Mancini will probably be in trouble. Went onto pitch to remonstrate with referee...could be regarded as inflammatory.
On the subject of signigs, your theory is backed up by his denial of Maya Yoshida ... to be signed days later
Been obvious for ages. Its a panel of three, Cortese, Reed & Adkins. Nigel is third in that list for a reason, he has the smallest say out of that group and I believe that only Billy Sharp & Steve Davis were on Adkins list that we ended up signing.
Haha, well thanks for the measured compliment. I just think in the absence of any clear evidence it's easy to jump to conclusions. We don't know the outcome of this meeting, so it essentially must be disregarded. Until I see clear evidence that Adkins is on the way out I'll continue to believe he is safe. Obviously our poor form means he's less safe but I see nothing that makes me think he's imminently going. He might be of course, but if that is the case it's unlikely we'll know until afterwards. Technically he sacked Mark Wotte too, though he gave him a nice new contract first which was thoroughly decent of him.
The summer signings were very good, on the whole, apart from the obvious proven centre-back omission, but let's face it, as manager it is Adkins responsibility to kick up a fuss if he doesn't feel we are strong enough in a certain position. He obviously thought not much of it. IT IS HIS FAULT that the defence is not good enough, end of. In addition the decision to let Hammond go, and replace him with a 17 year old boy was bordering on insanity. Even if Hammond wasn't going to be a first-teamer, his presence in the dressing room would have been very important and would have provided some much needed continuity from the team spirit we had last year. And he is the sort of player you need to bring on to defend a leading position (ie; Man City, Man Utd). I love Adkins as much as the next person, but that does not mean he escapes criticism. That said, I don't think he should be sacked either. He was guilty of being naive, but that is it. He is still learning and he is a quality manager, so we do have to hold on to him.
That was decent in a way. It gave Wotte something for his time at Saints, instead of just being cast adrift. Hard man that Cortese, eh..! Nothing technical about it though. He's sacked two. Mind you, that puts to bed the theory that he only sacks managers after a win.
I really hope not!! 24hrs after getting back from West Brom, my view hasn't changed at all - Adkins is still the best for the job, that is all
To add to Pass the football's response...the fact we have no points at all away from home makes your reply even more laughable. A point would have been miraculous comparing our away record with their home one. How can we be a league one team? No one could ever think that. We've just come up automatically two years running.
While I agree mostly with your post, I do wonder that Hammond leaving could have been because he wanted regular first team football and not to sit on the bench or be just a member of the squad. I feel Hammond could have offered a role in some games this season as his often unnoticed position of importance in the defence has been missing this season.
Hammond would become centre back or full back filling in if we got exposed. Very clever thinker. Ran all day for the team, didn't throw away possession , played the simply passes, did the dirty work. Schneiderlin would sit infront of the defence when Hammond filled into defence and we looked so much more solid defending counter attacks. Such an underrated player. I agree he went for first team football. Must have felt really let down by Adkins and Southampton to be cast aside so quickly. Piss take really how badly he was treated picking a 17 year old over him is a joke considering he was captain.
