It seems as though the majority of 'experts' think that Adkins will be the first manager sacked this coming season. He is favourite at the bookies with 3-1, which makes it seem like a certainty! I was baffled by this (it was in the Star) but many ex pros and pundits alike all put him as first to be sacked and us to be relagated. Some citing that he doesn't have enough experience, and that our boards expectations are too high. Are we playing mind games with the other teams or is it genuine naivity. I don't think we will go down, but it looks like most think we will, a nice position to be in really, Wigan defy the odds every season to stay up it's as if they relish the challenge. Anyway, was wondering if anyone has seen this, or any thoughts on it. RLSGM x
http://www.oddschecker.com/football/english/premier-league/next-manager-to-leave-post It's only Stan James that have odds that short for Adkins to leave, which is probably as a reaction to the bullshit rumour that everything's falling apart at Southampton. Nothing to worry about, the odds all the other bookies have are normal for a recently promoted manager. That said, there are some interesting names here: http://www.oddschecker.com/football/football-specials/southampton-specials/next-permanent-manager
Looks like Kean will be the first to go. I'm sure Nicola will give Nigel more than 3 games! Going for Southampton and Adkins can be partly put down to the fact that they always pick on promoted teams as it saves having to give the matter any serious thought. Adkins isn't an inexperienced manager, he is a manager with a proven history of getting players to play above themselves. What they are saying is that you can't succeed in the PL until you've been in the PL....a bit of a Catch-22 there. We have had a great 3 years, so of course our expectations are high but I'm sure we all have a wee small voice telling us it's going to be tough. I still reckon we will be fine if we win those important games against the bottom half sides. I also think the media are taking Adkins positivity too seriously....he doesn't believe we are going to win the league but he believes you should approach every game thinking you can win it.
I'm just saying what i saw for predictions! I think he deserves atleast a full season in the prem, without him we wouldnt be here, and he could turn out to be great. Who knows at the end of the season he may well be the favourite for the Liverpool job after Brendan Rodgers side flops! I think its outrageous how everyone thinks Wham and Reading will do so amazingly and we won't! I think one of the three who went up will go down, but some of the teams at the bottom end of the prem last season have lost a lot of key players and it may well be there time.
Naturally as a newly promoted side we're amongst the favorites to get relegated. So teams which struggle are more likely to ditch their manager. Nationally our chairmans most famous action was to sack Pardew after a 4-0 win, so must be seen as a man who is not afraid to make seemingly rash decisions. As to who i think will get the chop 1st, it's tough to call. No manager is up against it as they're either long serving or new to the job so we might not see anyone go until Christmas time and whoever has had a poor start could find themselves in hot water. Mark Highes or Big Sam would be my picks.
I really couldn't care less what everyone else thinks. We were always going to be one of the favorites for relegation at the start of the season. Hopefully, we'll soon make the media see the error of their ways.
FLT or TSS can correct my recollections of this quote but NC said "No club will ever be relegated whilst I am in charge". I believe him and I should imagine that we won't get relegated with Adkins as manager too.
The media have it in for Cortese because he sacked Pardew (remember the vitriol poured on his head) so they are waiting for him to fail. Sadly for the media, Adkins did rather well so they have decided it's luck and he will certainly fail in the PL. Cortese only gives interviews with papers like the Telegraph and Times...no throwaway remarks on the steps of St Mary's for him...so he's no use for providing headlines. We are an enigma for them...the papers prefer rent-a-quotes like Holloway, Allardyce and Redknapp. We all love Nigel, but he will appear batty to many...but we won't care as long as we get the results.
If he was sacked early there would be uproar, but if we were bottom at Xmas things might be different. Not saying we will be of course, but just pointing out that a manager is only as good as his last few results. I think that managers have to be given time by both their board and by the fans.
If NC wants to make sure we don't struggle to stay up he had better get his cheque book out and support NA in buying players that will strengthen the team quickly. If he doesnt then he can't blame NA for the results!
We are after good players that other teams also want and we are not necessarily first choice for these players. Adkins mentioned a domino effect, which suggests that players may become available as other sales go through. Clubs won't let players go until they've signed a replacement. Not ideal, but suspect there will be a rush of transfers as deadline nears. Just what Adkins didn't want, but that's life.
The odds on Adkins leaving are set low because a lot of money is being placed on it. Money is being placed because punters think that Cortese is twitchy and will want to chop as soon as anything goes wrong, and they think that because he does not bother talking to the press every week and has a private profile. Oh and they don't reckon we can stay up without 21 new signings. In fact, no one has a clue what will happen. So nothing to worry about.
I agree with this, but none of us can say with any confidence that Cortese wouldn't give Adkins the chop if things weren't going well. He was impatient for success and has form. But I think Nige has earned the right to be given a fair chance and if it were to happen I would be very disappointed. These are interesting times. It's not only a test of Adkins' managerial ability but also Cortese's as chairman.
If he rocks up playing 433 against the likes of City, United and Arsenal etc home or away then Adkins is going to crash and burn this season. Those teams are going to teach us a lesson in football if we are arrogant enough to think we can pass them off the park.
You realise the whole point of 4-3-3 is to try to combat the better teams we'll be against... get an extra man in the middle in exchange for a striker and move the wingers forward a bit (but we had very attacking wingers last year anyway). More bodies in the middle without leaving loads of space on the flanks. What do you want us to play, 6-4-0?
