Just having a major argument at work over who is the better manager. Personally Nigel wins for me hands down but if you could turn the clock back and you had the choice who would you pick. My mates are all adamant they would pick Pardew every time!
Well going purely off of hindsight and not hypothetical... Pardew had a season and a bit, the team broke spending records in League One and had the strongest squad on paper by a distance, we missed out on the play-offs by 7 points, with a 10 point deduction. We had the leagues top scorer, the 2nd best scoring record and the 3rd best defensive record and didn't manage promotion. Slightly unfortunate to not make the play-offs but still, not really good enough. We then started the next season poorly and were lulling around by the bottom of the table. Adkins has had two season (ignoring the PL so far), earned successive promotions with an incredible home record, and a style of football revolutionising the team and earning rave reviews. Pardew did not do badly for us by any means, and helped hugely to build the foundations for Nigel to take the reins, and has gone on to have a very good season at Newcastle. But there's no competition for me.
Pardew did well in our first year in League 1...got a cup and just finished outside the play-offs with a start of -10. Could have done better but nothing sackable. Didn't get enough games in the second year to make a judgement. It is horses for courses...Pardew is a good manager, but Adkins gets results and has a proven history of getting all his teams promoted. Adkins gets the best out of the players he has...you could argue that he has money at Saints, but he has also succeeded elsewhere on a tight budget. I have always wondered how good many top managers would be in lower leagues with no money. Pardew would always be looking elsewhere...we are Adkins big chance to show that he is good enough for the PL. Has to be Nigel all the way.
There were barely 11 players left when pardew came in. He had to build the whole club up from the ground such as our scouting network. Such a massive change took time but it clicked in the second half of the season and really built the squad which gained us promotion from league one and had alot to do with our next promotion. Had he stayed I have no doubt we would have gone up from league one that season. The job he has done at newcastle shows what an expert buyer he is and if he was in charge over this summer I think we would have a stronger squad now. However I think Nigel is perhaps a better motivator and I don't know whether pards would have been able to keep the momentum going into the championship like Nige did.
I think the big difference for me is that generally speaking, if things aren't going well in a game, Nigel can change something at half-time or after 60 minutes to make a difference. Obviously this season he has been on a steep learning curve but the signs are good that he is getting to grips with the top flight. In the last two seasons there were loads of examples of us coming out after half-time completely rejuvenated. With AP the biggest moan I remember from people on this board was "there is no Plan B". If the last 2 years hadn't happened, I would still feel the same as I felt when Nigel was first appointed - quite excited that he might be able to do for us what he did twice for Scunny. After the dismal start to the 2010-11 season I was beginning to doubt that AP actually had it in him to get us back to the Championship, let alone 2 consecutive promotions.
Pardew is better than Adkins in some departments and Adkins is better than Pardew in others. Pardew is better on the transfer side of things. Look who he's brought in at Newcastle (and Saints!). However Adkins is better at not falling out with Cortese! One thing I didn't like with Pardew in charge was Lambert taking corners - made no sense whatsoever. I think Adkins is better at tactics and our set pieces have certainly improved under Adkins.
The first game was bad enough, losing at home to Plymouth ffs. And the state a lot of the players were in after preseason was also worrying. And I did say "beginning to doubt" rather than "doubt".
From what i've seen on TV i've never liked Pardew. Seems kinda shifty and emotionless. The only time i recall him smiling was during his post match 'apology' for shoving a linesman. It all appeared to be a forced, devious smile to make light of his poor behaviour. I for one was not sad when he went. Adkins however is either a bloody good actor, or is genuinley enthusiastic about Saints and the work he's doing here. Adkins 100%, wouldnt change him for anyone.
Would we be in the Premiership right now under Pardew? Maybe, but I doubt it. And even if we were, I suspect the job Pardew would have therefore done would only be "as good as" what Adkins has actually done, as opposed to "better than". As for Adkins' transfer record, yes ok this season they maybe haven't exactly come off as well as one would have hoped (£30 million is a lot of money). But Fox, Cork, Hooiveld and Sharp were all big factors in getting us promoted - so the signings we made under Adkins last season were hardly flops. Quite the opposite.
I like the reference to set pieces. We haven't scored from a set piece indirectly since September 2011. And we do the same things every game, we never come close. On the argument I would say Adkins does seem better tactically as with Newcastle, it seems Pardew relies on our match winners. Pards is definitely better than Adkins at managing the transfer/business side of the club though. Sorry if I've been on your board too much. I'm not a WUM!
From a Saints point of view, Adkins hands down but I think to the neutral, Pardew would be named the better manager, purely because he has more of a record than Adkins in the top flight
All are welcome as long as everything is good-hearted pal! I don't disagree with you, I think Nigel this early in his career is not much of a numbers and transfers man, his career is still young and he's still all about his man-management, style of play and tactics. I don't think there is a definitive answer as to who is the 'better manager', as many have already said they are each good at different things. And Pardew is more proven at the higher level, but if given the choice to go back and have a word in Cortese's ear and convince him to keep Pardew, I wouldn't hesitate in rejecting. Worked out well for both clubs, and both managers, after all.
You play better teams and there's more pressure, but it's the same job. Nigel's handled the pressure extremely well in my opinion.
I think that Nigel's more suited to the Football League because of his attacking philosophy and wanting to win every game. His philosophy's the same in the PL which is why we're conceding a lot (albeit scoring a lot) and are quite open.
Well I agree that's definitely his philosophy, but that doesn't really say anything about his ability. He could change his philosophy for this division if he wanted to, but he's decided to stick with it. And to be fair to him, we've played some lovely stuff and deserved more points. He can't take all the blame for the leaky defense, because the players are responsible for their own individual mistakes.
Agree with that Joe! He made a couple of dubious decisions but has shown he sticks to what he believes and learns from his mistakes!
I'd say that fits nicely in with Pardew's time us: Plan A - Get the ball to Lambert, he'll score for us. Long ball, short ball, medium ball, just get the ball to Lambert. Plan B - Um...what plan B?
