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Is Nigel Adkins up to it ?


alpine_saint

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Lets get this out of the way...

 

The fixtures coming out today have at least in my case caused the scales to be shed from my eyes. We face some tough matches over the 8 months of the season.

 

We have an excellent young manager, who has delivered back-to-back promotions and now has a summer to prepare for the rigours of the season.

 

Does anyone have concerns about his ability ?

 

Me, I am watching ths space closely, but am not concerned at this stage. Lets see how the transfer activity and pre-season goes.

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I was goaded into starting this so I thought I'd bring the trolling by the people doing the goading to a swift conclusion, and also express my own confidence in his abilities to do the job.

 

anyone else not afraid to give their opinion and play the ball, not the man ?

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Thing is Alps, this kind of depends on your expectations - I believe Adkins has what it takes to be a top manager, but I have no idea of how quickly he can learn and get realise his full potential...which I believe he will achieve at some point. The question I guess is more, will saints fans (and NC) be willing to give him that time (which I believe we should no matter what happens)?

 

We know that NC is driven to making Saints the best they can be. This will not happen over night as we are not in the 100mil transfer budget bracket, so its about getting good raw young talent and coaching teh best out of them, which I believe Adkins can already and has proven he can do.

 

Tactically, its now a different ball game... do we continue to try and play our way, or have a park the bus plan where necessary? Personnaly, I am more for long term approach, but keep playing our style, even if it means the odd tonking.

 

 

The frst few games look tough, but I actually think we are playimng those top sides at the best time, before they get into their rhythm and whilst many of tehir international stars are still tournament weary?

 

Sometimes its simply just better to have someone at teh helm we can respect as a person and be proud off - which I believe we do in Adkins. Bring it on I say. We should enjoy it no matter what happens. Adkins will be a top 6 manager one day - if we have the patience it will be with Saints. (IMHO)

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Thing is Alps, this kind of depends on your expectations - I believe Adkins has what it takes to be a top manager, but I have no idea of how quickly he can learn and get realise his full potential...which I believe he will achieve at some point. The question I guess is more, will saints fans (and NC) be willing to give him that time (which I believe we should no matter what happens)?

 

We know that NC is driven to making Saints the best they can be. This will not happen over night as we are not in the 100mil transfer budget bracket, so its about getting good raw young talent and coaching teh best out of them, which I believe Adkins can already and has proven he can do.

 

Tactically, its now a different ball game... do we continue to try and play our way, or have a park the bus plan where necessary? Personnaly, I am more for long term approach, but keep playing our style, even if it means the odd tonking.

 

 

The frst few games look tough, but I actually think we are playimng those top sides at the best time, before they get into their rhythm and whilst many of tehir international stars are still tournament weary?

 

Sometimes its simply just better to have someone at teh helm we can respect as a person and be proud off - which I believe we do in Adkins. Bring it on I say. We should enjoy it no matter what happens. Adkins will be a top 6 manager one day - if we have the patience it will be with Saints. (IMHO)

 

All good Frank, agree completely.

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Lets get this out of the way...

 

The fixtures coming out today have at least in my case caused the scales to be shed from my eyes. We face some tough matches over the 8 months of the season.

 

We have an excellent young manager, who has delivered back-to-back promotions and now has a summer to prepare for the rigours of the season.

 

Does anyone have concerns about his ability ?

 

Me, I am watching ths space closely, but am not concerned at this stage. Lets see how the transfer activity and pre-season goes.

 

After reading your post carefully, I still fail to see the point of it. We have had loads of opinons etc. on NA, however it seems quite clear that 99.9% of the fan base are absolulety 100% behind him, so i really struggle to understand your question.

 

Its like asking if a blow job is better than a wan k.

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I was goaded into starting this so I thought I'd bring the trolling by the people doing the goading to a swift conclusion, and also express my own confidence in his abilities to do the job.

 

anyone else not afraid to give their opinion and play the ball, not the man ?

 

No you weren't, you chose to start it by deciding to be the person who took it upon themselves to reply to a throwaway comment asking who would be the first to start an "Is Adkins up to it?" thread on seeing the fixtures. Don't try and make out there was any kind of personal element to it, you chose to be that person.

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No you weren't, you chose to start it by deciding to be the person who took it upon themselves to reply to a throwaway comment asking who would be the first to start an "Is Adkins up to it?" thread on seeing the fixtures. Don't try and make out there was any kind of personal element to it, you chose to be that person.

 

I was goaded into it because I was named to be the person. Didnt want to disappoint anyone...

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No you weren't, you chose to start it by deciding to be the person who took it upon themselves to reply to a throwaway comment asking who would be the first to start an "Is Adkins up to it?" thread on seeing the fixtures. Don't try and make out there was any kind of personal element to it, you chose to be that person.

 

just read that thread too, if that was goading then please dont carry a gun

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Funny though isn't it, we've known who we'd be playing, but the order being announced brings about such threads.

 

Highlights the fact that many don't appreciate it's a 38 game season and judging it on any other number of games is futile. So many pundits wrote off Wigan every month, and sweeping statements get made about every other team, positive and negative, each month.

 

Swansea lost 4-0 at Man City opening match last season. Bolton won 4-0, as did Blackpool the year before, both away. People who make grand assumptions based on the opening games never seem to learn.

 

Hmm, I suggest you have a word with NC about that if (and I repeat, IF) we are bottom and adrift at Xmas and he has the hard work of the last 3 years to protect...

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The OP started a thread on a subject that he/she him/herself is not overly concerned about.

 

Slightly odd behavior. Obviously has far too much time on his/her hands.

 

What I suppose is even worse is that I have replied to a thread on a subject that the OP is not concerned about and I don't care about.

 

As you can probably tell I am not too busy at work today. I've even tweeted paddy power to ask what odds Saints are top of the Prem after 4 games.

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I think the big test for NA starts before a ball has been kicked in anger, namely what sort of side he can put together and will it be strong enough to cope with the prem.

 

But imo he deserves some loyalty from the club for a few good years considering how he has turned things round, NC just needs to give him the tools so he can do the job the best he can and the way things are looking NC is doing that.

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Lets get this out of the way...

 

The fixtures coming out today have at least in my case caused the scales to be shed from my eyes. We face some tough matches over the 8 months of the season.

 

We have an excellent young manager, who has delivered back-to-back promotions and now has a summer to prepare for the rigours of the season.

 

 

 

Does anyone have concerns about his ability ?

 

Me, I am watching ths space closely, but am not concerned at this stage. Lets see how the transfer activity and pre-season goes.

 

Christ that must have been some shock - I know it was for me! Man City, Man Utd, Arsenal etc. etc. - if only we'd known we could have prepared differently. I was so sure we would be facing Grimsby, Carlsile and Bury! This demands a rethink - Adkins OUT!

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I'm less worried about whether Nigel Adkins is up to and more shocked and horrified that we've only signed one person so far, and we're already into late June. Its typical of this club that we don't have all of our signings wrapped up by July, like every single other club out there. Adkins is setting himself up for failure with that type of lazy, carefree approach.

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Personally I think NA is quite capable of building a team / managing a team that is good enough to stay Up / Finish Mid table / Finish Top 4. The question is whill he have the funds (transfer fees and wages) available to to turn a largely championship squad into a a team / squad capable of achieving those 3 options.

 

So in summary I am 100% confident that he is the man for the job but at this point I am unable to comment on whether he is capable of achieving success beyond keeping us up.

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I'm less worried about whether Nigel Adkins is up to and more shocked and horrified that we've only signed one person so far, and we're already into late June. Its typical of this club that we don't have all of our signings wrapped up by July, like every single other club out there. Adkins is setting himself up for failure with that type of lazy, carefree approach.

 

Not bad, not bad at all. You've got the content right and almost the style. A bit of personal abuse balanced by victim bleatings and you're there!

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As it stands, we'll give our all, but we'll come up short against the top 6-8 teams in this league.

 

The real matches are those against the teams around us (wigan/wba/reading/stoke) - those are the games that will decide how we do next year, so don't read anything into the Man Utd/Arsenal or Man City games.

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I have no doubt that Adkins is up to it. His CV is clear enough. The question is whether his team will be capable of holding their own against the top 3 clubs from last season in the first 4 games. Those teams are stuffed full of international class players so that in terms of individual ability they must be better than any side Adkins can put out in August. That would apply regardless of who is in the Southampton manager's job and if Saints lose those 3 games it will be no reflection on Nigel Adkins whatsoever. On the other hand if Saints get even one point from them, it will be a massive boost to him. What the fixtures show is that you won't be able to judge perforame until 2 or 3 months into the season, unless we win 3 of the first 4 matches, in which case.......

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After reading your post carefully, I still fail to see the point of it. We have had loads of opinons etc. on NA, however it seems quite clear that 99.9% of the fan base are absolulety 100% behind him, so i really struggle to understand your question.

 

Its like asking if a blow job is better than a wan k.

 

Are you serious with the point you're trying to make?

 

Of course a blow job is better than a ****. Any day of the week.

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Funny though isn't it, we've known who we'd be playing, but the order being announced brings about such threads.

 

Highlights the fact that many don't appreciate it's a 38 game season and judging it on any other number of games is futile. So many pundits wrote off Wigan every month, and sweeping statements get made about every other team, positive and negative, each month.

 

Swansea lost 4-0 at Man City opening match last season. Bolton won 4-0, as did Blackpool the year before, both away. People who make grand assumptions based on the opening games never seem to learn.

 

Post of the day.

 

Whatever happens to team & manager during the first few (very hard as it happens) games of the season we should all remember that those results alone won't decide anything much come May 2013. As for the question of whether NA is up to the challenge of pitching his wits against the best in the business ? Well only time will tell of course, but it seems a fair enough question to ask when we've been discussing the exactly the same about our players for months now.

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Funny though isn't it, we've known who we'd be playing, but the order being announced brings about such threads.

 

Highlights the fact that many don't appreciate it's a 38 game season and judging it on any other number of games is futile. So many pundits wrote off Wigan every month, and sweeping statements get made about every other team, positive and negative, each month.

 

Swansea lost 4-0 at Man City opening match last season. Bolton won 4-0, as did Blackpool the year before, both away. People who make grand assumptions based on the opening games never seem to learn.

 

The order of games doesn't mean a great deal but newly promoted sides do tend to have a honeymoon period which can give you something to build on. Getting smashed in our opening few games might not do alot for momentum and confidence.

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The order of games doesn't mean a great deal but newly promoted sides do tend to have a honeymoon period which can give you something to build on. Getting smashed in our opening few games might not do alot for momentum and confidence.

 

Thats why Wigan at home second game is so important imo. It (hopefully) will break up what could otherwise be a bad opening run for us.

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I'm less worried about whether Nigel Adkins is up to and more shocked and horrified that we've only signed one person so far, and we're already into late June. Its typical of this club that we don't have all of our signings wrapped up by July, like every single other club out there. Adkins is setting himself up for failure with that type of lazy, carefree approach.

 

I agree. We need our signings in place by the time preseason starts to hit the ground running. There has been a lot of talk, a lot of links and a lot of speculation. It seems just like last summer and in the January transfer windows we are fannying about and struggling to attract players. Here we are preseason only a few weeks ago and only one unproven striker signed up. Our squad has already been significantly weakened by the release of players or outward loans. A bit less talking to talk and a bit more walking the walk from Cortese and Adkins please.

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It's a very good question but I don't think we shall know the answer until well into the season by which time it could be too late. It's a very big jump for all concerned and I don't think there's much Premier League experience left at the club. Mind you, I thought we'd be doing well to consolidate in the Championship.

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