I am as delighted as anyone with the current set up at SMS, so let me make that clear. The spirit of this post is that there is not a lot to discuss right now outside of whether Kelv is OK or not or whether we should have had 5 against Brum, and then we all sink back into "isn't it great?" And why not, we've taken enough of the brown stuff for years. So I am hoping to prompt a genuine reflective discussion with fellow Saints while we are (or should be) in good humour, no more and no less. I have been a fan of DH since he started with us. I know I am not alone, despite the anti-Harding posts. Fox is the relatively expensive new kid, and is no great improvement as yet - indeed against Forest he had a mare apart from setting up Rickie for the winner. So I got to thinking about NA's signings. N'Guessan was supposedly "tracked" for a long time, but made no impression. Forte has been anonymous (2 goals in a minute against MK Dons when we were dead and buried guarantee a place in our hearts though!). Cork is a great buy, and as other posters have commented, keeping players happy so that they re-sign for us is just as much part of the mix as bringing in new people. Don't get me wrong. I think Nigel Adkins is a complete revelation, and I would happily elevate him to my top 3 best managers for Saints right now in front of some great favourites like Gordon Strachan. Ted and Lawrie already occupy berths 1 & 2 for an old Saint like me, of course, and will be difficult to dislodge. However, Nige appears to be the man who is building something very special throughout the club, and not just keeping a few of his mates happy as some have done in the past. Cork apart, though, I wondered how fellow Saints feel about the fact that his signings have failed yet to impress in the way that the Pardew signings of, say, Fonte and Lambert did? Maybe it was easier for them. Rickie came into a demoralised and very poor team, as did, of course, Dan Harding. Let's face it, the first time we saw Harding a number of us were impressed that we had picked up a player who could both tackle and get in some decent crosses. We had been used to players who struggled to multi-task - breathing and walking were beyond them. So please don't see this as an anti-Adkins post. Neither is it an old fashioned Archers Road whine (you know, all is going well so let's find a chance to moan!). It just seems to me that it is while everything is very rosy it is the right time to ask if there are any weaknesses that need to be highlighted and remedied, and NA's signings are the only thing I can see could be a bit of an issue. My own view is that I feel confident he will get a team together to make sure it comes right, as he has done this in every other area of the club. I also share the view of some others that Fox is trying too hard at the moment, and I'm sure we'll be delighted with him soon. Just interested in views. OK, tell me to get out more! UTS
I think Jos (loan) and Fox have the ability and will become valued members of the squad. Whether they will be stars is less clear, but it's early days yet. I am puzzled by Forte's long contract but he is an impact player and will probably feature tonight and score. May even get league starts as we are short of strikers. N'Guessan (loan) was not happy here/had attitude..who knows? Stephens (loan, not the academy one) was brought in as an emergency and would possibly have proved to be ok but looked scared. We should probably have signed at least 2 more players in the window but didn't, probably a mixture of bad luck and the fact that we were chasing the same players as everyone else. Our greatest asset is Adkins who gets the best out of what he's got, but this issue may need to be revisited if promoted or not we don't sign a couple of top, top players in the next couple of windows.
It is really hard to compare the acquisitions under Pardew and Adkins, as they were essentially tasked with two different jobs; Pardew had to build a squad from scratch, whereas Adkins has merely had to add here and there to strength. Cork has been fantastic, Chaplow is a very solid presence, the decision to sign Guly permanently looks a smart one, and it's still early days with Fox, de Ridder and Hooiveld. For me, part of what has made the Adkins/Cortese partnership so exemplary is the restraint and discipline they have shown...it would have been easy to arrive in the Championship and immediately turn over half the squad trying to import a bunch of well-known players to lift the club to the next level. Instead, they have been very cautious about disrupting the team dynamic. Even when they spend money on a player, they have tended to give the incumbent the opportunity to prove that they deserve to keep their place, rather than throwing the new player out to justify the cost; Cork won a starting role to begin the season but Hammond had the chance to show he belonged (and has, and then some), de Ridder has remained on the bench because Guly hasn't merited dropping, and even Fox, who was one of the better left backs in the Championship, had to wait for an opportunity (and isn't guaranteed to keep it). Hooiveld is the only one given a starting job straightaway, and that was largely due to injury and some shakiness on Martin's part. Everywhere else, they have brought in players to compete with rather than replace the ones we had, and it's hard to argue with the results; from Richardson to Connolly to Guly to Hammond, the best move they have made is knowing that they weren't forced to make a move.
As far as the signings go, it is a different ball game bringing new players into the Championship, than it would have been in Division 1, AP supplied the building blocks blocks which were misfiring after a dodgy pre-season, there were some strange goings on behind the scenes which NC perceived was getting in the way of progress, so having set his sights on NA he made the change. It was an inspired move which many questioned at the time, and there are still some unbelievers, who aren't convinced. One problem the fans have is the fact that Club doesn't wash its dirty linen in public. There must have been occasions when a player was "dropped" and we assume for injury reasons, may not always be the case, there may be some internal discipline procedures which could result in a player being 'disciplined' for a couple of matches but we won't get to know about it, it is the Clubs business and all the players must know the score. Puncheons accusation of slave driving may be his way of describing a disciplined approach which doesn't accept shirkers, if you want to succeed with Saints you are required to play your part. Also a strong training regime can also bring on minor injuries and despite a superb medical team, they can't always patch them up to play and the last thing you need is to aggravate a minor knock into something worse. We are on a roll at the moment, long may it last but we are The Saints and it won't be without its ups and downs on the roller coaster ride to success, there is a fine balance between success and failure, too many things can go wrong, just enjoy the ride, support what is happening with your 100% backing, any negative thoughts must be kept in check for now.
de Ridder just needs time and a run in the team and I'm sure we'll see that he will prove a great signing too
De Ridder, Chaplow, Guly, Cork, Fox, all great buys at relatively cheap prices. Fox hasn't had the best start but a lot of Burnley fans were annoyed at losing him so that says something. De Ridder is quality you can tell that, he just hasn't had a proper chance yet. Chaplow bargain at 50k and although Guly was signed by Pardew (I'm not sure it would have worked out as well under him) He was signed permanently by Adkins and has been brilliant this season. Forte hasn't done much although he was brought in as a squad player which is fine. N'Guessan, Stephens etc were just emergency signings for the run in to cover for injuries and stuff. Let's remember signing players has little to do with managers these days. Yes he has the final say but the scouts do a lot of the work and of course the chairman who persuades them to join our wonderful club. A prime example was Cortese showing De Ridder a video that stated the clubs aims and ambition. The one difference you can tell is all the players are now talking about the amazing team spirit and work ethos at the club. Didn't really get that when Pardew was in charge. You can tell from how well Newcastle are doing atm that he is a good manager, but it didn't work for him here.
We can use Fox as a left back but also as a left midfielder to shore up the flank and get some good early deliveries into the box if that's a style we want to go to. He's cup tied tonight, so it will be Dickson or Harding if he's fit at left back. Fox will come good when se settles down and gets used to how we play. De Ridder willl come good too. He's clearly very talented and is only being kept out by the fine form of Guly, which won't last all season, so he'll get his chance. Adkins is well respected amongst players that play for him and has excellent people suppporting him so it won't be long until he gets the same respect in the market. He can only get better.
Hi Channon. Good post. And the short answer is that it will take time for Adkins to build a squad of largely his own players together. We went up with a huge squad by League 1 standards which was basically proved by putting together two completely different XI's, with players left over. None of them really had any prospect of leaving apart from Chamberlain and other young unwanted players, as well as Gobern who I was surprised decided to leave as I think he would have got first team opportunities this year. Anyway, Nigel has had absolutely no problem replacing them with Cork (second best player in the world behind Lallana) and de Ridder who I reckon will be good enough to play on a Premiership wing when he has adapted to English football. On his previous signings, when Forte and N'Guessan came in we were seriously lacking on the wings, basically having Lallana (best player by miles), Oxo (getting kicked for 90 mins) and Guly (good but inconsistent). Neither were supposed to be star players. N'Guessan did ok when he played I thought and I rate Forte as well, he is our only pacy forward. We haven't seen much of Fox yet and Jos was a bit of an emergency after the Seaborne incident. The point being that he can't add loads of players without shipping a few out first, and I can't think of many candidates to leave. Of course Nigel and team have a difficult job keeping players who aren't starting happy, but that is why he is the boss and we aren't.
Fox will prove to be a very good signing IMO..... he's started 2 league games and had a few 10 minute appearances; just give him time. I don't think he had a "mare" against Forest; I actually think that Lallana did a lot of drifting in that game and left him exposed. Cork - quality signing De Ridder - had no league starts, so how can we judge him. The glimpses we have seen look like thre is something there. Forte - agree, no real impact yet. N'Guessian - loan that didn't work, not the end of the world Jos- 2 league games. Chaplow - great guly - ok Nicola's signing, but hasn't Nigel got him doing a great job and signed fulltime? I just think it's way too early to be judging signings.
People may disagree but I think Adkins' signings have been very good. Chaplow - Great bit of business. Bignall - Decent short term signing. N'Guessan - Didn't have enough of a run in the team to make an impact. He obviously has ability - look at him at Millwall. Forte - I like him. He could be brilliant and is definitely improving. Shea - Only short-team backup. Stephens - Another good player. People thought he was average but he was exactly what we needed at the time. Cork - Brilliant all round player. De Ridder - Flashes of brilliance but needs more time to adapt to the English game. Fox - Again people may beg to differ but I think hes an outstanding player. I personally think he's a big improvement on Harding but I don't want to get stuck into that argument again. Hooiveld - A risk but so far he looks a good defender. I think Adkins is trying to sign players that suite his brand of football and therefore signing good technical players that can keep the ball.
Oh yes he did! First goal was down to him, and he looked really wobbly all afternoon (IMO) but of course you may disagree. Generally, thanks to fellow Saints for such considered responses. Proves what I have always known that Saints fans are the best in the world for intelligent debate. Since I moved back to my beloved North West I can't do mid week games so am listening on the radio and we have just scored. Fantastic that we have such depth that we can put out ten new players and we still sound good - the fact that Morgan is one is amazing. Surely he would walk into any other Championship side?!
Everyone says that Guly is having a great season and is keeping out De Ridder - is that BECAUSE De Ridder is there? Nigel is always talking how healthy competition for places is..... I think that is pretty true of most the team - they seem to be having a great game, because they know if they have a couple of mares, there is someone as good as them to come in.
I agree. Adkins has nearly everyone knowing there is competition for their place and the individual performances have all come up a notch or two. A good example is Dean Hammond who I personally thought was only ok even in Div1. This season he is playing very well indeed and is a vital part of the midfield. Although he is limited in technical ability Dean has raised his game and I think playing alongside Jack Cork has helped him no end. Cork's signing was a brilliant piece of work from NA and he is the main reason we are top of the league at the moment. Also worth mentioning is Dan Harding who I also thought was only ok in Div1, I'm not a fan of his but before he got injured I felt he was playing well. Fox's presence will make sure that when Harding gets another chance, he has to perform. Another point is that we have to give credit to Pardew for the signings he brought to the club. But even he couldn't get them to perform to the level of consistency that Adkins managed last season. To get a team of players that he didn't sign himself to achieve that final run in was phenomenal.
