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His controlled football, retaining the ball and playing percentages, especially when holding a lead, would appear to be the way forward.

Frustrating at times ( eg 1-0 against the 10 men of Carlisle) but hopefully justifiable if we climb the leagues.

 

Remind me, how many more points is it for a 5-0 win over a 1-0 win?

 

I remember that game, exactly the sort of game we have been mugged in year in year out. If that's frustrating I'll take that every Saturday thank you.

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I honestly think he will be a Saints' legend ... if we can keep him!!

 

We'll keep him. He won't be going anywhere for a while.

 

If we go up, there is no club in the NPC that could tempt him away, the likes of a freshly relegated Wolves or Wigan really not that much of a step up if Cortese continues to invest.

 

In the unlikely event that a Premier League club comes calling, maybe he'd go, but really not that likely. He's not done anything above tier three as yet and he isn't high profile enough, even for a Bolton or a Blackburn.

 

He's ours for the forseeable.

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think that's because one or two posters are knobs?

 

Think NA is good at dealing with problems during a game better than anyone since Hoddle

 

That is something I can agree with. Still, some fans think the last seven years of agony was worth it just to stop Hoddle, one of our most successful managers coming back and keeping us in the premier league.

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That is something I can agree with. Still, some fans think the last seven years of agony was worth it just to stop Hoddle, one of our most successful managers coming back and keeping us in the premier league.

 

Well at least hoodle showed them.....what a success he was .....oh

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We're lucky to have hit the sweet spot; a young manager doing well with a large club in the lower leagues with a good financial footing.

I'm confident he'll build and grow as the club improves and that will be the key to our success, continuity will be so important and that's something many teams do not get the chance to achieve.

 

Circumstance has dealt us a bright future now lets get the frigging job done and get promoted FFS

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I don't think anyone would count me amongst the wrist-slitting masochists on here.

 

I wanted Adkins appointed, was pleased when he was appointed and have always believed we'd be promoted this season.

 

But.....

 

I'm not bowled over by a ratio of 2 points per game.

 

If you'd asked me at the start of the season how many points it was reasonable to expect us to get, I would have put it in the 90s. And I think 100 should probably have been the aspirational target. In other words, perhaps a little bit more than 2 points per game was a reasonable expectation.

 

For Adkins to have averaged 2 PPG is fine. It's reasonable. It's okay. It's satisfactory and acceptable. It's around about what you'd expect.

 

And, of course, it's not his fault that we got off to such a miserable start to the season (it's that ghastly start, not Adkins' record, that accounts for us still scrapping for promotion and the league title being virtually out of reach).

 

So, I'm not throwing my toys around. But neither am I punching the air about how bloody marvellous everything is under Adkins. I'd probably give him a 7/10 so far, maybe a 6.5/10 if I was feeling especially mean.

 

A slight - very slight - worry I have is that even on our current fantastic run of results (it's 7 wins, 1 draw from the last 8 games, right?), I don't think we've looked totally convincing in any recent match. To some degree, at the "business end" of the season, who cares? It's just about grinding out points now. I'll take dull, hard-worked 1-0 wins on a dodgy penalty decision rather than spectacular 4-4 draws, thanks very much.

 

But, there seems to me to be quite a lot of room for improvement still. And if (when, surely?) we are in the NPC next season, we will have to step up a gear or more to really compete.

 

I'm hopeful we could strengthen the squad and achieve that under Adkins, but I'm not sure we're on a Norwich or Leeds style trajectory just yet.

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think that's because one or two posters are knobs?

 

Think NA is good at dealing with problems during a game better than anyone since Hoddle

 

Careful, you might wake Dalek up.

 

That is something I can agree with. Still, some fans think the last seven years of agony was worth it just to stop Hoddle, one of our most successful managers coming back and keeping us in the premier league.

 

See, I warned you. :p

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A slight - very slight - worry I have is that even on our current fantastic run of results (it's 7 wins, 1 draw from the last 8 games, right?), I don't think we've looked totally convincing in any recent match.

 

I strongly suspect that if you watched Brighton week in week out you would probably make the same observation. Effective teams win even when not totally convincing.

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I think the disaster at Huddersfield was critical to this great run. In that game his `pass absolutely everything out short form the back no matter what' requirement was found to be a flawed plan with Huddersfield pressing high up the field and us not being quite god enough to pass through them. From then on he adapted that style, going long when we needed to, whilst trying to pass out from the back when we could. That slight adjustment has meant we mix it up (long and short) and that varied attacking style finds the weaknesses in all opponents, eventually.

 

I thought his signing was a good one before he joined and I'm glad to see it work it is working out. Hopefully he can see us over the finishing line.

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That is something I can agree with. Still, some fans think the last seven years of agony was worth it just to stop Hoddle, one of our most successful managers coming back and keeping us in the premier league.

 

Hoddle was the last time I felt that the 2nd half would show issues addressed, NA does seem to think about the game and try things - more so than likes of WGS.

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A slight - very slight - worry I have is that even on our current fantastic run of results (it's 7 wins, 1 draw from the last 8 games, right?), I don't think we've looked totally convincing in any recent match. To some degree, at the "business end" of the season, who cares? It's just about grinding out points now. I'll take dull, hard-worked 1-0 wins on a dodgy penalty decision rather than spectacular 4-4 draws, thanks very much.

.

.

 

This is exactly why I am impressed with Adkins. People like Fitzfella were moaning a month or two ago that we wouldn't keep pushing as we were grinding out wins without playing beautiful football. I am fed up with saints playing beautiful football and not grinding out results! He has built character and a team that knows what to do to win.

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If Adkins had had a pre-season here I think we'd be looking at 100 points, as we should given the expenditure here. The club nearly messed up this season, albeit partly Pardew's fault, but he could have been sacked last season.

 

Brilliant job by Adkins, but overall giving up our best chance of a title perhaps ever? Really disappointing.[/QUOTE]

 

 

It might be just me, but I really don`t give a stuff for the title. League One Champions, whilst it would be nice, is nothing in the whole scheme of things.

I want automatic promotion, so from that point of view the season is far from disappointing.

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I don't think anyone would count me amongst the wrist-slitting masochists on here.

 

I wanted Adkins appointed, was pleased when he was appointed and have always believed we'd be promoted this season.

 

But.....

 

I'm not bowled over by a ratio of 2 points per game.

 

If you'd asked me at the start of the season how many points it was reasonable to expect us to get, I would have put it in the 90s. And I think 100 should probably have been the aspirational target. In other words, perhaps a little bit more than 2 points per game was a reasonable expectation.

 

For Adkins to have averaged 2 PPG is fine. It's reasonable. It's okay. It's satisfactory and acceptable. It's around about what you'd expect.

 

And, of course, it's not his fault that we got off to such a miserable start to the season (it's that ghastly start, not Adkins' record, that accounts for us still scrapping for promotion and the league title being virtually out of reach).

 

So, I'm not throwing my toys around. But neither am I punching the air about how bloody marvellous everything is under Adkins. I'd probably give him a 7/10 so far, maybe a 6.5/10 if I was feeling especially mean.

 

A slight - very slight - worry I have is that even on our current fantastic run of results (it's 7 wins, 1 draw from the last 8 games, right?), I don't think we've looked totally convincing in any recent match. To some degree, at the "business end" of the season, who cares? It's just about grinding out points now. I'll take dull, hard-worked 1-0 wins on a dodgy penalty decision rather than spectacular 4-4 draws, thanks very much.

 

But, there seems to me to be quite a lot of room for improvement still. And if (when, surely?) we are in the NPC next season, we will have to step up a gear or more to really compete.

 

I'm hopeful we could strengthen the squad and achieve that under Adkins, but I'm not sure we're on a Norwich or Leeds style trajectory just yet.

 

We've achieved what we have [a strong position with 6 matches left at the moment and nothing more] despite some significant injuries AND a backlog of fixtures and that has to be taken into consideration. The use of Gobern in the last few weeks has been inspired, that ridiculous tackle at Bournemouth aside he's not cost us anything and given some of the worn-out midfield the chance of a rest.

 

Look at the last few matches alone for where the manager has made significant decisions to our benefit

 

* Ending Saturday with 4 centre backs across the back to counter Butterfield's problems and Orient's limited second half aerial attack.

* Not needing to play Lallana so he's more likely to be fit if we need him desperately, but having him on the bench just in case.

* Dickson's inspired performances on returning to the team in the last two matches v Charlton and at Orient at left back and left mid.

* Sticking with Jaidi despite the worries he couldn't play two games a week

* Leaving Chaplow out when he could, who has come back from that short shock already better than he was a few weeks ago

* Using Forte when he did and where he did against MK, to the tune of two goals

* No longer auto-subbing Barnard (who if nothing else proved on Sat he has the engine to run for the full 90)

* Gambling on Hammond not getting booked on Saturday, risking a 2 match ban

 

Everything he's done in the past 2 and a half games has worked out brilliantly for us and got us 9 points - at a time when we've lost starters Chamberlain, Lallana and Stephens from the midfield, and Harding and Richardson are both suffering niggles and have also missed matches, with Hammond walking a disciplinary tightrope and Chaplow WAY out of form.

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We'll keep him. He won't be going anywhere for a while.

 

If we go up, there is no club in the NPC that could tempt him away, the likes of a freshly relegated Wolves or Wigan really not that much of a step up if Cortese continues to invest.

 

In the unlikely event that a Premier League club comes calling, maybe he'd go, but really not that likely. He's not done anything above tier three as yet and he isn't high profile enough, even for a Bolton or a Blackburn.

 

He's ours for the forseeable.

 

Remember Brian Laws at Burnley...?

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Remember Brian Laws at Burnley...?

 

That had to be the one of the most unambitious managerial appointments in the PL ever.

 

As for Adkins I think he is an improvement on Pardew, and he could barely be doing a better job. We've had the odd slip up here and there but overall he is doing exactly what is expected of him and has got us into a very strong position. Our advantage over Huddersfield and Peterborough has been getting bigger and bigger as we've taken advantage of their slip ups.

 

I am very encouraged by his start here and I think it is an increasingly justifiable case of 'when' and not 'if' we go up, I genuinely think we'll be a force in the Championship next season.

 

I think one of our biggest problems this year is the players thinking that we're too good for this league and not putting a shift in. I think NA has banged a few heads together hence our recent run of form

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Sitting on the fence ... Adkins has shown he has potential... he is still learning as well and gaining experience. So all in all you cant criticise what he has achieved. Whether its enough to get us up and keep things on track we will see in teh next few weeks. Whetehr his abilty to learn rapidly and deliver results at teh speed which which teh club (and fans) seem to expect is another thing. I believe he has the potential to be a very good manager and one day manage in the prem if he gets his chance, he is not ready yet, but could be in the next 3 or 4 years. That will be the cruncher - I dont think he is ready yet to get us out of the Championship - so whether he can learn quickly enough to get out to fulfill teh next step of the 5 year plan is what is most open to question.

 

None of that should detract from what he has done this season so far and i for one think he has done enoght to deserve backing for a two year push to the prem... or can we do a Norwich and look at 2 promotions on teh trot... would that be too early? .... all fiun and games this speculation, but well done nige for this season... top results so far... just dont let the side do a McIlroy...

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Thanks for the stats - saved me a job as I was only thinking about NA vs Poyet over the weekend.

 

As Poyet is widely pronounced as the best manager since sliced bread (well at the eastern end of the A27 anyway) surely a return of 2.03 PPG is a great comparison to Poyets of 2.175 PPG so far this season.

 

They have spent money (on loanees wages if not permanent signings) as have we so that is also comparable but he has been in charge a lot longer and had a pre-season etc.

 

All in all as long as we get that 2nd spot then its a job well done and looking onwards and upwards to the EPL.

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... I believe he has the potential to be a very good manager and one day manage in the prem if he gets his chance' date=' he is not ready yet, but could be in the next 3 or 4 years. That will be the cruncher - I dont think he is ready yet to get us out of the Championship - so whether he can learn quickly enough to get out to fulfill teh next step of the 5 year plan is what is most open to question.[/quote']

Seems to me there are 2 over-riding skills required - to build a squad and then to motivate that squad to perform to the best of their ability.

 

I think the ability to motivate the squad is the same, whatever league you're in, and IMHO he's got that. Hopefully we'll get the chance to see whether he's got the ability to build a CCC promotion-challenging squad next season.

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This is exactly why I am impressed with Adkins. People like Fitzfella were moaning a month or two ago that we wouldn't keep pushing as we were grinding out wins without playing beautiful football. I am fed up with saints playing beautiful football and not grinding out results! He has built character and a team that knows what to do to win.

 

Well, can't speak for Fitz-whoever, but I think I stand by my point. Yes, I'd prefer at this stage to be grinding out results rather than playing flowery football and drawing.

 

But if I have a criticism - and it's a mildish one - it's that we're not rollig over our opponents. I wasn't at the Charlton game at SMS, so this may be an exception - but each win is looking and feeling like a bit of a struggle. That's okay. I don't believe we have a "right" to just roll up and win 6-0 every week. But my score for Adkins would be higher if we were bulldozing our way to wins rather than grinding our way to them.

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Sitting on the fence ... Adkins has shown he has potential... he is still learning as well and gaining experience. So all in all you cant criticise what he has achieved. Whether its enough to get us up and keep things on track we will see in teh next few weeks. Whetehr his abilty to learn rapidly and deliver results at teh speed which which teh club (and fans) seem to expect is another thing. I believe he has the potential to be a very good manager and one day manage in the prem if he gets his chance' date=' he is not ready yet, but could be in the next 3 or 4 years. That will be the cruncher - [b']I dont think he is ready yet to get us out of the Championship[/b] - so whether he can learn quickly enough to get out to fulfill teh next step of the 5 year plan is what is most open to question.

 

None of that should detract from what he has done this season so far and i for one think he has done enoght to deserve backing for a two year push to the prem... or can we do a Norwich and look at 2 promotions on teh trot... would that be too early? .... all fiun and games this speculation, but well done nige for this season... top results so far... just dont let the side do a McIlroy...

 

why don't you think he can get us out of CCC?

 

Interesting you then mention Norwich - who we hope to follow one year behind.

 

Norwich appointed Lambert with 1 year experience at league 1 level and none at CCC.

 

Is there any reason NA can't match him?

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A more realistic measurement of how we are doing is the 20 games we have played including beating Huddersfield on Dec 28th. We have taken 46 points @ 2.3 average per game which is a phenomenal 106 points if taken over the season.

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A more realistic measurement of how we are doing is the 20 games we have played including beating Huddersfield on Dec 28th. We have taken 46 points @ 2.3 average per game which is a phenomenal 106 points if taken over the season.

 

Why's that a more relaistic measurement? Why start on Dec 28th?

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Why's that a more relaistic measurement? Why start on Dec 28th?

 

Because Adkins had to get to grips with an underperforming team and add some players of his own choice. The transition period of mixed results was pretty much before Christmas which was also almost the halfway point of the season. The form has been consistent since then, mostly wins with the odd draw/defeat. Taking an average over the whole time Adkins has been manager is distorted by the poorer form/results of the initial period, 21 points from 14 games of which 8 were at home. In the last 20 games 9 at home 11 away.

Edited by derry
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Remember Brian Laws at Burnley...?

 

Yes, thank you.

 

My point wasn't that Premier League teams don't make uninspiring appointments - Blackburn's promotion of Keen is Wigley-tastic of course. And Laws was unemployed when Burnley took him on of course.

 

My point is that a Prem team approaching Adkins is incredibly unlikely, he hasn't achieved enough yet and he's not a famous ex-player and has no specific links to any big clubs like Coyle and Laws did.

 

And even if a Prem team came knocking, it is a decent bet that Adkins would stick with us in the interim. It's widely known that Nige turned down some other jobs while at Scunny.

 

In short - a Prem team is only going to be interested in Adkins if we are top two in the NPC. And if we are top two in the NPC then Nigel won't leave anyway.

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Because Adkins had to get to grips with an underperforming team and add some players of his own choice. The transition period of mixed results was pretty much before Christmas which was also almost the halfway point of the season. The form has been consistent since then, mostly wins with the odd draw/defeat. Taking an average over the whole time Adkins has been manager is distorted by the poorer form/results of the initial period, 21 points from 14 games of which 8 were at home. In the last 20 games 9 at home 11 away.

 

I think the problem is that you've basically decided to start your calculations with a "win". Dec 25th seems an arbitrary cut-off point to me.

 

You could just as well start measuring from the last eight games, when the team has properly "gelled" and note that we're averaging 2.75 points per game since then.

Edited by SaintBobby
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That is something I can agree with. Still, some fans think the last seven years of agony was worth it just to stop Hoddle, one of our most successful managers coming back and keeping us in the premier league.

 

:smug::smug::smug::smug::smug:

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Most pitches in this division are not up to standard to play beautiful football.Most teams in this division will put 11 players behind the ball when playing us and also it beomes there cup final in the same way we all used to get excited about playing United,Arsenal,Liverpool etc when we were in the Prem.

 

Under Adkins once we are in the Championship next season I fully expect us to play the passing game on better pitches and also where teams will not look at us as a scalp if they take a point or 3 points off of us.With the signing of Dale Stephens which I assume will become permanent Adkins has shown that he is looking to strenghthen the team will players that are comfortable on the ball and who are more than comfortable passing the ball.Most teams will not sit 11 players behind the ball when playing us next season and so more space will be left to be able to play the passing game.

 

Players like Ricki Lambert have deffinately improved their passing this season and I think the team must spend some serious time in training working on this.I fully expect that once promotion is certain we will finish the season in style playing a beautiful passing game.

Well, can't speak for Fitz-whoever, but I think I stand by my point. Yes, I'd prefer at this stage to be grinding out results rather than playing flowery football and drawing.

 

But if I have a criticism - and it's a mildish one - it's that we're not rollig over our opponents. I wasn't at the Charlton game at SMS, so this may be an exception - but each win is looking and feeling like a bit of a struggle. That's okay. I don't believe we have a "right" to just roll up and win 6-0 every week. But my score for Adkins would be higher if we were bulldozing our way to wins rather than grinding our way to them.

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Really want him to have a CCC season to find our feet even if we have a wobble. It's a real step up for this squad and he'll have some tough decisions to make and will have to get it wrong on occasion before getting things right.

 

Poyet on the other hand won't think twice about moving on believing that he will be leaving them in a good position, but they may struggle. As a 'celebrity' manager he will be top of a lot of clubs including fans shopping lists. He's not gonna get to the Prem WITH Brighton now is he?

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  • 4 weeks later...

FWIW I've just had a spare few mins so looked at the average PPG so far (and for Adkins included Franchise away) for Adkins, Poyet & Clark and then the best and worst result depending on the outcome of the games this weekend

 

For all the bleating down the road about the monkey faced one being the best manager in the division by a mile, they've walked this league blah, blah, blah it shows just how close all 3 are and if the initial 5 games went with the rest of season form we would have got an additional 6 points and been champions but regardless Adkins has (including 3pts at the weekend) bettered Poyet in PPG.

 

Adkins - Current 2.13 PPG, Best 2.24 PPG, Worst 2.07 PPG

Poyet - Current 2.09 PPG, Best 2.11 PPG, Worst 2.04 PPG

Clark - Current 1.91 PPG, Best 1.93 PPG, Worst 1.87 PPG

 

Anyway, anorak back in the cupboard.

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