Good read if you ask me. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/paulfletcher/2011/09/the_adkins_diet_gets_saints_in.html#297164
Yep, Paul Fletcher always writes good blogs. He's not as obsessed with the big clubs as other bbc reporters.
great to read, i thought it was a matter of time before adkins got some recognition. of course all of us on here already know what a great job he has done. half of me is chuffed he is getting some kudos, the other half of me wants to keep him secret for when that first prem job becomes available :s
I want to see him linked, and I also want to see him turn down the Prem to stay with us. It proves his loyalty and makes the team in question look bad. Two birds one stone etc etc
i hope your right as it would prove his committment to Nicola's vision long term - but you never know what opportunities come up and how attractive they look.
In his signature area he explains that he mainly writes about The Football League, so he has little to do with Premier League matters. I have found that he can be a little uneven occasionally, in his quality of writing. But that was certainly a reasonable article.
I think at the time, little did some of us know, just how good he is. I know there were others who were entirely confident in having him at Saints, but I hold my hand up and say I was a doubter. I thought we'd made a wee bit of a mistake in sacking Alan Pardew, but I didn't know the reasons [still don't really] and I didn't really know how Nicola Cortese operated, or what he was prepared to put up with. The fact is, whatever the reasons for Pardew's departure, the decision to appoint Nigel Adkins has been entirely vindicated, and btw, Cortese is turning into a marvellous Chairman. If someone had said to me that within a year, Saints would not only be directly promoted and be second in the higher league, but would do it with such a mentality and organisation which leaves nothing to chance, I would have said they were living in cloud cuckoo land. Having seen the match figures since his appointment, I'm staggered at his achievement, and now I believe we all might be living there. Long may we continue to reside.
In that big interview with Cortese, when asked if he regretted sacking Pardew, the answer was a very resounding "no". Various rumours around, but there must have been a very good reason for that level of conviction and at the timing also.
I was so disappointed with the sacking of Pardew at the time, but it made me realise that there can be a lot going on that we don't know about. Sounds like Adkins has a great connection with everyone, and that's probably a big factor in his success.
