The first time I heard Cortese come out with His and Markus' vision for the club I knew they meant it. Within weeks I knew it was totally possible because they weren't screwing around with it. Of course, the speed of it kind of took me by surprise.
The realistic aim for the club is probably still to be consistently top ten, but the dream has moved on to regular European spot, even the CL based on a top 4 finish, and Fonte even once said our aim was the title The idea is that you aim for the top and see what happens....you shouldn't set limits because nothing is constant (even the same sides always being top).
One thing that I think sometimes gets overlooked with Adkins is that he was not just a nice bloke but a very clever, astute and educated manager. I see teams playing now in the same way that he was getting us to play in League One. He was always a student of the game and subsequently slightly ahead of the rest. If you watch most teams when they have a goal kick for example; the full backs push up, the centre backs go wide and a midfielder or two will drop back into the space. I can't recall seeing that before we did it. And as for the 'pressing game', Pochettino might have perfected it but it was Adkins who started it. His only 'fault' was not being a big name in the game before he turned to management. Its obvious that some of the players we have here now were attracted by the fact that Koeman is the manager. Nigel just didn't have that pulling power.
May be fallacious, but I heard that some players were losing confidence in him. Koeman is still in the walking on water phase, as was Poch before he left. Cortese mentioned being approached by senior players voicing this concern....it is possible that some players were looking for a scapegoat for those early results. However, Nigel was on a learning curve in the EPL (just like the team) and things had started to turn round, so it is regrettable that he (and we) never got to see what could happen. On the other hand, sometimes a Chairman has to act before possible disaster. I do think that Nigel should have been given a bit longer as I doubt we would have been relegated.
Even Cortese says that he didn't think Saints would have been relegated under Nigel. Just that Nigel had taken the team as far as he could and it was time for another manager to take them to the next level. I completely understand that and Pinocchio was a great find. Shame that he signed for Nicola rather than for Southampton FC. He and Spurs are well suited.
Please do not use words like that on this site as it got me quite excited for a few moments and please remember we have young people reading these posts.
I'm afraid we shafted him [Adkins] with our ambition and it came back to bite us to some extent as Pochettino did exactly the same to us - karma?!
Incredible the strength of that team against Walsall in 2011, except the defence, some very talented players for that division. Around that time there were some good players in that league: Davis, Fonte, Lallana, Oxlade-Chemberlain, Schneiderlin, Lambert, Bolasie, Puncheon plus Hoolahan, Martin, Snodgrass the season before. Strong division.
Just managed to watch, all 33.20 mins of it. Was grinning all way through. Great man, did a great job. Lot of affection for him. Loved the verse at the end & the interviewers comment! Thanks NA
Just watched it through and genuinely choked up on a couple of occasions. WHAT A JOURNEY!!! What a top bloke, integrity, humour and loyalty. As he said he has fond memories and no one can take them away from him..or us. I hope he does get a trip to see us in the cup...hopefully he'll lose, but he'll still have a smile on his face as he gets back on the bus, ready to draw a blue line under it.
Nige obviously loves SFC as much as the fans love him Anyone know who sings the tune at the end of the programme? Looks like the lyrics are from a famous poem....
No I was curious as to what it was too! Didn't recognise it on my phone app. Hoping someone can tell me soon!
Couldn't find the singer either, but the poem was written by Dale Wimbrow in 1934. He originally called it the Guy in the Glass...glad he changed it.
Nigel was the right man for the. job at the time of his arrival. Taking us through the promotions league by league was great. Once in the top tier however he could not rely on experience anymore as he had non at this level. He was learning just as the majority of the lads were. As with most top level teams there is very little time to experiment and even shorter times if things aren't working. Cortèse did not have too much patience and panicked in my view. Non the less we all will have a soft spot for our Nigel and certainly wish him well who ever he manages. He deserves nothing less!
