What line of work are you in? Because I've never had a boss who offers advice but doesn't make decisions! Why shouldn't Reed get involved in team affairs? He is the director of football, that's his job! Sure, the fans jump on Adkins' back when things go wrong, because he's the public face of the club, and he says "the buck stops with me", etc, to take pressure off the players, but you have to realise he's not running the show on his own.
I agree with this . Les Reed is probably offering his opinion some things and quite right to , but if he is TELLING NA what he WILL do and NC is letting him , then something is very wrong , I repeat IF he is doing these things . I still think NA was VERY downcast when he said " We will play 4-3-3 "
I agree with this. Adkins has to stay til December at least and should only go if it looks as though we're going to get cut adrift at the bottom of the league and Cortese has identified who he wants to get in as a replacement. I'm also curious about the formation. The team has been successful for the last 3 years playing 4-4-2 with occasional variations on that. So why are we suddenly playing 4-3-3 and sticking to that formation and that formation only? If there's a long-term vision to get the club playing 4-3-3 then fine, but other clubs have done okay in the Premier League playing 4-4-2 and I don't think your first season back in the Premier League is the right time to switch formation.
How do you know Cortese is letting him?, he could not know?. As I said Cortese knows nothing about the football side is what I have been told.
Has anyone got anything FACTUAL to write about who decides the tranfer policy; the formation; the team selection; substitutions; the tactics?? Its seems to be 99% conjecture and would guess that the other 1% seems to have been gotten from playing Football Manager!!
I don't hence my ANDIF NC is letting him , just guess work on my part . I suspect I am wrong as usual !
How right you are Romsey Saint - there is so much rubbish written on here that it makes you wonder what some of our supporters ( tiny proportion of them mind you ) get up with their lives !
Nope..! Absolutely nothing. Just like everybody else, in fact. I'm going to have a stab at guessing. Transfer Policy: If you mean, who do Saints select and go after, I would guess that Nigel Adkins and Les Reed go over the player data together, then this is passed to Nicola Cortese, who possibly, along with Les Reed and legal personnel, makes the moves to bring the player to the club. Formation: Nigel Adkins and a host of player data on fitness, suitability, etc... where I would imagine Andy Crosby would help. Team Selection: Same as for formation. Substitutions: Nigel and Andy for that one. Nigel taking responsibility again, of course. Tactics: Same as for substitutions. I reiterate, that was pure guesswork. Anyone know 100% better..? You could of course include overall club policy, medium and long term, specific ambition and aspirations, club investment and development. media profile, etc... and a range of other categories. Most of those would be where Nicola Cortese would loom large but, again I would be guessing as to what extent.
All I have said is what I was told by a mate, that would know far more then any of us. He has never ever said anything like this before so can't judge how right or wrong he is.
Definitely agree but really how much do we know about any of the real inner workings of our beloved club? All we see is PR-fueled info on OS and twitter, the odd carefully worded interviews (I think it says a lot that people have read so much from Nigel's slightly less carefully worded interview than usual) and then what we see on matchdays. The rest is almost entirely speculation, guesswork, the odd media scoop and some ITKs or not-so-ITK muppets. If all contributions were restricted to fact only, these forums would be very quiet. Anyone who speaks of certainties or definites is almost undoubtedly talking out of their arse, but I think it's fine for people to speculate and suggest theories because otherwise we'd all be sat around chatting about the weather and the player's haircuts. Personally my thoughts/guesses are similar to TSS'. Although on transfers, I think that domestically Adkins is very much in charge, but I think foreign transfers are mostly down to others, Cortese, Reed and some other back-room staff probably, I'm sure Adkins is involved and has a lot of the final say, but I don't think he was the one scouring the continent for talent. My reasoning behind that is that is just partly what I think is common sense, and partly a bit of guesswork, I think when you look at domestically bought players, Jrod, Clyne, S.Davis and Gazza are very Nigel-like signings and players Nigel would know a lot about. The foreign players, Ramirez, Mayuka, Yoshida, Boruc have a very Cortese-like feeling to them, Ramirez and Boruc both came from Italy, Mayuka from Switzerland, and we know Cortese's links to those two places. And I got a distinct feeling we very much a team either in Holland or focusing on Holland, we had a lot of players linked to us in a short period of time, Buttner, Yoshida, Lens, Boilesen, Pieters, De Vrij, Douglas etc., I think some of those were more real than others but still. I think there was probably a team lead by Cortese, Reed and to a slightly lesser degree Adkins, that was scouting for the foreign talent. Another thing that makes me thing this is that when Mayuka, Ramirez and Yoshida all signed, they all talked about extensive discussions with Cortese and his people about the club and where we're going and stuff, that was a recurring theme throughout, and I very much got the impression from Mayuka and Yoshida when talking about Adkins that they met him for the first time for their introductory photos of holding up a shirt and at training. But Rodriguez and Davis both mentioned having talked to Adkins earlier on in their process of joining the club. I could be way off the mark but I formulated this theory throughout the transfer window and think there's a good basis to it, but as I said, it's just a theory. I definitely think though that all line-up, formation, substitutions whatever are all very much down to Adkins and his team, but I'm sure there is also input from elsewhere, but only input.
There were some Twitter messages about the Saints that I nearly posted as fact, until I realised it was only some idiots discussing their stupid Football Manager game, they ought to banned.
I think that when a manager has done something a bit special as Adkins did with back to back promotions, it can be easy to forgive him a few defeats and perhaps back him a bit longer than you should. I remember when Alan Pardew got us promoted and then got us to a cup final with an incredibly exciting young squad. We thought he could do no wrong. Then the following season, results started to dip. We found ourselves bottom of the league but we all wanted to give him more time even though everyone outside the club could see the writing was on the wall. Last night I called Adkins a permanent-tanned, smug goalkeeping coach and it provoked a reaction. Today I am feeling less mischevious so I will comment a bit more sensibly. I can't stand the bloke but looking at the situation with an unbiased view, even I can see he is a good football man who deserves a fair chance. However I think that chance may have already been and gone. You have a tough start but you have still had 5 games against sides outside the big 6 and a 4 point return is not good enough. I think you should sack him and bring in someone who knows how to keeps sides up. There are plenty around. Having said that, the season is still very young and Adkins may still turn it round but I would be very surprised if he does.
I dont want him sacked as i dont believe he picks the team 100% or has any say over signings , if he did I would .
Both those points are bull **** but you don't believe he has ANY say on signings? I don't believe you actually think that.
This poll is a great indication of the size of the southampton board! Almost 200 votes, obviously not every vote is a saints fan but the board is growing at a tremendous rate. We're the China of Not606.
Do you think he wanted to play that formation this weekend ? Do you think he wanted to sign Ramirez over defenders ?
I think like in any football club, he gives the money men a list of priorities and they work around that.
Why is it a shambles? Part of Reed's job is to get each level at the club playing the same way so that transition through the levels is as seamless as posaible. Adkins would have made the change sooner if he hadn't been under such pressure to get results. He'll have known about the plans before he took the job. It's not a brand new idea that's been thrust upon him.
I personally think this is turning out to be a really exciting season,Adkins first taste of the top flight and a steep learning curve in tactics.Along with that you have a club under Mr Cortese that is on a mission to bring about a real changes in the football league.I personally do not think it is just about the ultimate success of Super Saints it is also about an evolution of football in England.Saints,I believe,are leading that change,so if we go back down this season,what of it,we will be back even stronger,and still on deadline.COYR's
