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"Adkins is the best manager we have had since Strachan"


Saint-Armstrong

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Agree or disagree?

 

Just a quick list for those of us who have lost track of our many managers since Strachan:

 

Steve Wigley (2 spells)

Paul Sturrock

Harry Redknapp

George Burley

John Gorman

Nigel Pearson

Jan Poortvliet

Alan Pardew

Dean Wilkins (Caretaker Manager)

Nigel Adkins

 

 

Personally for me, Adkins has brought positivity back and has really been a breath of fresh air inside the building. He's definitely got me on the boss, I think everyone in the club is pulling in the same direction, together as one striving to achieve the same common goal.

 

Team morale and morale amongst fans seems to be at its highest for a looonnnggg time.

 

What about you?

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to say that Adkins is the best manager since WGS is a bit silly looking at the list, probably 3 other names that would be in contention for that tag, but anyone who knows anything about football will know that its not as simple as that. If you were to ask if Adkins is the best 'fit' as a saints manager since WGS you would probably get a positive answer with maybe only nigel Pearson giving him a run for his money(given how short a time he had here)

 

his tenure has coincided with new owners(relatively), playing in a lower league allowing more success etc but all in all he gives the impression that he has a vision that fits with the current owners and the supporters and given time could go down as one of the best managers the club has had, all needs time and above all a little bit of luck.

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I would say he is the best manager since WGS but then most people will until we lose to Leeds on the opening day then he will need to be fired and is the worst man since Ian Brantford (but that won't happen as were going to beat leads (but just pointing out how fickle we all are))

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How do we define best? maybe we need a list of critera we can mark out of 10 or something. Some of those managers listed had much more difficult circumstances to work in than Nigel has had to cope with.

 

How would Nigel have done in the season we got relegated from the championship for example better or worse (well he couldn't of done worse). We'll never know what Pearson could have achieved if given time. APs time at the club was hardly a disaster IMO.

 

Nigels done a good job so far but I'm not quite ready to give him legend status yet. Oh and I give him 2/10 for interview technique I just can't stand his interveiws

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I would say he is the best manager since WGS but then most people will until we lose to Leeds on the opening day then he will need to be fired and is the worst man since Ian Brantford (but that won't happen as were going to beat leads (but just pointing out how fickle we all are))

 

Nigel will never be as bad as

Ian Brantford.

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He is certainly the best manager since Pardew. Time will tell but he has the potential to be the best manager since before WGS. In all honesty was WGS really that good, did a terrific job keeping us up and getting top half finish, and to Cup Final, but probably was running out of ideas at the time he left. But he was great fun, and quite honestly even if not the greatest manager he brought many smiles to the face and I look back on his time in charge in a very positive way. The only one on the list since WGS who has any real respect is Pearson, sadly he was not given time to demonstrate whether he could have been good.

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Agree or disagree?

 

Just a quick list for those of us who have lost track of our many managers since Strachan:

 

Steve Wigley (2 spells)

Paul Sturrock

Harry Redknapp

George Burley

John Gorman

Nigel Pearson

Jan Poortvliet

Alan Pardew

Dean Wilkins (Caretaker Manager)

Nigel Adkins

 

 

Personally for me, Adkins has brought positivity back and has really been a breath of fresh air inside the building. He's definitely got me on the boss, I think everyone in the club is pulling in the same direction, together as one striving to achieve the same common goal.

Team morale and morale amongst fans seems to be at its highest for a looonnnggg time.

What about you?

 

well to start with I think you missed out Mark Wotte, who took over after Voorfliet was shown the door by RL. in January 08 ?

 

I think Wise and Bassett held the reigns for a couple of games after Harry R left..? but before Burley was appointed but I wouldn't call them managers

 

However, I do object to the media blurb of counting anyone who takes over " as manager " whenever the actual guy has a bout of the flu' , or someone who sits in the managers office for a few weeks whilst the chairman runs around looking for the "real thing "

He becomes the fellow who picks the team, and is merely a " caretaker " (nothing more)..and certainly not ...THE manager.

 

Wigley held the fort on a couple of occasions but I think he wasn't "officially " manager - especially as he lacked the merit badges required for Prem managers at the time. Sturrock was "official" even though his stay was so short.

 

Likewise I think Gorman (and Dodd) were picking the team for a few weeks after Burley's sudden departure but were never going to get the post which eventually went to Pearson. (I thought he did a fair job - all things considered ) at least we survived.

 

One of RL major disasters was of course the Double Dutch fiasco. Wotte was apparantly offered the job 2 years before but dropped at the last minute, and then RL employed him AND put in Poorvliet above him. The fact that the two of them didn't get along didn't occur to RL at the time.

 

Likewise ; the very sudden dismissal of Pardew left a huge void that wasn't filled for 4-5 matches (we lost them all)..but Wilkins

(like Gray and Wigley before him ) ...is an excellent coach but not managerial material at this level, and never supposed he'd get the job either.

Edited by david in sweden
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Adkins but he did take over at a good time so he kind of had a head start over previous managers. We really did miss a trick when Strachan left, surely there were some decent managers out there interested in the job. Maybe Lowe put them off...

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Adkins but he did take over at a good time so he kind of had a head start over previous managers. We really did miss a trick when Strachan left, surely there were some decent managers out there interested in the job. Maybe Lowe put them off...

 

God help us if Dalek picks up on this thread............. :uhoh:

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The jury's still out. But definitely better than this shite:

 

Steve Wigley

Harry Redknapp

George Burley

John Gorman

Jan Poortvliet

Mark Wotte

Dean Wilkins

 

Pardew was excellent in the transfer market, and Sturrock and Pearson weren't around long enough to show how good (or bad) they could be.

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Fair points given above, but why do we need to compare him with past managers. Currently he has given us the first step to what we want, a return to the Premiership. Some may say he inherited a good team in a poor division, but how many England managers have we had since Alf Ramsey, with all the players at their disposal and not managed to achieve a thing. Just let him manage the club as he sees fit and see where we go. Looking foward to this season like i haven't in many a season.

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Jason Dodd and Dennis Wise should be added to the list too? Adkins has us organised better and has gotten the best out of the player at his disposal - something that can't be said for WGS or Pardew to a degree.

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I think thus far you can't really judge him. He did really well last year make no mistake about it but he came into a team with the players already there. All the ground work was already done.

His job where he will be judged started at the end of last season. Pardew built a dead club into a league one promotion chasing club.

Adkins has to now change that league one promotion chasing side into a promotion to the premier league side.

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Agree or disagree?

 

Just a quick list for those of us who have lost track of our many managers since Strachan:

 

Steve Wigley (2 spells)

Paul Sturrock

Harry Redknapp

George Burley

John Gorman

Nigel Pearson

Jan Poortvliet

Alan Pardew

Dean Wilkins (Caretaker Manager)

Nigel Adkins

 

 

Personally for me, Adkins has brought positivity back and has really been a breath of fresh air inside the building. He's definitely got me on the boss, I think everyone in the club is pulling in the same direction, together as one striving to achieve the same common goal.

 

Team morale and morale amongst fans seems to be at its highest for a looonnnggg time.

 

What about you?

 

You should get off the Boss he may not like it

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Adkins walked into a club that was extremely well set up for the campaign in league one.After being in such dissaray i might add,credit must go to his predesessor.

This season he will have to mould a side ready to compete in strong NPC.

Two different kettles of fish completely.

Here's hoping he achieves the same results this season as last,dependant on this,only then will i judge him 'great'/'best'

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Whilst I think Strachan was good during his short tenure here. I have a niggling feeling, that had he stayed things may have turned out for the worst, we got to the cup final via a relatively easy cup run, apart from Spurs, all the games on the way to the final were home draws against weeker opposition. We were starting to falter when he walked, and I think our slide would have continued had he stayed.

 

Having said that he is still the best manager we've had in a while based on his achievement, along with Hoddle possibly, who turned us into a good premier league side and probably provided Strachan with some of the foundation.

 

In respect of NA, no one can fault what he's done so far, if he continues in the same vein, he could prove tho be our best manager since Mcmenemy, alternatively he could be manager of Rochdale or someone like that this time next year.

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I'm surprised there isn't a larger defence here for Pardew.

I liked AP, I thought he was excellent for us

 

He had no pre-season and inherited a squad of players that was either old,slow,crap,or low on confidence

 

He persuaded Kelvin to ditch West Ham, as the future here was bright.

He turned Lallana and Schneiderlin from a underperforming weeds into arguably our best players.

He brought Lambert, Barnard, Connolly, Fonte, Harding, Jaidi, Hammond to Saints, he also noticed a very useful winger at Reading in Antonio that he secured on loan

He got the best out of a very unpredictable Papa Waigo, and also decided Chamberlain was ready at 17 for 1st team action

He even got the best out of Puncheon

 

Considering we started the season with -10 points with a terrible team and a depressed fanbase, to end that season with a good team, a Wembley win and 7th place (a play-off spot if we had our 10 points back) - He was currently better IMO

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This thread seems to be out of the "In George we Trust" box as its too easy to worship whoever is in the chair when the team is doing well, as it did when Burley made the Championship PlayOffs in 2006/07. Last season's team was largely Pardew's team, plus AOC and Chaplow. Adkins got them to play, but before he came the squad were already favourites for promotion. Not knocking him at all, but its a bit early for 'Sainthood'!

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I'd go along with the majority on here. Not a lot of competition, though Pardew did a very decent job. Adkins has the potential to be a legend here, but lets not get too carried away just yet. He inherited a decent NPC squad in L1, he did what he needed to do. The real test will come this year and next year, but he is a very likeable bloke.

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I'm surprised there isn't a larger defence here for Pardew.

I liked AP, I thought he was excellent for us

 

He had no pre-season and inherited a squad of players that was either old,slow,crap,or low on confidence

 

He persuaded Kelvin to ditch West Ham, as the future here was bright.

He turned Lallana and Schneiderlin from a underperforming weeds into arguably our best players.

He brought Lambert, Barnard, Connolly, Fonte, Harding, Jaidi, Hammond to Saints, he also noticed a very useful winger at Reading in Antonio that he secured on loan

He got the best out of a very unpredictable Papa Waigo, and also decided Chamberlain was ready at 17 for 1st team action

He even got the best out of Puncheon

 

Considering we started the season with -10 points with a terrible team and a depressed fanbase, to end that season with a good team, a Wembley win and 7th place (a play-off spot if we had our 10 points back) - He was currently better IMO

 

 

Agree with this. Adkins walked into an excellent squad high on confidence and belief, well assembled and drilled by Pardew. Adkins had to pull us over the line but he had an excellent hand dealt to him, far better than any previous Saints manager in recent history. Maybe Sturrock was as fortunate in his inheritence.

 

As it stands I put Pardew in front on Adkins because the rebuilding and the relative success was greater. Adkins needs to deliver in the Championship, far closer to our natural level, to exceed Pardew in the saints pecking order. There are plenty of managers successful in the third tier that never really break beyond that - Phil Parkinson, anyone? - so to talk about Adkins like he is god's gift is all a little bit premature in my opinion.

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Pardew is tainted for me because of the manner of his departure.

 

It seems to me like he was tapping Ashley and Llambias up for the manager's job up there while he was still here and Hughton was at Newcastle. He seemed to have zero interest in the job when he left. Some may say it was down to Cortese, but I reckon Pardew wanted the sack and pay-off because he had Newcastle lined up (they wouldn't have to pay us for getting him out of his contract either).

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Agree with this. Adkins walked into an excellent squad high on confidence and belief, well assembled and drilled by Pardew. Adkins had to pull us over the line but he had an excellent hand dealt to him, far better than any previous Saints manager in recent history. Maybe Sturrock was as fortunate in his inheritence.

 

As it stands I put Pardew in front on Adkins because the rebuilding and the relative success was greater. Adkins needs to deliver in the Championship, far closer to our natural level, to exceed Pardew in the saints pecking order. There are plenty of managers successful in the third tier that never really break beyond that - Phil Parkinson, anyone? - so to talk about Adkins like he is god's gift is all a little bit premature in my opinion.

 

Sums it up better than my post.

 

I am quite suprised how many have this opinion,it has been one that has been somewhat muted.

Edited by saint lard
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Sums it up better than my post.

 

I am quite suprised how many have this opinion,it has been one that has been somewhat muted.

 

I think a few have raised it before (though CBfrys post did it rather well) though in the past that opinion normally brings down a sh it storm of abuse .........

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What I like about our current manager is his upbeat attitude, clear focus and a desire for the players to be able to adapt to situations- a change from the hit long and hope brigade. The transfer policy, too, of getting in younger players who can progress together is also one I subscribe too. I get the impression that this is goig to be a fun season, and am desperately hoping for a winning start - what a pleasant change that would be!

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What I like about our current manager is his upbeat attitude' date=' clear focus and a desire for the players to be able to adapt to situations- a change from the hit long and hope brigade. The transfer policy, too, of getting in younger players who can progress together is also one I subscribe too. I get the impression that this is goig to be a fun season, and am desperately hoping for a winning start - what a pleasant change that would be!

 

I thinks that's more a club policy than the managers doing TBH. Having said that I fully agree with you hopefully the days of overpaid, over the hill stars using us as a last payday are now gone.

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Whilst I think Strachan was good during his short tenure here. I have a niggling feeling, that had he stayed things may have turned out for the worst, we got to the cup final via a relatively easy cup run, apart from Spurs, all the games on the way to the final were home draws against weeker opposition. We were starting to falter when he walked, and I think our slide would have continued had he stayed.

 

Having said that he is still the best manager we've had in a while based on his achievement, along with Hoddle possibly, who turned us into a good premier league side and probably provided Strachan with some of the foundation.

 

In respect of NA, no one can fault what he's done so far, if he continues in the same vein, he could prove tho be our best manager since Mcmenemy, alternatively he could be manager of Rochdale or someone like that this time next year.

 

Now there is someone who speaks sense. pity we did not re-appoint Hoddle in 2004, but of course the vocal minority got their way !

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