May be the case Kemps, but I'd rather have 'some' new manager at least try and blow some fife into this deflating balloon. Adkins deserves kudos for getting himself the gig, showing up at games etc. Does anyone think the boy knew who he was in advance NO.... in the time Adkins was not in a job, was he mentioned in any dispatches about going into other clubs... NO!!!... has he got the dressing room.... I'll leave that open, but results suggest NO!!
If you want to go blow some ****er in Fife to re-inflate his balloon that’s up to you TC, but leave the rest of us out of it.
I don't see why people are so convinced a different manager would get a tune out of these players . They just aren't very good , they are bargain basement players . People keep mentioning Millwall and Bolton having average players , but they seem to be able to do basics like marking a bloke from a corner , ours don't seem to be able too . Maybe that's Adkins coaching , but I'd suggest anybody that has got higher than the Sunday league level should know how to do something as basic as that without the manager / head coach holding their hand . Adkins probably is a poor manager , but doesn't stop these being a poor bunch of cast offs that nobody else wants
Campbell is good example of how completely clueless Adkins has become. He is not able to lead the line never has never will be able to. He takes Bowen off and said he had a poor game the only man in the stadium to witness that. Not the first time either he's criticized Bowen by the way. Backburn, Derby, Wigan and Reading where disgusting performances from his poorly coached disorganised team. Sick of his after match interviews too Looking forward to seeing him join the owners and out the door sooner rather than later.
I edited my comment and took the Campbell bit out as I thought was harsh to single him out when he seems one of the few to put his heart into it . But teams splash out big money in this league now and we have a free transfer with a dismal career record .
I think Adkins words when asked why he took Bowen off were 'it could have been anyone!'... he definitely knows how to alienate players, MacDonald, Milinkovic and if he's not careful Bowen too...
I think from my point of view its unfair under the present circumstances to truly judge Atkins. I'm not saying he is a good or bad manager but I know he's not getting much support from higher up. I also know he has to work with a poor central midfield the main heartbeat of the team, change it what with? Unfortunately not getting Norwood and many other of his first choice transfers has caused this. We you look at the replacements for a poor Hendrickson and a very very poor Stewart then who comes in if Batty is injured, Toral great for 5 minutes then goes missing. Can a manager make someone tackle who hasn't got the bottle, can be make a player create who hasn't got the talent. I just hope he finds a system which will help because we need at least 3 pts over the next three games, I've said it before and will say it again a successful season for me will be finishing 4th bottom and getting new owners.
He does have options for CM. He's already picking players who are not CM'ers as CM'ers (and as captain ffs) and it's clearly not working. He could pick 1 or 2 of several defenders who I am sure will do far better as needed aggressive, holding CM'ers. It would also then free up such as MH to play where he should be playing, instead of shattering his confidence yet again (as happened last season, as confirmed by Meyler). At the moment we pin our hopes on a young lad, Batty. A good prospect for sure, but our CM, and increasing other selections are becoming utterly ridiculous.
Options are poor im afraid yes you can add a bit of aggression but have we got many options of a proper midfield player who can tackle and create. One things for sure he's going to have to change something because it's not working now
Isn't Irvine supposed to be a box to box CM. We have at least 2 left wingers who surely can't be as bad at being a left winger as our current 2 CMs are at CM!
We have one of the most expensive squads in the league. Any manager worth his salt could get a better tune out of these players. Having our best striker (Dicko) unable to get a game and our worst player (Marshall) playing every game isn't helping. Rectifying those two piss poor decisions will return an instant improvement.
I and many others on here predicted how this season was going to roll well before a ball had been kicked and that wasn't because we didn't rate the manager, it was because of the good players we were losing and the poor players we were bringing in. The lack of investment and the bad atmosphere at the club. Now it's the managers fault
When posters acknowledge the off-field situation but then dismiss it as something the manager should be able to just work around, that's fundamentally showing a lack of understanding of how bad the situation really is. Look at the Meyler article the other day, the club is a miserable one to be around. Players don't like being here. This time of year we have our annual contract ****about where players are lied to and messed around while we don't know what's going on. They turn up every week and get slated for misplacing the odd pass of course. Batty will probably be the next Tymon or Clark As for personnel, it's alright pointing to who is an international and who played 2 matches for Arsenal's C team, but this is the Championship and many of this squad are clearly not suited to it. Total and Henriksen, for all their talent, are obviously not the commited type of player you need at this level, and Adkins can only try to change that. The only solution when they don't do what he asks of them is to replace them, but he doesn't have that option. If the manager isn't responsible for signing players, which Adkins categorically isn't, then how can he be held responsible for their performance? You can point to Millwall and Bolton and say they're doing well with worse squads than us but what is that based on? How are they worse than our players? In 2008 the struggling clubs fans probably pointed to us and wondered how we did so well with a poorer squad than them. The answer is that they were ignorant and it wasn't a poor squad at all. I'm sure the same is true of today's Millwall and Bolton, who will have players that we know little about doing good jobs for them. Adkins has the impossible job. He was conned by the Allams and more fool him for not seeing that coming, but given that many on here still so vastly underestimate the stranglehold the Allams have on the club, I suppose it's no surprise. The next bloke will probably make the same mistake when he sees that people are blaming Adkins for the current mess. The cycle continues and the Allams, somehow, continue to get away with it.
Completely agree, whilst I don't particularly like Adkins , any anger vented in his direction is simply wasted anger at the moment . It should all be heading in one direction only .
The football club is being appallingly run by Ehab Allam. The player recruitment is being badly handled by Lee Darnborough, within the constraints handed to him by the football club. The football team players are not being managed to their full potential by Nigel Adkins. It’s not an either/or situation, all three can be - and are - true.
How they have played during better spells this season. How they have played in other teams and for other managers. We didn’t see much of that on Saturday.
We have defenders who've come through quality coaching set-ups and/or shown at other clubs that they are capable performers. They should be able to defend – particularly at set-pieces – better than they are. A Phil Brown or Peter Taylor would have them much better organised than they are right now. In Irvine, Toral, Bowen, Grosicki and Evandro we have a number of skilful midfielders who a manager should be capable of moulding into a unit that looks more potent as an attacking force than we do. Our possession retention is getting worse and worse, game by game. Adkins is undoubtedly working under some huge handicaps when it comes to our owners, as you rightly point out, but it doesn't give him a free pass when it comes to his failings.
I completely agree that we have several midfielders who should be capable of improving our attacking performance...add the mysteriously missing Milinkovic to Richard's list. The problem is however that our currently starting defensive midfielders are spineless and arguably the worst in the Championship. With Adkins apparently incapable of recognizing the problem, team morale visibly deteriorating, and no other currently employed recognized League manager likely to consider taking on the job, we are faced with few options. So why not replace Adkins with the man who symbolized our defensive midfield strength in our glory days...the man who captained Hull City in their progress through four Divisions...the legendary icon Ian Ashbee. If there is one man who could revive the moribund shower who disgraced themselves at Reading and bring back the missing supporters it would be "Captain Courageous". Its time for another Great Escape. Sack Adkins. Bring back Ash!!!!
