We've had a lot of discussion over the past year about how our time with Adkins so far compares with our time with Gordon Strachan. Most recently we had a head to head thread discussing the squads of each manager, but it has been some time since we specifically discussed the managers themselves head to head. WGS is renowned by Saints fans for being at the helm for Saints' most successful period in the top flight in recent times, but has Adkins' place in history yet been cemented as a Southampton legend? If not, what would need to be achieved for him to reach that status? If you had to choose one or the other to be Saints' most revered manager of recent times, which would you go for? My opinion is this: WGS was very good at Southampton, but sadly has not seen that success replicated everywhere he has been. He is also, I should imagine, an easy man to cross. Adkins, on the other hand, has been given his first opportunity for real success with Southampton and is milking it for all its worth. He has installed not just a team spirit and work ethic that at least matches Strachan's, but he has also remarkably managed to rub his entire personality on to the staff, the fans and the players alike. He epitomises what Southampton are currently about to a degree that I have not seen before at Southampton, and for me this is what edges it for Adkins over Strachan.
I think both have different man management styles. As you say, with WGS, if you got on well with him, he would walk through walls for you, but most of the foreign players just didn't get his style of wit. I think Adkins tactics and use of subs is much better than WGS, which maybe surprising considering how Gordon was a top player and Adkins never came close to those levels. Nigel's enthusiasm and positivity can't be touched by any other manager as far as I can see. WGS did let things get to him and reflect that in how he dealt with the players, fans and media. Easy to say considering our current position, but if I had the choice, I'd take Nigel Adkins over WGS everytime.
Much as we all loved the time under Strachan, I think there was still a nervousness about the games and we were all expecting things to go wrong at some point (the usual sentiment for long serving saints fans). Under Nigel, strangely enough this sentiment is beginning to disappear. The mark of the man is that not only has he installed a sense of belief in the team - he's installed it in the fans too. I'll always be grateful to WGS for the FA Cup and dizzy heights of premiership, but NA gets the nod IMO. Just so glad that NA is not getting the recognition he deserves in the sky / sun punditry - that means no one is going to take him away from us and he remains our little secret...
NA isn't a legend for me yet. If he gets us promoted and keeps us there for 2 seasons in a row, I think we can start calling him a legend. I don't doubt that he can do that though.
I hope Adkins gets more time than WGS did. I agree that Adkins has instilled confidence in the team and fans.
I cannot judge between the two of them. Possibly Adkins has had the easier task, as WGS had to deal with Lowe as Chairman when he was here.
True, but Strachan never had to get us out of League 1. We will never know if he could have done that.
Voted Strachan because he is just, well, who he is. If Adkins can keep us going at this rate he will be my numero uno any time soon.
Its like asking me to choose between a pint of Tanglefoot or a pint of Fursty Ferret how the hell do you choose after all they are both crazy guys in there own ways one with his cliches and one with his humour and sharp tongue i guess i like them both the same they both are hard grafters that was and is evident
It's an unfair vote, as the situations and parameters are so different. However, if you had said at the start of the season... OK, plump for one manager to take Saints forward, Adkins or Strachan..? I would take Adkins every time. One, because success isn't new to Adkins. Everywhere he has gone, as a manager and physio, he has been hugely successful [yes, one relegation too], just at lower levels. Two, because he gets players playing the way I want them to play. I prefer the style he gets his teams to play over Gordon's. The enormous success he's had with the team in the Championship, so far, has merely confirmed my suspicions that he is really up to the task. In fact, he's overwhelmed my expectations of him. It's as simple as that. And as Gordon himself said, when interviewed, Nigel has everything to be a top manager. Can't argue with that.
Adkins uses a lot of ploys favoured by Strachan. I would say Adkins is a hybrid of Strachan and Hoddle (arguably our most successful managers for a while). He uses the fitness and neat passing, as well as the training ground set pieces the way Strachan used to but he also uses the psychology employed by Hoddle. I would say Adkins biggest Achilles heel is his transfers signings as a few have not come off, but then this is true for most managers! His best asset is the way he knows how to get the most out of his side and the fans, plus his positive attitude and attention to detail.
Very good point S-Oz and it was not an easy time for him either, the club was run on a shoe-string but he achieved a 2nd place in the top flight and an FA Cup.
Yes, I look forward to the day that Adkins calls a press conference to announce we have signed the European player of the year, as Mac did with Keegan.
It was never designed to be a straight forward or particularly decisive question, more one to provoke debate! I basically agree with you on your comparisons with Hoddle and Strachan. I feel also that Hoddle, as with Adkins, benefited from a few of his predecessor's signings.
