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Should we have stuck with Adkins?


um pahars

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Just wondering whether this 16 month fling with MoPo has been worth it?

 

It's been a wonderful season, with many fantastic memories, but we will come out of it stronger as a result of his departure?

 

Would we have struggled had we stuck with Nigel?, got relegated? or perhaps alternatively would we have slowly built up towards mid table safety (& beyond)?

 

I'm torn between thinking we should have stuck with him as there was a really good feeling about the place and we were still moving forward and then thinking actually MoPo has shown what really was possible with the squad.

 

I accept players and managers heads will be turned by clubs higher up the pecking order, it's the way of the world and has happened thoughout my Saints supporting life, but my issue here is that it really has only been one season. That's the bit that grates with me, in that he will walk out after so short a period of time.

 

But I also accept when we talk about loyalty, we have to remember it works both ways and we as a club are happy to cut managers and players when it suits us, so not sure how we can be so upset about MoPo walking out on us after 16 months.

 

So back to the question, was this fling worth it, or should we have stuck with Adkins?

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Nope.

 

I will think the way Adkins was sacked was brutal and disrespectful until the day I die. The guy deserved to be treated with respect.

 

But I just do not think he would of taken us any further then he did. He had a good squad of players who would of done well in the lower leagues regardless of manager. He has not done too well at Reading despite being there since march 2013. He has won 20 and lost 20.

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MoPo has been very good for us. I was very upset when he came on board, but he has done very well.

 

My concern now is that we may have reverted to an attitude on the board that isn't that far removed form the attitude that the board had in the dark days of the duck hunter. We may well return to the days where the only purpose of the academy is to generate money through the sale of any promising player, and not to further the performance of the first team on the pitch.

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No. Look how MP improved players like S Davis, Lallana, Fonte, Rodriguez.

 

No point settling for what you have if there is someone better - and MP is better than Adkins.

 

In hindsight, Adkins was lucky to work with talent like Lallana, Chamberlain, Lambert, Fonte, Cork, Schneiderlin etc outside the top flight - and did a great job, but with top players who have proven themselves a level or two above L1 and the Champ.

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I actually think Nigel had turned it around when he was sacked and would have kept us up. After that who knows but MP has had access to better players this season and I see no reason Nigel couldn't have got decent results with the same players if he was still here.

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I would LOVE Adkins to come back if MoPo goes...He was essential to our success, and in building a team and set of fans that were (pretty) united. He's exactly the kind of manager who fits my vision of the sort of club I think Saints should be. Doubt it will happen though.

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Nope. I think the decision was the right one and that he was over-awed with the size of the task.

 

Difficult to know how good he really is; didn't save Reading - which was admittedly a hard job, but didn't get them promoted this year either. We enjoyed a lot of success under his reign, but then, we were spending a mil in League One for Lambert and buying players from the division above. The team showed both immediate and longer-term improvement under Poch.

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I actually think Nigel had turned it around when he was sacked and would have kept us up. After that who knows but MP has had access to better players this season and I see no reason Nigel couldn't have got decent results with the same players if he was still here.

 

 

and yet his results at Reading are highly discutable. If the Russian wallah hadn't left them in limbo Adkins would have been sacked by now. Redknapp got his vastly reduced team back up, Adkins didn't even make the play-offs, mainly due to some very, very, poor results, like the home draw with 8 man yeovil. He is not a PL manager as of yet and probably never ever will be.

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I think MP got lucky insomuch we had a nucleus of really good players here when he took over. I am more worried about them leaving than MP.

 

Problem being if they are intrinsically linked of course.

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and yet his results at Reading are highly discutable. If the Russian wallah hadn't left them in limbo Adkins would have been sacked by now. Redknapp got his vastly reduced team back up, Adkins didn't even make the play-offs, mainly due to some very, very, poor results, like the home draw with 8 man yeovil. He is not a PL manager as of yet and probably never ever will be.

 

Probably true but Reading supporters I know as I live in Berkshire think he did quite well with injuries and never thought the squad were realistically promotion material

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Find it hard to believe any of the championship managers would have struggled more with the QPR squad.

 

 

QPR's squad was poor this season, they've cut costs and the side has suffered. I mean Clint Hill and Richard Dunne just are too old for any serious purpose except winning high balls, Zamora, that's pure junk on a realistic basis compared to say Remy.

Rednapp has done well, cut costs and got promoted.

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Back to the question:

 

I think we would have made steady progress with NA, rather than a few quick leaps forward, followed by a sudden collapse.

 

So, for me, over a longer period I think we'd have been better off keeping NA.

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and yet his results at Reading are highly discutable. If the Russian wallah hadn't left them in limbo Adkins would have been sacked by now. Redknapp got his vastly reduced team back up, Adkins didn't even make the play-offs, mainly due to some very, very, poor results, like the home draw with 8 man yeovil. He is not a PL manager as of yet and probably never ever will be.

 

Due to having the finical carpet pulled out from under him and a horrendous injury list the fact you can compare Reading to QPR shows you're talking carp

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Back to the question:

 

I think we would have made steady progress with NA, rather than a few quick leaps forward, followed by a sudden collapse.

 

So, for me, over a longer period I think we'd have been better off keeping NA.

 

yeah think you might be right progress would have been slower but steady I reckon.

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Nah he didnt. He stuck to the high pressing game come what may even when it wasnt working / the players were too knackered to keep it up.

 

yeah, he did

you dont get to a comfortable 8th and snapped up by a bigger club for being 1 dimensional

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yeah, he did

you dont get to a comfortable 8th and snapped up by a bigger club for being 1 dimensional

 

What was the plan B then DD? What wwere the main features of his other main game plan? What did he change tactically mid game when things weren't working?

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What was the plan B then DD? What wwere the main features of his other main game plan? What did he change tactically mid game when things weren't working?

 

no matter what I say, you will disagree. lets save this place the hassle of us going over 15 posts arguing

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no matter what I say, you will disagree. lets save this place the hassle of us going over 15 posts arguing

 

Its a simple question. You insist he had a plan B. We know what plan A was - possession game, high pressing. What was plan B?

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Just wondering whether this 16 month fling with MoPo has been worth it?

 

It's been a wonderful season, with many fantastic memories, but we will come out of it stronger as a result of his departure?

 

Would we have struggled had we stuck with Nigel?, got relegated? or perhaps alternatively would we have slowly built up towards mid table safety (& beyond)?

 

I'm torn between thinking we should have stuck with him as there was a really good feeling about the place and we were still moving forward and then thinking actually MoPo has shown what really was possible with the squad.

 

I accept players and managers heads will be turned by clubs higher up the pecking order, it's the way of the world and has happened thoughout my Saints supporting life, but my issue here is that it really has only been one season. That's the bit that grates with me, in that he will walk out after so short a period of time.

 

But I also accept when we talk about loyalty, we have to remember it works both ways and we as a club are happy to cut managers and players when it suits us, so not sure how we can be so upset about MoPo walking out on us after 16 months.

 

So back to the question, was this fling worth it, or should we have stuck with Adkins?

 

The fling was worth it in that we improved immeasurably, although Poch was fortunate to inherit a good squad who improved under him.

 

That said I think we would have stayed up and still improved under Adkins, just not as spectacularly. We'd have been a more attractive version of Stoke - middling about 10th-14th - free scoring and free conceding.

 

The likes of Spurs would not be interested in our manager, of course.

 

With Nigel we'd have a medium level manager for the long term - good enough for us but not good enough that anyone else would want them - a Pulis, basically, just minus the awful football.

 

My worry is our current management team might see an appointment of Adkins now as a nice little popular move. Not sure it would be, and I definitely think it would be a bad move for the team.

 

Time to move forward under an exciting new era managed by Malkay McKay.

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The fling was worth it in that we improved immeasurably, although Poch was fortunate to inherit a good squad who improved under him.

 

That said I think we would have stayed up and still improved under Adkins, just not as spectacularly. We'd have been a more attractive version of Stoke - middling about 10th-14th - free scoring and free conceding.

 

The likes of Spurs would not be interested in our manager, of course.

 

With Nigel we'd have a medium level manager for the long term - good enough for us but not good enough that anyone else would want them - a Pulis, basically, just minus the awful football.

 

My worry is our current management team might see an appointment of Adkins now as a nice little popular move. Not sure it would be, and I definitely think it would be a bad move for the team.

 

Time to move forward under an exciting new era managed by Malkay McKay.

fair assessment

would also wonder whether milling about 14th with the more poor games that would bring would see us having 3 players (probably would have been 4) going to the world cup?

 

never know, obviously

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fair assessment

would also wonder whether milling about 14th with the more poor games that would bring would see us having 3 players (probably would have been 4) going to the world cup?

 

never know, obviously

 

Quite. Shaw is clearly brilliant anyway, but would the other three developed on in the way they have? Not sure. That said Nige seemed to get a lot out of Jack Cork, so who knows we could have had five in....

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Can anyone think of a 'plan B' they've seen employed by a manager which hasn't involved lumping balls into the box?

 

Managers change tactics during games all the time. That includes Pochettino. Only turning to direct crossing football seems obvious enough to most fans to be labelled a 'plan B'

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Can anyone think of a 'plan B' they've seen employed by a manager which hasn't involved lumping balls into the box?

 

Managers change tactics during games all the time. That includes Pochettino. Only turning to direct crossing football seems obvious enough to most fans to be labelled a 'plan B'

 

Ah.This is one of those "I spotted it but most people wouldn't because Im sharper than you" posts.

Edited by buctootim
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