Adkins Now and Then.

[chocco boxo]

How much have your thoughts changed about NA since his appointment.

 

Mine:

THEN~Thought he was a cheap option alas with potential who would struggle to get us promoted this season or next.

 

NOW~Pretty clued up Manager who will take us to the Premier League then go on and manage Man Utd.

[Deano6]

I think about Adkins now and then.

[saint lard]

He appears to have installed some positives in the sqaud which were previously missing,however peices of the jigsaw are still not in place,the style of play which is still below par for one.

We still can't play on par for much more than 45-60 mins,usually in the second half.

If promoted next season will be the acid test,as we will not be the big fish in a small pool,not unless he strenghtens substantially.....this is another area he is really yet to be tested....the transfer market.

He would have done well in getting us up,but that was really to be expected.

Well done NA,now the real work begins.

Again i will reitterate, his tenure and achievments at scunny should not and should've never be compared to SFC,something that many often do...continually,including himself banging on about what he did there.

Next season,if promoted,we will find out if we have discovered a gem in NA or another mediocre manager.

Edited 27 April, 2011 by saint lard

[doddisalegend]

TBH when he came I really didn't know much about him to form an opinion.

 

Nigel's done well (assuming we get promoted) but with the cavet that he has one of the largest and most expensive league one teams in history backed up by top class trainning and medical facilites. In other words I'm happy with the progress but to me getting out of this league should be the easy part next season will be when we really get to see what Nigel is about IMO.

[dune]

My view hasn't changed.

 

I liked what I saw at the start.

[ericofarabia]

Admit to be underwhelmed at his appointment at the time - but fair play to him he has got the team winning points and his use of subs er sorry impact players has been good on the whole (although early doors they weren't so hot I seem to remember)

 

The use of the diamond still frustrates me, although at least we now seem to have a few options of different tactics to change to i during a match. AP only ever seem to have a Plan A.

 

As alluded to in the thread - will he have the overall pulling power to attract big name players to the club if/when we are in The Championship? Will established players fall for being on the bus, being in the building and everything being as simple as that? Hopefully he will have the advantage of attracting players to a Championship club instead of a League 1 Club - something AP managed very well indeed.

 

He seems to have a good relationship with Cortese, who seems to have taken very much a back seat of late and let the manager and team be the centre of attention.

 

I was upset when AP left, stability hasn't been a byword for Southampton FC for a very long time and we seemed to be making good progress - fortunately the wheels didn't come off the bus and we are still heading in the right direction with Nige.

 

Good luck Nige - we're on the march with Nigel's army.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

He appears to have installed some positives in the sqaud which were previously missing,however peices of the jigsaw are still not in place,the style of play which is still below par for one.

We still can't play on par for much more than 45-60 mins,usually in the second half.

If promoted next season will be the acid test,as we will not be the big fish in a small pool,not unless he strenghtens substantially.....this is another area he is really yet to be tested....the transfer market.

He would have done well in getting us up,but that was really to be expected.

Well done NA,now the real work begins.

Again i will reitterate, his tenure and achievments at scunny should not and should've never be compared to SFC,something that many often do...continually,including himself banging on about what he did there.

Next season,if promoted,we will find out if we have discovered a gem in NA or another mediocre manager.

 

While this is obviously perfectly true you seemingly have failed to realise that we're no longer allowed to say it - this counts as "moaning" on here and senior members (vast post counts = wisdom) have declared that type of thing 'verboten'.

 

Behave yourself in future.

[doddisalegend]

while this is obviously perfectly true you seemingly have failed to realise that we're no longer allowed to say it - this counts as "moaning" on here and senior members (vast post counts = wisdom) have declared that type of thing 'verboten'.

 

Behave yourself in future.

 

lol

[trousers]

If we get promoted, I'd be interested in doing some research into the reasons why he led S c u n t h o r p e to relegation from the Championship.

 

i.e. Was it purely down to a lack of finances available to invest in the squad or were there other factors at play?

 

Some would say that the 'best' managers would be able to secure at least safety in the league above with a team that was good enough for promotion from the league below.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not pre-judging Nigel here, I actually think he'll be good manager in the higher leagues, but knowing more of the background behind his relegation season would be of interest.

[Appy]

Buzzing for when Charlie Wayman posts!

[saint lard]

If we get promoted, I'd be interested in doing some research into the reasons why he led S c u n t h o r p e to relegation from the Championship.

 

i.e. Was it purely down to a lack of finances available to invest in the squad or were there other factors at play?

 

Some would say that the 'best' managers would be able to secure at least safety in the league above with a team that was good enough for promotion from the league below.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not pre-judging Nigel here, I actually think he'll be good manager in the higher leagues, but knowing more of the background behind his relegation season would be of interest.

The trotting out of 'he got Scunny promoted' was constant,but the fact he got them relegated was often glossed over.

I too would be intrigued to know was it purely down to the lack of financial clout.

 

But let's be fair we have not even been promoted yet,so that question can wait a while.

I will just try and enjoy the moment.

[LGTL]

I liked his appointment from the start and obviously still do. Next season will be the making or breaking of him though, I just hope some numpties don't expect us to be top 2 from the off and start calling for his head if we are mid-table.

[doddisalegend]

I liked his appointment from the start and obviously still do. Next season will be the making or breaking of him though, I just hope some numpties don't expect us to be top 2 from the off and start calling for his head if we are mid-table.

 

Shouldn't do. It's a five year plan two in legaue one and two in the championship. While it might be nice to do a Norwich I'll be happy enough (assuming we don't feck the next couple of weeks up) with a season where we finish top half and build for automatic promotion the season after.

[Colinjb]

Have always considered him to be a shrewd appointment and so it has proven.

 

The only slight negative is that we haven't quite hit the same entertaining heights we did under Pardew this time last year (Many 4-1, 3-1 victories etc) but he has made us far more resilient and likely to grind a result out against teams that 'park the bus,' frankly, that'll do for me! I would ultimately rather have winning football then pretty football.... a mix of the two is a bonus!

[redkeith]

I think the first promotion was acheived with Beckford up front, on loan from Dirty Leeds. He went back to Leeds, so scunny goal threat went with him.

 

2nd promotion they had Hooper and Hayes, they stayed on for the first season,but left this season and Scunny went down again.

 

No opinion on NA until the next 3 rollercoaster rides are over .

[Dazza82]

I think the first promotion was acheived with Beckford up front, on loan from Dirty Leeds. He went back to Leeds, so scunny goal threat went with him.

 

2nd promotion they had Hooper and Hayes, they stayed on for the first season,but left this season and Scunny went down again.

 

No opinion on NA until the next 3 rollercoaster rides are over .

 

They are not down yet.

[St_Tel49]

While this is obviously perfectly true you seemingly have failed to realise that we're no longer allowed to say it - this counts as "moaning" on here and senior members (vast post counts = wisdom) have declared that type of thing 'verboten'.

 

Behave yourself in future.

 

Sarcasm does not become you CEC Actually I am, and always was, happy with NA's appointment but I agree with St Lard's observation. But then Saints are a team that we all watch closely week on week. If we were to do the same with the Brightons/ Huddersfields/ Posh would we see them on par for any larger a percentage of the match?

[dubai_phil]

NA was recruited to get us promoted from L1 THIS season.

 

He is 2 wins away from that.

 

I (luckily) declared myself Whelmed by his appointment and stick with that.

 

At 5pm on 2nd May hopefully his job description will change and his role will be to get us promoted from the NPC.

 

I'll worry about that new job from 5:15 on that day, because we have NO firm information on what our budget will be next season and NO firm information of who from the present squad will leave.

 

The ONLY thing that has mattered this year is getting promoted. So my thoughts are - nearly

[thefunkygibbons]

NA - A true professional IMHO

[Saint Billy]

NA was recruited to get us promoted from L1 THIS season.

 

He is 2 wins away from that.

 

I (luckily) declared myself Whelmed by his appointment and stick with that.

 

At 5pm on 2nd May hopefully his job description will change and his role will be to get us promoted from the NPC.

 

I'll worry about that new job from 5:15 on that day, because we have NO firm information on what our budget will be next season and NO firm information of who from the present squad will leave.

 

The ONLY thing that has mattered this year is getting promoted. So my thoughts are - nearly

 

Spot on!

[CWD]

Adkins has instilled a different type of 'winning mentality' this season. Pardew (quite rightly) kept banging on about this last season, and eventually he created a team full of flair and ingenuity that attacked from the off and tried to dominate teams from start to finish. Sometimes this worked (Walsall, Huddersfield, Norwich) and sometimes it didn't.

 

Under NA we have a team who believe they are better than their opposition and so are happy to calmly go about their business, stepping it up a gear when required. Again this has occasionally not worked, but I think the success to failure ratio is probably better than Pardew's method, and arguably more effective.

 

I try to steer clear of comparisons between our last two managers but I think here it illustrated my point better. I feel confident under NA that we'll always grind out a win when the chips are down.

[doddisalegend]

Adkins has instilled a different type of 'winning mentality' this season. Pardew (quite rightly) kept banging on about this last season, and eventually he created a team full of flair and ingenuity that attacked from the off and tried to dominate teams from start to finish. Sometimes this worked (Walsall, Huddersfield, Norwich) and sometimes it didn't.

 

Under NA we have a team who believe they are better than their opposition and so are happy to calmly go about their business, stepping it up a gear when required. Again this has occasionally not worked, but I think the success to failure ratio is probably better than Pardew's method, and arguably more effective.

 

I try to steer clear of comparisons between our last two managers but I think here it illustrated my point better. I feel confident under NA that we'll always grind out a win when the chips are down.

 

On another thread someone pointed out we've come from behind to win 7 times this season under Nigel. Last season we came from behind (in that the oppostion scored first) 8 times in all comps to go onto win, twice more we managed to come from behind to salvage a draw. This team was built by one manager and is now being taken up (80% sure) by another, fair play to both those managers for building the sort of team that has a winning mentality.

 

After Nigels first few games I said we'd be more defensive under Nigel than we were under AP. APs teams were far more attacking IMO which made for good entertaiment with the down side that we could concede sloppy goals (especially late on). The sledgehammer of a team that AP built is being slowly turned in something more subtle by Nigel the final results I await with interest.

[saints-cris]

Then - A guy who knows how to get out of this division with bare bones

 

Now - Almost done it with huge pressure on his shoulders. My hero if he does

[hypochondriac]

NA was recruited to get us promoted from L1 THIS season.

 

He is 2 wins away from that.

 

I (luckily) declared myself Whelmed by his appointment and stick with that.

 

At 5pm on 2nd May hopefully his job description will change and his role will be to get us promoted from the NPC.

 

I'll worry about that new job from 5:15 on that day, because we have NO firm information on what our budget will be next season and NO firm information of who from the present squad will leave.

 

The ONLY thing that has mattered this year is getting promoted. So my thoughts are - nearly

 

What a good post. If he gets us up well done to him for achieving what he was brought in to do. Next season is a different proposition entirely.

[Window Cleaner]

I think the first promotion was acheived with Beckford up front, on loan from Dirty Leeds. He went back to Leeds, so scunny goal threat went with him.

 

2nd promotion they had Hooper and Hayes, they stayed on for the first season,but left this season and Scunny went down again.

 

No opinion on NA until the next 3 rollercoaster rides are over .

 

 

Billy Sharp was Scùnthorpe's main striker in their first promotion season. Scored about 30 goals and then went to Doncaster.

[sfc1971]

How much have your thoughts changed about NA since his appointment.

 

Mine:

THEN~Thought he was a cheap option alas with potential who would struggle to get us promoted this season or next.

 

NOW~Pretty clued up Manager who will take us to the Premier League then go on and manage Man Utd.

Nige will never manage Manc U He`s a big time Liverpool fan.

[mikee]

I was hopeful when he joined and I remain so. What I do like is that Adkins clearly loves being at a proper football club with a decent fanbase, and he is not stubborn like Pardew was and is prepared to be flexible to get the right results.

 

When NA joined he immediately tried to get us playing out from the back - but also quickly realised we didn't have the players to play that type of game and so adapted the style of play to suit the players he had. As time has gone on we can see he is starting to implement a more fluid style of play where the front 4 in particular can be totally interchangeable both in positions and formations.

 

However i get the feeling that NA wants players who are more comfortable on the ball and I would expect to see a lot of changes next season assuming we get promoted this season. I would expect the nucleus of the team to be: Fonte; lallana; Lambert; Barnard; Guly; Scheiderlein; Dickson and Oxo will others positions under threat.

 

I also think that there was a conscious decision taken to wait until next season to improve the squad substantially - probably due to inflated fees following Oxo speculation - as it will be easier to get the right players with Championship football on offer.

 

Should be an interesting close season if we can win two more games.

[eelpie]

Compared to a dispirited Pardew at the beginning of this season NA is more proactive on the touchline and is a better communicator. He is more prepared to change players and systems during matches if things are not going to plan. The changing room and training ground atmosphere is better by all accounts (though he had to win players over to his way of thinking when he first arrived). His signings have been limited by budget restraints it seems but he has done well to mould together a team largely recruited by AP that is not so reliant on one main striker (Ricky) and his teams have seen more players get goals. Defensively we are tougher to break down than last year although there have been a few mistakes by individual players which have cost us points. And his big plus of course is to persuade AOC to stay here at least till the end of season.

Negative points are that the players are often slow to find their rhythm in early stages of matches, although they are more resilient in clawing back wins. Can this be improved for the last three matches? We'll know more come Saturday. Brentford are typical of teams that we should beat but don't.

 

I am impressed so far.

[NickG]

He is very positive, which as the club is doing well is contagious and creates a good team spirit.

 

I can't remember a time when players seem to be happy to bide their time on the bench as now, you can see the team spirit when subs celebrate goals and people like Bart are running on pitch at the end of games to celebrate.

 

Listening to players interviews they say how calm he is and has made them believe that they will get promoted and to keep focussed on each game.

 

He changes shape of the team several times during the game, reacting to opponents - and players seem to understand and work for him. I think he is the best matchday manager since Hoddle.

 

He beat Poyet with mind games - appreciate they won the league but since he has been here he has done as well/better than Brighton.

 

Last 36 games saints have 78 points, Brighton 77. Our goal difference over that period is the better as well.

 

He clearly got to Poyet and due to that gained a, hopefully, very significant win at their place.

 

 

I agree with what St Lard says about the style of play. However, we played some beautiful football under the dutch duo. Radio 5 were saying yesterday that despite people moaning that Man U not have great style this season they are probably one of the best Man U sides. Our team slows it down when needed. Mixes long ball with Lallana's step overs, Ox-C runs and Guly's back heels.

 

I had not heard of him prior to being linked here, however starting with the comments by those in the game through what I have seen and heard he looks and excellent appointment and hope he is here for years.

Edited 27 April, 2011 by NickG

[Toadhall Saint]

My view hasn't changed.

 

I liked what I saw at the start.

 

Same as that. An astute english manager thats well thought of in Management circles.

 

As to not playing for more than 45 - 60 mins - there are another 11 players on the field that are trying their level best to stop us playing.

[Wes Tender]

Compared to a dispirited Pardew at the beginning of this season NA is more proactive on the touchline and is a better communicator. He is more prepared to change players and systems during matches if things are not going to plan. The changing room and training ground atmosphere is better by all accounts (though he had to win players over to his way of thinking when he first arrived). His signings have been limited by budget restraints it seems but he has done well to mould together a team largely recruited by AP that is not so reliant on one main striker (Ricky) and his teams have seen more players get goals. Defensively we are tougher to break down than last year although there have been a few mistakes by individual players which have cost us points. And his big plus of course is to persuade AOC to stay here at least till the end of season.

Negative points are that the players are often slow to find their rhythm in early stages of matches, although they are more resilient in clawing back wins. Can this be improved for the last three matches? We'll know more come Saturday. Brentford are typical of teams that we should beat but don't.

 

I am impressed so far.

 

A good summary, which I agree with.

[Mustapha Fag]

When NA joined he immediately tried to get us playing out from the back - but also quickly realised we didn't have the players to play that type of game and so adapted the style of play to suit the players he had. As time has gone on we can see he is starting to implement a more fluid style of play where the front 4 in particular can be totally interchangeable both in positions and formations.

 

 

 

this has been the most important thing, seeing and recognising when things need to change, changing tactics a couple of times during a game to suit a situation or keep the opposition needing to change. As for moaning we dont play full on for 90 mins, do we want to finish tired and expose ourselves to late goals? I like the way we control games, keep a clean sheet and with the talent we have upfront we are likely to get at least one and win the game, the one frustration for me is 11 men defending corners, a few times we could have done with an outlet on halfway but need to hold the ball allowing the opposition time to get back

[Thedelldays]

was happy when he joined and think he is doing a great job

some of the play against hartlepool was very controlled, deliberate and nice.....very much liked it.. play from the back, get a team with 10 (or 9) behind the ball to come on to the ball and then one of the strikers drops deep to receive the ball to feet then immediately get it wide..

 

of course, being division 3 this will not happen week in week out...but the signs are there for some great football

[Brussels Saint]

I was underwhelmed initially at his appointment, but hopeful it was the right choice. On that basis, its "so far so good", however I agree with those that say next seasons perfomance is where we should really judge. Promotion (and god help us, lets hope we don't eff it up now) was the bare minimum with the resources at his disposal.

 

As some have mentioned the signs do look positive (ability to adapt during a game and his teams resolute mental toughness). Also I think we may actually find it easier next year than this.

[Rory]

Lose at Brentford and this thread, and posts of this ilk, will be scorned at.

 

I like Adkins, always have, and thought he spoke a lot of sense during various appearances on programmes while at S****horpe.

 

But we'll be on his back again in the next defeat, no question, and if we do get promoted but look a bit mediocre we'll be calling for him to leave. Guaranteed.

[The9]

How much have your thoughts changed about NA since his appointment.

 

Mine:

THEN~Thought he was a cheap option alas with potential who would struggle to get us promoted this season or next.

 

NOW~Pretty clued up Manager who will take us to the Premier League then go on and manage Man Utd.

 

For me

 

THEN was "why did we get rid of Pardew, this bloke seems like at best 3rd choice though he's done ok in this league before"

NOW is "I can see why he's done well in this league before - but what's going to happen next ? Oh, and he does talk some rubbish".

[doddisalegend]

Lose at Brentford and this thread, and posts of this ilk, will be scorned at.

 

I like Adkins, always have, and thought he spoke a lot of sense during various appearances on programmes while at S****horpe.

 

But we'll be on his back again in the next defeat, no question, and if we do get promoted but look a bit mediocre we'll be calling for him to leave. Guaranteed.

 

It's a well known fact managers are only as good as their last match..............

[shurlock]

Adkins has become more rather than less like Pardew.

 

Adkins instinctively believes in a more passing game than Pardew; and tried to get us zipping the ball around when he first joined but with mixed results. Given the set-up and players he inherited and the need to hit the ground running, NA realised that Rome could not rebuilt in a day. So in some respects, there are quite a few similarities/continuities with the past and pardew. No doubt this will change if we get promoted and NA has a proper warchest rather than having to rely on bits and pieces in the january/loan windown.

 

The change is more obvious in other areas: from the flexibility of his tactics to the inclusive feel he's generated around the squad and club, NA (and of course AC/RW) are a total break from the old regime.