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Nigel Adkins......best manager we've had since Ted Bates?


Kaiser Soze

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Nigel Adkins......best manager we've had since Ted Bates?

 

- McMenemy had Saints win a FA Cup as a 2nd tier team and finish 2nd in the whole of England.

- Strachan had Saints runners up in the FA Cup and 8th in the Premier League.

 

Although Nigel is doing superbly, he still has to achieve something at a higher level before he can overtake those two. Consecutive promotions would certainly help his cause! :D

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- McMenemy had Saints win a FA Cup as a 2nd tier team and finish 2nd in the whole of England.

- Strachan had Saints runners up in the FA Cup and 8th in the Premier League.

 

Although Nigel is doing superbly, he still has to achieve something at a higher level before he can overtake those two. Consecutive promotions would certainly help his cause! :D

 

I think this is pretty much how the majority will answer to this thread.

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Depends what the criteria is really. "Most successful" manager, and he's not yet close and won't be until he emulates what Lawrie did for us in the old first division. But "best" is a little more subjective, and our progress under him so far has been pretty remarkable, so under that remit alone he'd definitely be quite high up there.

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Obviously too early to be called the best Manager since Ted bates. Adkins will do well to better what Mcmenemy achieved.

Do I think Adkins has it in him to become the best manager since Ted Bates, well thats the right question. Hes had a bloody good start, hasnt he.

I think hes great as did the S****horpe supporters before us. Hes got a great future and hopefully with us.

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idiots!

yeah like voting best band ever and Beatles come at number 15 with the latest Simon Cowell crud above them.

and for best film and The Hangover comes at No 1

And for best ever manager we vote for someone who has only been here a year and people call him the greatest.

I blame the internet for the instant generation.

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Nice thought, however Lawrie Mac was in a different class to our lovely Ted...Ted woulda been screwed without the abject talent that was Elvis Paine and one superb signing - Big Ron. We wouldn't have stayed up or gone up without Painer and we'd've been relegated outa sight by Christmas without the Welshman's near 40 goals, right. In later years the Wiltshire windmill kept us handing around for another year or two. With Mac we were contenders on several occassions.

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Nice thought, however Lawrie Mac was in a different class to our lovely Ted...Ted woulda been screwed without the abject talent that was Elvis Paine and one superb signing - Big Ron. We wouldn't have stayed up or gone up without Painer and we'd've been relegated outa sight by Christmas without the Welshman's near 40 goals, right. In later years the Wiltshire windmill kept us handing around for another year or two. With Mac we were contenders on several occassions.

 

What you say is true. However, I think that 60's football differed greatly from 70's football as the game was developing very quickly in those days. Personally, I would never compare the two, even though they shared one season in some kind of weird joint managerial role.

 

I see Ted's place in our history more as a lifetime achievement rather than just his managerial role. Lawrie was the more impressive manager. There is a special place for both of them in differing roles.

 

Back to the OP, I would love to see NA achieve a special place in our club's history. I really like the guy, and I believe he has the potential for greatness.

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best to judge at the end of his reign!

 

If he keeps improving us at this rate he will go down as a great, if it all goes wrong...!

 

If he left now he would already be up there for serious consideration as best since LMc.

 

Not been totally convinced with any manager since Nicholl other than Hoddle.

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Adkins is a modern manager for a modern time

 

He seems to have

GH tactical knowledge

WGS ability to deal with the media & get the players super fit

LM ability to sell the dream to his players ( the ones who want to be on bus)

AB man management to get the best out of players

 

Best most supportive chairman in Don Cortese

Greatest owner ever in St Markus

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Nice thought, however Lawrie Mac was in a different class to our lovely Ted...Ted woulda been screwed without the abject talent that was Elvis Paine and one superb signing - Big Ron. We wouldn't have stayed up or gone up without Painer and we'd've been relegated outa sight by Christmas without the Welshman's near 40 goals, right. In later years the Wiltshire windmill kept us handing around for another year or two. With Mac we were contenders on several occassions.

 

Remember Ted Bates took over when we were a middling Div 3 team with no great history (and never having played in the top flight) and by the time he handed over to Lawrie Macwe were an established Div 1 team. Nothing that followed was possible without his solid foundations. (Think Bournemouth for a comparison.)

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Remember Ted Bates took over when we were a middling Div 3 team with no great history (and never having played in the top flight) and by the time he handed over to Lawrie Macwe were an established Div 1 team. Nothing that followed was possible without his solid foundations. (Think Bournemouth for a comparison.)

 

Agreed. Ted Bates is #1 at the moment. It wasn't just about Paine and Davies. There was Sydenham, Reeves, Chivers, Channon, Webb. He had a knack of picking good Scottish goalkeepers (no, really!) and some great combatative midfielders.

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Obviously difficult to compare different managers due to them all working under different circumstances. For me Lawrie is my all time favourite but I am 46 and had no real experience of Ted Bates. I already know deep down that Adkins is the best manager we have had since Lawrie, but it feels a bit premature to say it out loud. Currently he is on a par with Strachan at the moment but will certainly overtake him this season based on achieving promotion to the Premier League. But then my memory of Strachan is tainted by him completely bottling it against Arse in the 2003 FA Cup Final.

 

Under Lawrie we were genuine competitors and ALL teams feared coming to the Dell and with the dominance of finance in the modern game it will be virtually impossible for the current Saints to ever reach that level. However, if NA & NC achieve all of their objectives and do it over a sustained period of time, then they will be the equivalent of TB & LM to a whole new generation of Saints fans and will create another legacy that future managers and chairmen will be measured against.

 

That in itself will be achievement enough.

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How do you judge a manager?

 

Is Alex Ferguson with his squad full of superstars a better manager than some bloke in League 2 trying to keep his club going on a shoestring?

 

Probably different qualities needed for each, but who's to say which is the better.

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How do you judge a manager?

 

Is Alex Ferguson with his squad full of superstars a better manager than some bloke in League 2 trying to keep his club going on a shoestring?

 

Probably different qualities needed for each, but who's to say which is the better.

 

Ferguson is the better manager, that's why he's been entrusted with a squad of superstars.

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]How do you judge a manager?[/b]

 

Is Alex Ferguson with his squad full of superstars a better manager than some bloke in League 2 trying to keep his club going on a shoestring?

 

Probably different qualities needed for each, but who's to say which is the better.

 

This is not a bad place to start...

 

 

shame there does not seem to be a "career" option!

 

Last years makes for good reading

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- McMenemy had Saints win a FA Cup as a 2nd tier team and finish 2nd in the whole of England.

- Strachan had Saints runners up in the FA Cup and 8th in the Premier League.

 

Although Nigel is doing superbly, he still has to achieve something at a higher level before he can overtake those two. Consecutive promotions would certainly help his cause! :D

 

True, but you have to remember that back in 76 we teh drop in quality between the top tier and teh second was no where near as great as it is today, nor were teh wages so different - meaning you could hang on to top tier quality in div 2... Strachan did about as well as anyone could given the quality we had available... it wa sIMHO one of those seasons that all clubs have now and again, where something just clicks... Bridge and Mazza on the left, Beatts 23 goals, Neimi simply sublime and Killer and Claus bonding so well and creating such a tight back 4 - had we had a settled midfield, and maybe been a little more adventurous in mid field, we could have gotten even higher... but as we saw the following season it was alot tougher to maintain , once key players such as Beatts and Bridge left + killers injury etc and Strachan 'retired for his hip op'....

 

So if Adkins gets us promoted playing this brand of modern, passing and exciting game, considering that with one or two exceptions teh individual quality is not as high as the sum of the parts, he will be up there in my opinion... whether we can establish in teh prem and progress to europe will IMHO depend more on what resources we have available than Adkind ability

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I've had a feeling from early on that Nigel is our new Lawrie Mac. The big man would approve of his style of play and the players seem to love playing for him. However lets not forget what Lawrie actually did. Forget about top 2 finish's, that's pretty much impossible these days, but just remember the talent Lawrie brought to the club and the youngsters he (along with others) devoloped. Nigel is playing football in a similar style, but we've yet to see if he can attract the talent and devolop a constant stream of young talent.

 

My gut feeling is that when he retires or leaves us, Nigel will be up there with Ted and Lawrie, but it's early days.Lets have 10 years of the Adkins diet, before he goes off to manage England.

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Indeed. Strachan is a bottler and got out just right.

 

You can judge a manager by his career at other clubs... adkins has succeded everywhere, strachan, hoddle, mcmenamy have not.

 

Not often i agree with you DUNE but i do here.

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I think we've had some really good managers over the years - Bates, MacMenemy, Nicholl, Ball, Hoddle and Strachan spring to mind but the comparison of Nigel to Sir Alex is almost unique.

 

Nicholl and Strachan had probably squeezed a much as they could from the squad within the financial limitations operating at the time. MacMenemy, Hoddle and Ball unfortunately always had one eye on their next next management move. Bates loved the club and would have sooner eaten his own tongue than move on to another club. Early days but I sense the same is true of Nigel. I can see no limits to what this club can achieve under the current regime and Nigel will have the financial backing that no other m anager has ever had before him. Liverpool might be a temptation were it to become available but that is not going to happen for a long time. Dalglish has made that his own in the same way Alex has with Moan Utd.

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You can judge a manager by his career at other clubs... adkins has succeded everywhere, strachan, hoddle, mcmenamy have not.

 

Not often i agree with you DUNE but i do here.

 

The fact i was agreeing with you may have been a factor here.

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Bit early for this but I get the feeling he is the one for the long term. He could potentially become a massive SFC legend. If we go up this year he will achieve that title anyway. But if he then takes us on a level, maybe to europe and/or a domestic trophy or 2, he will be up for a statue next to Ted.

 

And I fully believe he has the ability to take us there.

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I've had a feeling from early on that Nigel is our new Lawrie Mac. The big man would approve of his style of play and the players seem to love playing for him. However lets not forget what Lawrie actually did. Forget about top 2 finish's, that's pretty much impossible these days, but just remember the talent Lawrie brought to the club and the youngsters he (along with others) devoloped. Nigel is playing football in a similar style, but we've yet to see if he can attract the talent and devolop a constant stream of young talent.

 

My gut feeling is that when he retires or leaves us, Nigel will be up there with Ted and Lawrie, but it's early days.Lets have 10 years of the Adkins diet, before he goes off to manage England.

 

 

I agree with all that. It would be a shame if NA ever got the England job though. One of NA's stronger points is that he does NOT work with overpaid prima donna girly-boys.

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Bit early for this but I get the feeling he is the one for the long term. He could potentially become a massive SFC legend. If we go up this year he will achieve that title anyway. But if he then takes us on a level, maybe to europe and/or a domestic trophy or 2, he will be up for a statue next to Ted.

 

And I fully believe he has the ability to take us there.

 

I agree with all that too! I was thinking just yesterday that for the first time in years, I might like to see us get a good FA cup run together. ;)

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You can't compare NA with big Mac yet.......growing up seeing Keegan, Channon, Ball, Mills, Watson and a host of others was an absolute joy and pleasure and competing with the best in the land on equal terms was so exciting.

 

The game has changed so much since those days and the days of competing with the 'big guys' have, realistically, gone forever so it is impossible to compare the 2.

 

NA is doing an amazing job and has helped turned the club around....long may it continue.

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