Adkins Sacked - Not a Wind Up

[RoyallyFcuked]

When you think about it we could have easily ended up at least mid table under Adkins this season, and isnt that what many of us thought was a realistic target for this season, taking into account our young side and the injuries problems etc.?

Adkins didnt do a particularly bad job last season, it was the fact we missed out on the last day and came 7th with it being there for the taking all season, that made it all the more gutting. Obviously we want to be higher but don't forget that in Coppell's first season we came 9th after losing in the play offs the season before, and in his second season we came in an equally gutting 7th after going on a terrible run and blowing it. We know what happened after that, but also remember the promotion season under McDermott, we were in 10th place at this stage and just 5pts better off. We could have gone on a run after Christmas this season like we did in 2010/11 in 2011/12, seems unlikely but it didn't look likely in those seasons either.

Like I said I was a bit surprised we sacked Adkins as soon as we did, but also felt the same when Rodgers and McDermott were fired. So yes, on this basis perhaps McDermott did deserve more time. Now with hindsight its easy to say he shouldn't have been sacked, but at the time Adkins looked like a good move for the future and for a while it looked the correct decision.

Maybe managers don't get enough time these days, but I guess its about how the board and the fans feel at the time. Anyway I think some may have a point about unrealistic expectations and fans becoming too accustomed to our recent successes, and thats now coming from someone who's been a fan only in the Mad Stad era.

In a way it's encouraging to see the board decide it wants better for us asap and aims to be in the Premier League, but the trouble is we expect our managers to do it spending next to no money because we've done it twice already, but its becoming harder to do. Of course the whole ownership situation and overpaid players doesn't help either.
Still, I'm happy with Steve Clarke. Good luck to him, he will need it.

[Woodcote Royal]

McDermott's sacking WAS justified though. He lost his way in the PL, ran out of ideas and made some poor decisions. Kept playing the same out of form players week in week out and spent his post match interviews moaning about 50/50 decisions rather than addressing the fact we'd underperformed and been outplayed in nearly every game. We wernt seeing any improvement, in fact we were getting worse. If you think Adkins sacking was deserved for those two reasons at least, then so was McDermott's.

You are living proof that there is just no limit to the amount of utter sh*te people are prepared to post on these pages

Saddled with the near impossible task of keeping a team that should never got within touching distance of it, in the Premiership, simply because he'd achieved the near impossible task of getting them there in the first place, McDermott was sacked a month after achieving the near miracle of winning Premiership Manager of The Month with his motley crew of (mostly) Championship players.

If this constituted "loosing his way" in the top flight, we've just spent 20 months in the wilderness with Moses

[winchester_royal]

The main issue with the Adkins tenure wasn't necessarily the results, though they were poor, but more the atmosphere that was building around the club. While we haven't been pulling up trees this season I don't think our current position demanded change, but the decreasing crowds and lack of atmsphere from those who turned up made it inevitable.

It wasn't working, we weren't progressing, the fans had long given up on him - we would have survived this season with I'm sure, but at what cost? It would have taken a long time for Adkins to turn it around, whereas a new manager could bring that shock to the system freshness that will speed up that process of turning it around.

[Man Friday]

McDermott's sacking WAS justified though. He lost his way in the PL, ran out of ideas and made some poor decisions. Kept playing the same out of form players week in week out and spent his post match interviews moaning about 50/50 decisions rather than addressing the fact we'd underperformed and been outplayed in nearly every game. We wernt seeing any improvement, in fact we were getting worse. If you think Adkins sacking was deserved for those two reasons at least, then so was McDermott's.

You are living proof that there is just no limit to the amount of utter sh*te people are prepared to post on these pages

Saddled with the near impossible task of keeping a team that should never got within touching distance of it, in the Premiership, simply because he'd achieved the near impossible task of getting them there in the first place, McDermott was sacked a month after achieving the near miracle of winning Premiership Manager of The Month with his motley crew of (mostly) Championship players.

If this constituted "loosing his way" in the top flight, we've just spent 20 months in the wilderness with Moses

Quite right. Also, they weren't "50-50" decisions he was moaning about. As a small club we had 3 to 4 key refereeing decisions go against us that cost us 6-7 points (including the Chelsea game at the beginning and the Villa game at the end). He had every right to stick up for his club in an attempt to minimise the chance of such outrages happening in the future. All futile of course as it is for every small or non-fashionable club in the PL. And no, it doesn't balance out - the only time I can recall us benefitting from poor refereeing was against Everton when we had a very soft penalty awarded to us (and I think they had a good pen shout turned down).

[RoyallyFcuked]

The main issue with the Adkins tenure wasn't necessarily the results, though they were poor, but more the atmosphere that was building around the club. While we haven't been pulling up trees this season I don't think our current position demanded change, but the decreasing crowds and lack of atmsphere from those who turned up made it inevitable.

It wasn't working, we weren't progressing, the fans had long given up on him - we would have survived this season with I'm sure, but at what cost? It would have taken a long time for Adkins to turn it around, whereas a new manager could bring that shock to the system freshness that will speed up that process of turning it around.

Agree with the majority of your post, but is the highlighted part not almost exactly what many thought would happen when we sacked McD and replaced him with Adkins? I know no one was really expecting him to save us from relegation, but it was mainly for the future and rebuilding process that was needed, and it looked like a positive move. We were in a bad place and who knows what would have happened if McD had stayed. Would we have been fighting for promotion the following season? I think not...would we have even missed out on the play offs and come 7th like we eventually did? It just wouldnt have been the same, just like it wouldnt have been if we had brought him back in instead of Clarke this week.

Many believed McD was showing he was inept at that level and that his tactics and one dimensional style was what was limiting us, although it was also down to the fact our squad just wasnt strong enough. I don't think McD bought particularly well with the money he did get in the PL either, but I know a lot of that wasn't down to him.

You are living proof that there is just no limit to the amount of utter sh*te people are prepared to post on these pages

Saddled with the near impossible task of keeping a team that should never got within touching distance of it, in the Premiership, simply because he'd achieved the near impossible task of getting them there in the first place, McDermott was sacked a month after achieving the near miracle of winning Premiership Manager of The Month with his motley crew of (mostly) Championship players.

If this constituted "loosing his way" in the top flight, we've just spent 20 months in the wilderness with Moses

Quite right. Also, they weren't "50-50" decisions he was moaning about. As a small club we had 3 to 4 key refereeing decisions go against us that cost us 6-7 points (including the Chelsea game at the beginning and the Villa game at the end). He had every right to stick up for his club in an attempt to minimise the chance of such outrages happening in the future. All futile of course as it is for every small or non-fashionable club in the PL. And no, it doesn't balance out - the only time I can recall us benefitting from poor refereeing was against Everton when we had a very soft penalty awarded to us (and I think they had a good pen shout turned down).

@Woodcote I take your "impossible task" point but no matter what anyone says, McD's team selections and tactics let him down that season (not quite to the extent of our owners/board etc but that's not the point). Refused to drop his favourite out of form players and had no plan B at all, which was a shame because we actually converted a fairly high percentage of the few chances we created that season (much like the season before), a change or two in more ways than one could have really helped. It seems strange to say but we didnt really deserve to win that many of the games we did win in those two seasons.

@Man Friday, think your being too biased. I agree bigger teams get favoured by refs over small teams and it doesnt always even itself out, but on more than one occasion it seemed like McD was using refereeing desisions (and honestly a lot of them were 50/50s) as an excuse and/or to divert attention from our poor performances, and I just don't think it was necessary half the time.

Of course it was never going to be easy to keep us that season. I think a really good manager could have done it, but your average one couldnt have, and thats what McDermott is. Having said that, I don't we could have acquired a manager good enough for the task at hand that season, so in a way I agree that his sacking was a bit unfair but still, he didnt help himself.

Also, they've gone pretty quiet now, but there were enough people on here saying it was time for him to go during the season (the final straw was the home defeats against Wigan and Villa), and for the record I dont even think I was one of those people (particularly). Like I said, I was quite surprised when he got sacked. But there are some selective memories about to say the least.

[Norfolk Royal]

Nigel AdkinsVerified account
‏@TheNigelAdkins 'Guten Morgen', utilising the opportunity to Educate and Exercise before the next managerial chapter begins, learning a new language is fun.

[blueroyals]

He won't have to learn much. "Positive" in German is "positiv".

[mambo3]

Nigel AdkinsVerified account
‏@TheNigelAdkins 'Guten Morgen', utilising the opportunity to Educate and Exercise before the next managerial chapter begins, learning a new language is fun.

He should take a course in Man Management skills, just had a thought Adkins working for SKY Sports.