I got to say I was shocked at the news of NA departure. I thought he had got his act sorted to some extent, so the timing was a little surprising. I figured he should have been sacked after the WBA debacle, I admired how he got us playing decent football. However in defence we have been very poor with a bit of improvement shown lately.When we got promoted from the championship and NA had all that money to spend, he should have dealt with our central defence issues as it was quite obvious we were weak there.Too me that would be NA biggest failing if I was going to pick faults with him. I guess the bottom line is , if you got owners who are prepared to put in 30M to buy players then you need to get your finger out. When we were in the League 1 we had the biggest budget to all teams in that division. In the Championship aside from Leicester we had the biggest budget in that division, although this does not guarantee promotion it is a massive help. While I know the Fa Cup is not as important as survival in the League. It was a bit too much too lose 1-5 at home to anyone, if you have any ambition of going places this kind of result cannot happen. Another massive problem for me was our inability to hold on to a lead and the impossibility to keep a clean sheet. In a ideal world everything carry`s on as normal and nothing changes, well things have changed and hopefully the new manager will bring us to a new level.
I appreciate people`s loyalty to the manager, but this is more than just survival as NC is massively ambitious. Obviously it will be interesting to see how things pan out. If you look at how MP had Espanyol playing I think there could be positives out of this. Although he is being vilified at the present time, people have very short memories. Between ML and NC`s ability to see Southampton as something bigger than our normal greatness of mid table or relegation fodder. Since the journey started all his decisions have been positive in so much as the Saints have been on an upward projection in a very short period relatively speaking. So I personally back NC 100% in all his decisions, Appreciate Nigel Adkins for everything he has achieved for us, however life goes on. This is just another chapter in what could be a glorious time for us or perhaps as the majority seem to feel, NC is a demigod and we are up s h i t street.
Time will tell
COYRs