by Sanguine »
28 Nov 2013 11:27
Woodcote Royal In which case, McDermott couldn't have been "doing a particulary bad job" to be the Premiership Manager of the month for January with a very similar squad before he was sacked February.
Some thought he was, I know I didn't - but nor did I think he was the man to take the club forward any further. Adkins came in and couldn't keep us up, but in my opinion had us playing better football at that level than we were under Brian.
His record in the Championship isn't bad at all - only 3 defeats in 16, and not far off 4th spot isn't bad for a team that has only performed as well as many of us think it can in fits and spurts. I don't think Nigel quite has the squad he wants, and I don't think he is necessarily to blame for that but in bringing in Williams, Drenthe, Bridge, and the two loan signings he has improved the options available to him.
I think it's pretty ridiculous to look at the league table and state that you have to be 'up Nige's arse' not to think he is doing a bad job. He simply isn't. In many respects, this league is very competitive - all of the squads around us include a lot of talent (if you base things on names alone, QPR shouldn't have dropped a point yet, they have a Premier League squad). My personal opinion is that we have missed Drenthe and (based only a few cameos) Williams, who are attacking players who can make a different around the box and bring players like little lost Alfie into the game, as well as give Pog some more options once he has held the ball up for the 500th time in the match.
Fwiw I think Adkins' biggest mistake thus far is Jobi's general exclusion from the team, he is another player who imho makes a difference in attack.