Micky Adams

[Coily]

But wins when we didn't "deserve to win" are just as much wins as any other and I think a period of 23 games is enough to judge how good a team really is - you can't be "lucky" for that length of time. You can also look at game we were unlucky not to win - the Boxing Day game v Hull when, at 2-2, there was only going to be one winner until Hull broke away from our corner and scored the winner in the 6th minute of injury time and the game at Leicester when a last minute equaliser deprived us of a win. There was also that fine permormance at Cardiff on the first day of the season when we came away with a 1-1 draw despite having 10 men for 70 minutes after Lowton was sent off - if he hadn't been we would have probably won that game.

The reality is that at the half way point we had shown we were a poor team , but with probably just enough to avoid relegation. Adams turned that team into relegation certs.

I take that on board, but my view is that contrary to us being lucky over 23 games, we were pretty lucky in 7 games. That we just happened to win. Most of the rest we were just shit in, with the occasional lack of fortune such as Hull at home.

Those wins skewed our statistics up to that point in my view, and had Speed stayed then I personally would have little confidence that our final position would have been better at all. I don't think Adams turned us into relegation certs, he was simply unable to stop the rot.

As an aside, I didn't view that Cardiff game as a fine performance, but more of a brave defensive performance against a wasteful home side.

 

[Darren]

I take that on board, but my view is that contrary to us being lucky over 23 games, we were pretty lucky in 7 games. That we just happened to win. Most of the rest we were just shit in, with the occasional lack of fortune such as Hull at home.

Those wins skewed our statistics up to that point in my view, and had Speed stayed then I personally would have little confidence that our final position would have been better at all. I don't think Adams turned us into relegation certs, he was simply unable to stop the rot.

As an aside, I didn't view that Cardiff game as a fine performance, but more of a brave defensive performance against a wasteful home side.

I do have trouble with this concept of not "deserving" to win. If you win you win. You don't get any more or les points based on desert. If a team was good enough to get 25 points from 23 games in the first half of the season, it seems to me much more likely that this is a measure is how good that team is and, other things being equal (like not appointing a crap manager) that sort of level will continue, rather than the team being the beneficiaries of amazing inexplicable luck which will equally inexplicably run out.

Don't get me wrong, we were shit in the first half of the season and were only narrowly above the relegation zone. However, with a decent manager we would have had a fighting chance of staying up. Under Adams we had no chance.

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

We can ponder what might have been forever and a day. It's all a matter of opinion or perception.

I maintain my opinion that we were in danger of going down anyway as we were rubbish. Adams tried to change a few things in an attempt to move us away from the relegation zone but instead we remained right in the thick of the battle. There's plenty of statistical evidence (as shown) to suggest he made us worse. Possibly true but numbers never take into account change in circumstances. For me it was more a case of being forced into some quick decisions that didn't work out. No time or resources to rectify it after that. We were shite before, we were shite when he arrived and we're probably not a lot better now.....albeit the current manager seems to have steadied things and got us playing with a bit more belief again.

 

[Rodley]

If we're seriously talking about booing Adams then I have to worry what the fuck has happened to Unitedites. Shameful.

 

[Pedro Verde]

I certainly wouldnt boo Adams but he was a significant factor in us being relegated. He lost the plot big time and had no idea how to turn our poor form around, he brought in woeful players and was certainly out of his depth.
If Speed had remained in charge (or even John Carver) I think we would have finished lower mid table.
At the end he was totally clueless and came accross as a defeated man similar to Adrian Heath.
I listened to an interview he has given in the last couple of days in which he says he would have got us promoted last season but wasnt given the chance. Fuckin dream on Micky

 

[diplomat]

Possibly the least funny bit of that entire relegation season was Blackwell announcing proudly that we'd signed him back for a full year with no release clause....

From memory it was Birch who was so proud of that clause following the Walker recall. Sadly we never thought of putting one in where we could send him back either.

 

[axel smeets]

I reckon John Carver had the respect of the players and could have kept us up. Equally Blackwell would have kept us up but it would have instigated a civil war amongst the supporters had he stayed beyond January.

 

[diplomat]

I won't boo Adams. Mainly because he means nothing to me. He tried but was seriously out of his depth.

He was given room to Manouvre that Wilson would love. We spunked loads of money on loan fees and wages (see readjustment of collins and doyle's contracts) and he failed horribly. In a way McCabe allowed the spend so should be congratulated. Unfortunately a few numpties were left to pick the players and sign off their contracts and we still suffer (along with a handful of Blackwell reign contracts that hamstrung us long after he left) I have a feeling that almost any other manager would have got us out of it.

I've referred to it before but I went to the fans forum to great Mickey and Europe's greatest striking coach. I went looking forward to some energy and humour and left thinking 'shit, we're fucked'.

 

[diplomat]

From memory it was Birch who was so proud of that clause following the Walker recall. Sadly we never thought of putting one in where we could send him back either.

And was it confirmed that we picked up the full £20k p/w for him? It wasn't worth making me laugh half a dozen times for outrageous shimmies that came off occasionally. Outrageous short termism if only 30% true. We'd already checked he wasn't good enough before agreeing that. (Sorry for wandering off topic but at time when we were offloading it pissed me off that it was to supplement a player that would have been a comedy bit part in Bassett's third division team)

 

[GAZBLADE]

If we don't beat Ralph's lot today, i'll eat my hat!!!
UTB
COYRWW

 

[GAZBLADE]

I'll get the cutlery ready!!!!

 

[Pinchy]

I'll get the cutlery ready!!!!

Have a takeaway instead!

 

[GAZBLADE]

Have a takeaway instead!

Gladly Pinchy old pal, gladly!!!
UTB
COYRWW

 

[United Aren't Back.]

Hope he gets a decent reception on Saturday ,he is a Blade and took on his dream job when probably he shouldnt ,which one of us wouldnt ?. He was greatly undermined by certain players who cared fuck all about Sheffield United and made him look a twat especially Ward and Yeates ,whos attitude and behaviour was disgusting .They and others were the cancer in the club and very few managers could have changed things.

Yes, and the club was rotten to the core on the playing front mostly.
Adams was just a muppet, remember the way he brought Bassett in "to answer the phones as it is a big club and very busy..too much for me".Muppet.

 

[United Aren't Back.]

Refusing to train ,even to attend training, feigning injury to skive in the treatment room ,total disregard for Adams. Obviously i wont reveal my source but they have no reason to tell untruths.

If that`s the case, why didn`t he kick them out, surely McCabe could have got rid of them?
Or is Micky as spineless as I think he is?

 

[Bladesman]

If that`s the case, why didn`t he kick them out, surely McCabe could have got rid of them?
Or is Micky as spineless as I think he is?

Seemed out of his depth after a while even although I didn't mind him being appointed. I am of the belief that if you change managers 3 times in one season then your will bloody lucky not to be relegated. McCabe started the fire by sacking Blackwell so early in the season and then expected Gary Speed (R.I.P) to pick up the pieces with no previous managerial experience.

 

[United Aren't Back.]

i never like having a dig at mccabe but he has an incredible knack for employing managers that nobody else in their right mind would even consider. its almost as if he deliberately chooses the candidates he knows everybody will disagree with. lets find someone that either the fans hate, has been a hopeless failure everywhere he's managed, is a drunk, is a moaning old git, or has no experience outside of sunday park leagues. preferably at least 2 or 3 of those qualities need to apply if possible.

on that basis our next manager will probably be one from trevor francis, steve evans, gordon strachan or bob carolgees.

Summed up perfectly, shows what a tit mccabe really is.

 

[United Aren't Back.]

My thoughts are such that I dont think he will get any kind of reception. Yes he is a Blade but so I am. I don;t get a round of applause when I ascend the steps to my seat!

He seems an affable kind of bloke and I am sure he did his best but he was appaling whilst our manager. Struggling to get all this we were unlucky, he was undermined by players etc. The truth is McCabe should probably have let Blackwell go after Burnley. He let him hang on another season of pretty poor football but still top half stuff and allowed him to fritter away daft money on loan after loan. The decision to keep him into the next season was even dafter but then unsure why he sacked him after 3 games. As others have said despite Blackwell's time having come (had come a while before as stated above) I doubt we would have gone down if he had stayed. We would have been poor and maybe bottom half but relegation? Doubt it.

Hard saying it now after what happened just over a year ago but Speed did not exactly help matters when he came in and probably tried to change too much ,too soon (style etc) and I felt was really struggling as the number one/manager and I actually think it was a step too soon and needed to manager in the lowe leagues first and have a proper apprenticeship. He may have been dismissed if he had not got the Wales job.

The Adams move I said at the time was a poor decision (I cried out for O' Driscoll and felt he would have come). He was on his way down the divisions and had been unsuccesful at his recent jobs despite some early success in his career. It did seem his methods were a little old fashioned. The press conference when he and Cork came in did not inspire me and it all seemed a bit pub Football in their comments.

The signings he made and the moves he made to get rid of any talent we had all marked him down for me as for whatever reason Britton, Bartley, Ward etc moved on and were replaced with utter dross (Bent, Mattock, Collins, Doyle etc). His actual record in results is one of the worst in any United managers of all time. We went from being in the verge of the relegation places to being relegated with games to spare and I recall the 3 straight defeats to Scunny, Preston and Palace (all in bottom 5) in one week as a pathetic United side basically looked like they did not care let alone show any ability. Don't get the point about Yeates and Ward? Adams has been around a long time and if he could not assert authority on players who allegedly did not train then he needed to discipline them and deal with them. Why would they suddenly not train/want to know with him but would with previous managers? If they did this their behaviour was appaling but the manager is paid to manage and to say he has no choice or was faced with little choice is wrong. It is up to him to manage.

Make no mistake it was dire under Adams. He failed badly and for him to say he could have got us back up if given a chance this week is laugable. Any manager would have been sacked for his record and his results that sent us into the third tier. Everything he did went wrong and it was on the whole hopeless. I won't applaud him nor will I boo him. He is just another figure in a long line of incompetents who this 'great' (thats a bit of a laugh!) football club have been forced to ensure. The fact he is a Blade maybe sees him get less criticism but make no mistake if he had not been a Blade many fans would have been hammered and booed to the hilt when he returned this week (imagine if Robson returned?).


The ultimate buck for all the mess from those couple of season rests with one man and our chairman in his heart of hearts must know that his decisions to hire (and sanction transfers etc) the likes of Robson (and Terry Robinson), keep Blackwell so long (did goood job to steady ship but would never have been needed if he not appointed Robson), hire Speed/Adams were major factors in where we are now. It was McCabe who appointed Adams (and went for the cheap option once again) when in my opinion there were quite a few better candidates at the time. Easy with hindsight I suppose.

Perfectly summed up and thanks for having the guts to say how poor and out of his depth..totally.. Speed was.

 

[United Aren't Back.]

I take that on board, but my view is that contrary to us being lucky over 23 games, we were pretty lucky in 7 games. That we just happened to win. Most of the rest we were just shit in, with the occasional lack of fortune such as Hull at home.

Those wins skewed our statistics up to that point in my view, and had Speed stayed then I personally would have little confidence that our final position would have been better at all. I don't think Adams turned us into relegation certs, he was simply unable to stop the rot.

As an aside, I didn't view that Cardiff game as a fine performance, but more of a brave defensive performance against a wasteful home side.

Speed would have relegated us too. Good points made.

 

[TAMUS]

On a side note who was Mickeys mate on the Vale bench [grey hair , blue jacket ] he looked to be one extra beat from a Heart attack , very annoyed and was conducting the Blades fans on , in singing only one Mickey Adams . However i do like Mickey Adams who just tried to install a bit of discipline into the club , after the party time under Speed/Carver . However old fashioned ways do not seam to work with todays molly cuddled young lads .

 

[alcoblade]

However i do like Mickey Adams who just tried to install a bit of discipline into the club , after the party time under Speed/Carver . However old fashioned ways do not seam to work with todays molly cuddled young lads .

That's where Adams went wrong. He tried the "I'd walk a million miles for this club so so should the players" line and it didn't work. Like it or not, Ward, and a few others, needed their arses tickling.

UTB

 

[Ollessendro]

How embarassing it is to hear that Blades fans were singing there's only one Micky Adams. A stain on the club, yet our apathetic, mediocrity accepting fans welcome him back with open arms. Adams and his pub team got exactly what they deserved. Sent back to that tiny stadium in a shithole with nowt. He does not deserve to be in the 3rd round of the FA cup. Adams and Vale are perfect for each other. A small, shit club with Robbie Williams as its most fmous fan. An absolute shithole of a place and a tiny, crappy stadium. Perfect for a limited, outdated pub manager. All the best Micky*.





* see you next season!?

 

[oldblade]

Our record before Adams arrived:

P23 W7 D4 L12 pts 25 ppg 1.09 - projected points over the season 50

Under Adams

P23 W4 D5 L14 pts 17 ppg 0.74 - projected points over season 34

In other words had we carried on with pre-Adams form we would have finished 19th and survived. Had we had the Adams' form all season we would have been bottom by 8 points. Seems a big difference to me.

That is the crucial bit.If we carried on our pre-Adams form until the end of the season we would have survived. However there was no guarantee that we would have carried on that form.

We were quite erratic, and it is one thing to be getting just over a point per game between the months of August and December, but quite another thing to maintain that when the pressure is on during the later months at the "business end" of the season and every result becomes vitally important. I think the jury is out on that one.

 

[oldblade]

Ollessendro: "How embarassing it is to hear that Blades fans were singing there's only one Micky Adams. A stain on the club, yet our apathetic, mediocrity accepting fans welcome him back with open arms. Adams and his pub team got exactly what they deserved. Sent back to that tiny stadium in a shithole with nowt. He does not deserve to be in the 3rd round of the FA cup. Adams and Vale are perfect for each other. A small, shit club with Robbie Williams as its most fmous fan. An absolute shithole of a place and a tiny, crappy stadium. Perfect for a limited, outdated pub manager. All the best Micky*."​

Much less embarrassing than showing yourself up as a totally uncouth yob lacking in any manners at all by booing him.

He tried and failed at United and was sacked. He admits himself that the results were not good enough. He is now at Port Vale again and doing a pretty decent job there. Get over it.

I wouldn't want him back at United as manager and do regard him as one of our poorer managers, but have no problem with him coming to Bramall Lane either as a supporter wanting to watch us or as the manager of another club and have no sympathy at all for anyone who wished to boo him.

 

[Northyorksblade]

How embarassing it is to hear that Blades fans were singing there's only one Micky Adams. A stain on the club, yet our apathetic, mediocrity accepting fans welcome him back with open arms. Adams and his pub team got exactly what they deserved. Sent back to that tiny stadium in a shithole with nowt. He does not deserve to be in the 3rd round of the FA cup. Adams and Vale are perfect for each other. A small, shit club with Robbie Williams as its most fmous fan. An absolute shithole of a place and a tiny, crappy stadium. Perfect for a limited, outdated pub manager. All the best Micky*.





* see you next season!?

No he wasn't welcomed back with open arms. That was only sung when we scored the second, in an ironic way. Your comments, as per, are completely over the top. You sound like a 'massive' fan, as though we should have walked it against the Port Vale minnows. They were almost in the third round and their support yesterday was fantastic.

 

[Ollessendro]

No he wasn't welcomed back with open arms. That was only sung when we scored the second, in an ironic way. Your comments, as per, are completely over the top. You sound like a 'massive' fan, as though we should have walked it against the Port Vale minnows. They were almost in the third round and their support yesterday was fantastic.

I have said my bit on Adams, so I will leave it that.

As for being like a MASSIVE fan. What rubbish. Port Vale's wage bill is approx 170k (http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.u...cial-figures/story-12480543-detail/story.html) compared to our wage bill of around 6 mill. Plus we were at home and that waspretty much our full strength team. Should I not expect us to have beat them? And convincingly at that??

 

[Northyorksblade]

I have said my bit on Adams, so I will leave it that.

As for being like a MASSIVE fan. What rubbish. Port Vale's wage bill is approx 170k (http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.u...cial-figures/story-12480543-detail/story.html) compared to our wage bill of around 6 mill. Plus we were at home and that waspretty much our full strength team. Should I not expect us to have beat them? And convincingly at that??

Yes we should, but no god given right. FA cup games throw up funny results and Vale were obviously up for it. As we know from performances this season, we SHOULD win every game based on our budget. Just doesn't happen.

 

[JohnDenver]

Like it or not, Ward, and a few others, needed their arses tickling.

Put me in the 'or not' category. They needed ticking with a fooking cricket bat.

 

[alcoblade]

Put me in the 'or not' category. They needed ticking with a fooking cricket bat.

Fair do's - but the team he inherited was too good to be relegated, ability wise. Like it, or not ( ), footballers are a pampered bunch. Adams tried to push the idea that the players should be delighted to be here or ship out. He stuck his heels in, didn't build harmony, and we were relegated.

UTB

 

[JohnDenver]

Port Vale's wage bill is approx 170k

That'd make them a semi-professional club. It's actually £1.3m, an increase of approximately £170k.