post, lots of thought gone into that.

Just out of interest, as most of us were convinced Adkins would be a great appointment, and many of us thought he would not come to SUFC, who was your first choice to take over from Nigel Clough.

I do agree that sacking Wilson with six games left was like sacking Kevin Blackwell three games in.
 
“I expect Danny Wilson to be with us for a very long period of time”, said Kevin McCabe upon Wilson’s appointment in May 2011.


McCabe took a huge gamble in appointing Wilson, incurring the wrath of supporters in doing so. A combination of Wilson’s quietly assured and dignified demeanor, allied with positive performances and results meant most supporters were eventually won over.


Wilson inherited a relegated team but a squad, which nonetheless contained plenty of talent. He was given strong financial backing, initially by McCabe with a focus on gaining promotion back to the Championship at the first attempt. Jamie Ward was the only key player sacrificed from the Championship squad and his loss was compensated with some useful additions in the likes of Kevin McDonald, Jean-Francois Lescinel and Ryan Flynn.


The season started brightly and The Blades developed an aura of invincibility due in large part to Wilson’s ability to leverage the considerable attacking talent at his disposal in Messrs Lowton, Quinn, Williamson and Evans. 2012 had the smell and feel of a promotion season until Wilson and the Blades were dealt a mortal blow when Evans was sent down. In his absence, they failed to win any of their final three league games.


Following the customary play-off final defeat McCabe decided it was time to make serious cost savings and the squad that came within a whisker of winning promotion was butchered with Lowton, Quinn and Williamson amongst those moved on. Evans (29), Williamson (13) and Lowton (6) had accounted for 48 of The Blades’s 92 league goals in the previous season, while Quinn had the highest number of League One assists to his name.


With his attacking assets stripped, Wilson adopted a more cautious approach in his second season based on a strong defensive unit. The Blades proved difficult to beat, remaining unbeaten for the first 16 games of the 2012-13 campaign, until a 1-0 reverse at MK in mid-November, and topped the table at Christmas.


Whilst The Blades were a strong defensive unit - conceding only 36 goals in 41 league games prior to Wilson’s sacking - rebuilding his attacking capability was always likely to prove more challenging. The signing of Blackman looked inspired as he scored at just under a goal every two games and Shaun Miller had just found his stride prior to sustaining a cruciate injury. The Blades scored 39 goals in 28 games prior to Blackman’s sale at the end of the 2013 January transfer window and just 17 in 18 games following his departure. His replacement, Jamie Murphy, would ultimately prove an inspired signing by Wilson but he took time to adjust to the requirements of League One following his arrival from Scottish football.


Despite topping the table at Christmas, The Blades’s form in the second half of the season remained just short of that required to sustain a top two position and following Blackman’s exit goal scoring became even more of a problem.


In truth, some of the football played in Wilson’s second term was dull and uninspiring, particularly in the wake of the previous season’s exploits. That said, Wilson’s ability to reengineer his team and maintain a promotion challenge despite losing most of his key players, should be lauded.


McCabe, sacked Wilson 23 months into his reign, but was courteous enough to “thank Danny and Frank for all their endeavours and hard work over the past two seasons.” Except it wasn’t two full seasons because there were 4 games left and The Blades were sitting comfortably in the play off places, still within striking distance of the top two. This was a sacking caused not by fan revolt or a rational assessment of performance and prospects but by the owner’s desperation.


McCabe’s hoped for upturn in form never materialised and The Blades exited the Play-offs with a pitiful performance and defeat at Yeovil. The timing of Wilson’s sacking made little sense at the time and looks even more misguided with the benefit of hindsight.


The ignominy of another season in the third tier and its financial implications caused McCabe to blink and Wilson, with his 52% win record, was gone.


Two months later, after wowing the club’s hierarchy with his presentation skills and master plan for success, David Weir was appointed………. and promptly sacked after winning only one of his first 13 games in charge. Supporters and executives were united in the need to make this particular change.


Next up, after protracted negotiations, was Nigel Clough. In contrast with the furore surrounding Wilson’s appointment Clough was a popular choice amongst supporters and McCabe welcomed a manager with “an outstanding pedigree in the game……………who can provide stability, energy and confidence in the playing side.”


McCabe’s point about “stability” was pertinent given he’d appointed 8 managers (including 2 caretakers) in 5 post-Warnock years and sacked 7 of them (Gary Speed being released to take the Wales job).


Clough quickly affirmed the wisdom of his appointment, taking a revitalised Blades from the bottom 3 to the edge of the play offs and an FA Cup semi-final thrown in for good measure – all within a matter of 8 months. Prospects seemed set fair for a charge to promotion in 2015 until defensive lynchpin Maguire was sold to Hull just prior to the start of the new season. Clough’s failure to replace him played a huge role in wrecking any promotion hopes.


After a sticky start to the 2014-15 campaign, “stability”, was a point picked up again by the club’s hierarchy, in September 2014, when Jim Phipps described English football’s propensity for sacking managers as a “curse on the sport.” When asked what the consequences for Clough would be if the Blades failed to gain promotion, he said, “if we don’t go up (this season), I’ll probably be sat in California licking my wounds but, joking aside, Nigel’s place is secure. “ Indeed Phipps confirmed how he would be “tickled pink” if Clough stayed in situ at The Blades for 20 years and that The Blades had appointed a manager “with whom we can sleep at night!“


McCabe and Phipps were convinced that, in Clough, they had the right man to steer The Blades for the longer term and build a footballing dynasty from the Academy upwards. Phipps continued:

“We have transformed the culture of how we make decisions and how we run the football club; a lot more power to the manager and the front-office management, a more hands-off approach from the board.” Phipps’s new “hands off” approach clearly seemed to be working as planned when he confirmed: “There has been nothing to make me think we don’t have the right people aboard. We have a good long-term solution in hand.


Despite a sticky start to the 2014-15 season Phipps remained unperturbed, noting: “The record over the course of nearly a year since Nigel has been here is outstanding.


“All we need to do is give him the time and resources. My guess is we will be smiling and collecting a promotion cheque, then dealing with the next layer of investment.”


Fast-forward to May 2015 and the anticipated smiles had turned to grimaces after another Play-off defeat at the hands of Swindon Town. Clough was transformed from savior to scapegoat in a matter of 8 months as Phipps seemed intent on shifting the burden of blame away from his own doorstep: "… some of the current problems in the side (its size, for example) are byproducts of our trying as a board to be true to our approach, in circumstances where we allowed the Technical Board process to be thoroughly undermined by a gaffer who was not interested in the process; hence, some of the excesses (recruiting in quantity, signing injured players etc). We should have seen what was happening (the excesses anyway) and responded to them more quickly.”


This statement begs many questions of Phipps and the club’s board. In September 2014, almost a year into Clough’s reign, we were told: “There has been nothing to make me think we don’t have the right people aboard.” If we assume the “injured players” he refers to are James Wallace and Paul Coutts: Wallace was signed in June 2014, seemingly, as a cheaper alternative to Conor Coady. Coutts was signed in January 2015 and, despite his previous injury record, is still on course to make 30+ appearances within his first calendar year for The Blades.


Phipps also made reference to Clough signing too many players resulting in an excessive squad size. During his tenure, ins and outs, (excluding loan signings) were as follows:


Signed: Scougall, Harris, JCR, McNulty, Basham, Wallace J, Butler, Davies, Alcock, McGahey, Higdon, McEveley, Turner, Adams, Wallace K, Coutts, Brayford, Done (18)



Outs: King, Williams, McMahon, Barry, Brandy, Westlake, Hill, Miller, McGinty, Whitehouse, Johns, Hodder, Smith, Taylor, Maguire, Butler, Ironside, Porter, McGinn (19)



On the question of numbers it becomes clear that whilst Clough may not have resolved Phipps’s alleged problem of an inflated squad, it was not of his making and he was only at the club for 19 months.


It would also be hard to argue that Clough’s transfer dealings didn’t improve the quality of the squad he inherited. With the exception of Maguire, who Clough did not want to lose, there is a strong case that every like for like replacement was an improvement on the player shipped out (though Higdon v Porter is a close call!). That’s not to say all have been outstandingly successful, and a few have been very disappointing, but the idea, proffered by some, that Adkins inherited a load of deadwood from Clough does not bear close scrutiny.


Phipps and his board had been happy to provide Clough with the authority and headroom to run the football side with little interference. A year after his appointment, Phipps reiterated how he was delighted with the progress made and confident that, in Clough and his staff, The Blades had “a good long-term solution in hand.”


Clough was sacked a few months after this accolade and criticised by Phipps for his transfer dealings and lack of enthusiasm in the Technical Board “process.” Clough and the club’s supporters could be excused for being thoroughly confused by the conflicting messages emanating from Jim Phipps.


Shortly after Nigel Adkins’s appointment, Phipps said:


"In appointing a new football manager last summer, we specifically set out to find a gaffer who would help us re-establish a process that would prevent the repetition of the same mistakes. I am very happy with the progress we have made on this particular front and believe the fruits of the Technical Board process will show themselves over time, if we stick to the process.”


The “process” referred to – apparently aimed at preventing a repeat of Clough’s alleged but unsubstantiated failings in the transfer market – has thus far yielded: Martyn Woolford and Billy Sharp, plus the loan signings of Conor Sammon, David Edgar and Dean Hammond. Whilst I am not suggesting that all of these signings have been disastrous, they currently look very expensive for what they have delivered, and evidence to date suggests they have not been successful in improving the team.


Which brings the role of Phipps’s much vaunted Technical Board sharply into focus. What has it added to the process of player recruitment? Maybe Clough’s disdain was well founded. Without the “process”, Wilson signed Jamie Murphy and Clough signed Che Adams – players discovered from lower leagues at minimal cost and with resale potential running into millions. By contrast, Adkins’s signings are all players who can no longer cut it at a higher level but who doubtless arrive with Championship wage expectations.


On the issue of player fitness: Woolford arrived having missed a pre-season and Hammond badly lacking in match fitness. Edgar has managed to participate in just over 50% of league games since his arrival due to a recurring hamstring problem and the demands of international duties.


In November 2015 after a deeply disappointing start to the season, Phipps said: “You have to hold tight and have faith. Making constant changes is not how high performance organisations work.”


Phipps’s linkage between high performance organisations and avoiding constant change is generally true. Building success for the longer term requires the establishment of good organisational habits and the opportunity to learn from occasional failure – something which every regime, however successful, whether in sport or wider business, will experience if it stays around long enough.


The irony of Phipps’s words could not be greater given the Blades’s current plight and the club’s recent trigger-happy treatment of managers. Wilson’s sacking was neither demanded nor anticipated by most supporters – an apparently desperate roll of the dice from an increasingly hapless chairman. Similarly with Clough, who, despite some unfathomable blunders in his second season, retained the support of two thirds of the fan base to lead the team into 2015-16.


So onto Adkins, who would surely be under serious pressure, were it not for the Blades’s lamentable record in post-Warnock managerial selection and its failure to “hold tight and have faith” when things get tough.


Six months into Wilson’s and Clough’s role a pattern of play had been established which was yielding positive results. Promotion under both seemed likely. At a similar juncture under Adkins The Blades appear as a team devoid of pattern and confidence and results are poor. Supporter morale is at its lowest ebb since relegation in 2011.


Nigel Adkins arrived with impressive credentials for the task in hand and was a popular appointment amongst The Blades faithful. Despite his worrying start, he deserves the wholesome backing and support of the board to turn things around and achieve the objective of building a team capable of a serious promotion challenge. In the event that he moves his team onto an upwards trajectory he must then be allowed to make occasional mistakes and his team suffer lapses in form – a luxury afforded to neither Wilson nor Clough.


When asked if Adkins, who has a three-year contract, would still be manager next season, even if United remain in League One, Phipps answered: “That is the only logical conclusion. We’ve got to build stability.”


Maybe the club’s “logic” has changed and mistakes of the recent past have been evaluated. We should also consider the possibility that Phipps and co realise their credibility is on the line and they simply cannot afford another managerial failure having bungled the last three. The reckless appointment of Weir and sacking of Wilson and Clough may well prove to be Adkin’s salvation – at least in the short term.


Alex Ferguson always maintained that the most important person in a football club is the manager. I used to believe him but recent experience of our beloved Blades has changed my mind. The most important person in a football club is the person who appoints and removes the manager.


Kevin McCabe is a Blade to his core and has put more money into the club than every other owner combined in the club’s long history. He has also proved consistently inept in his decision making surrounding team management.


Jim Phipps appears to be a thoroughly decent, well-intentioned human being. He has dramatically improved channels of communication between the club and its support base and seems to genuinely care. I am pleased to have him as part of our club. However, he has no track record in making decisions regarding football management and his rhetoric and contradictions on the subject are verging on embarrassing.


The “stability” talked about, but not implemented, by McCabe and Phipps is desperately needed but it can only be achieved with the right people making good decision on and off the field.

Outstanding post, probably one of the best ever I've seen on this forum.

Stability is key - but only if there are signs of progress i.e. in league position, personnel, or if there is a core of incredibly talented youngsters about to come through. At the moment under Adkins I don't see any of those things. That's the worrying thing. Whilst I would love Adkins to be given at the very least two full seasons, maybe even 2 and a half, I just don't honestly see what he brings to the table.

Yeah he has a previous good track record, but since he got Southampton promoted to the Premier league in 2012, Adkins record across three divisions is:

P - 123 / W - 40 / D - 33 / L - 44
Win % - 32.5%
PTS Per game: 1.24 Pts

Bare in mind that at both Reading and at us he had clubs that were the big hitters in their respective divisions in terms of budget.

The above record doesn't look great and maybe indicates that Adkins is losing his touch in the game.

I hope he proves me wrong, and doesn't give Phipps and the board and excuse to pull the trigger again.
 

All advertisments are hidden for logged in members, why not log in/register?

All advertisments are hidden for logged in members, why not log in/register?

Back
Top Bottom