Article: CONFIRMED: Mauricio Pochettino replaces Nigel Adkins as Saints manager | Southampton FC, Football

now that I have slept on yesterday's decision and in the cold light of day and now that some of the dust has settled, I now think it was still a fecking joke.

I woke this morning and thought I had had a bad dream _ then it all came flooding back. I don't now and don't think I ever will understand this decision.

one reason that seems to be going round is that Adkins was not high profile enough. has football changed so much from when Ferguson went from Aberdeen to utd or moyes went from Preston to Everton and is Brandon Rodgers high profile enough for Liverpool. do you really have to be a mate of mourinho to succeed in this league

I think what stinks is that cortese has obviously been in talks for a while whilst poor old nige has been working his socks off getting very good results.

today's papers talk about a player's revolt and clearly this has been a shock to all fans.

its not the new guys fault (can't yet get the strength to type his name) I would be very happy today if he was our new manager because nige had gone of to his dream job and this is an exciting replacement but the way it's been done tarnishes the name of Southampton football club

yes I like the ambition but it's the way we go about things. I don't want us to be a mini Chelsea riding roughshod through the league.

this is a new chapter in our history and we are at a bit of a crossroads. I hope we continue down the right road.

Nigel Adkins thank you and I really wish you well for the future. you are top class and Will be a high profile manager.

cortese, book you slot on the next Oprah Winfrey show and confess.

fans, let's keep United and we have a new song after Adkins and pardew

sack when we're winning
we only sack when we're winning

I'm going back to bed

 

It still feels like a family bereavement to me. On every possible level this is a bad decision. I'll probably get over it but right now I would rather stick with Adkins and win nothing than win the European Cup with a bunch of mercenaries.

It feels that in one move the soul has been ripped from the club.

 

I actually disagree with you on this one. I for one feel a whole lot worse about this situation. I know it is somewhat illogical but it feels like we have become the sort of club I hate with one act. We were still 'Southampton' back then. We may have been crap but we were trying to do the right thing i.e. spend what we could afford and not do a Pompey. OK it didn't work out and we hard some worrying times.

I have said elsewhere that this feels like a family bereavement. Melodramatic maybe, but thats how it is.

 

It was a business decision and we have to move on. I loved Nigel and will be grateful forever for what he did here but I love the club more. We need to get behind the team and try to put this behind us. Cortese hasn't made many bad decisions time will tell if this is his first! I pray not!

 

I'm sorry you feel you have been taken advantage of, but, seriously?

If you are a saints fan, support the team, if you aren't anymore then **** off and stop bitching about my club.

 

For probably the first time ever, I'm going to disagree with you Fran. We are in a strong position now and would find other buyers if it came to that. I don't think that Cortese would have made this decision if Marcus had been alive.

I agree with the rest of what you said though. I'm sure Cortese believes he is acting for the good of the club. I just believe it is a bad decision.

 

Agree with Fran. Nigel was not the long term man for NC, A business decision with no emotion. You all know I loved the guy but we need to show the world on Monday that we love our club!

 

Cortese really really wants us to be a top 6 PL side. He didn't think Nigel could achieve that. He thinks the new man will!

 

As I said on another thread. NC thinks the new man will make us a top 6 PL side. I hope and pray he's right!

 

Good post. We can all disagree with Mr Corteses decision but we wouldn't be here without him, he is the one who convinced Markus to invest and he has made good decisions up to now, hopefully this one will be a good one as well - even if we can't see it for now.

 

Yes and many of us can't but time will prove if he is wrong. We will never forget what Nigel did for our club but as Fran rightly pointed out on another thread we'd be screwed without him!

 

Markus took a pretty big back seat in the day to day running of the club didn't he? I would have thought he would backed pretty much anything Cortese had said as long as he gave a valid business reason and he could argue he has one here - to further the clubs future prospects. Yes its a gamble but I don't think for a second that Markus would have stopped him.

 

Maybe he'll bring Mourinho with him!

 

Or lack thereof!

 

I hadn't been on line and had missed the first 109 posts on this thread, so the shock when it was announced on Skysports News was a bombshell, how could I have not seen it coming? In the cold light of day, I still don't understand it. However it is done and there is nowt that I can do about it, except to say thank you Nigel Adkins, it's been a roller coaster ride, but I have enjoyed most of it! Welcome, Mauricio, let's see what you are made of, it is a difficult act to follow, but we have to trust you to carry on the work.

 

Yes a new era. Let's hope it as successful as Nigel's!

 

Still trying to get my head around why Cortese has taken this decision. I can't help but think back to when Adkins was interviewed after the West Ham match. When asked if he had thought about playing 4-4-2 he said Saints don't play that way, they play the Southampton way which was at the time one up top. That game cried out for J rod and Rickie upfront but one was taken off for the other.

I believe the idea for the whole club is for every team from the kids through to the first team to play the same formation. This is Cortese's vision I guess and he wants to buy players that will fit into this.

What if Adkins didn't go along with this, he may have been an advocate of 4-4-2 which got us promoted and may not have been comfortable or know how to play this new formation. This could even go some way in explaining some of the weird substitutions. If Nigel and Cortese have clashed over formations and even siginings then this would explain it.

For a long time there have been rumours that Cortese picks the team and does all the transfers. This is probably going a bit far but he is the Chairman and its his vision to play a certain formation with certain players. If Nigel disagreed then this is probably why the change has been made.

After all Abramovich has wanted players the managers didn't want (Schevchenko and Torres) and sacked managers for not playing the way he wanted regardless of what they have won.

Those are my jumbled thoughts anyway. ha!

One other point. Nigel was a relative unknown after Pardew was sacked and a lot of people failed to understand that decision. Look at the success he has had in 2 1/2 years. If this new bloke can improve us as much we will be in the Champions League!

 

That last sentence sums up why Nigel has gone. NC believes we can!

 

He will have to be magician to turn this PR blunder around!

 

It's a controversial & perhaps harsh thought but Pardew was sacked after the death of Markus.
It seems that Nicola became more ruthless since his death. I think Markus as the owner of a family business would have been a lot more conscience of the opinions of the fans and may have stopped decisions which would have been unpopular.