Nigel Adkins - new manager

[Big Ern]

Add me to your list. Appointing Adkins would be like not sacking Macd after he had spent £25m last summer

So he needed £25million to improve a team that finished below us last season to get them to relative safety this season.

Looks like money well spent to me.

So, are we saying Adkins is a better manager because he spent money or because he actually had money to spend?

I do remember people lolling before the season started about the price Southampton had paid for players and how ridiculous it was.

Is anyone on the forum 100% sure whether there was or wasn't money?

£25 million isn't actually that much in Prem terms and is probably easier to waste than spend well.

I am certain the only ones laughing are wearing red and white at the moment.

Your defence of Brian is admirable, however we are where we are, Brian ain't coming back so we should look forward as opposed to trying to compare a potential new manager with th old one. Brian's gone, we wish him well but get over it.

[Royal With Cheese]

I'm not sure I'm defending McD or attacking Adkins. I'm genuinely interested in the debate around the money Adkins had opposed to McD.

All I hope is that any manager coming in guarantees a level of spending as part of their package.

[Royal With Cheese]

And big Ern, I fully accept McD is gone. Such is life. We move on.

[winchester_royal]

Results > football.

In general the two will diverge to the same long run level.

Anyone with half a brain could see the way we were getting results last season would not be sustainable in a better league. We did just enough to win games, and McDermott should be lauded to the end of the earth for the way he got results from the team last season, but at very few points in the season did we look in a different league to other teams in the Championship.

[RockheadRumple]

Results > football.

But Football = Results in the prem

[Royalwaster]

Not a massive fan of Adkins as a person but I'll give him time to prove himself, If he saves us from the drop he'll be my new favourite, if he makes a good start to life in the Championship next year he'll be a solid decision for a new manager.

Admittedly I don't quite understand sacking McDermott for someone who's not a) a whole lot better b) a complete change but there we go.

Am I missing something, but he's not joined yet has he?

[Bandini]

Anyway I saw Murty at the stadium yesterday along with SJM

Nicely done, Simon's Church.

[Elm Park Pasty]

I must admit I really didn't know a lot about Adkins, other than him being at Southampton, and coming from Scunthorpe. I just looked at his stats on Wiki (always to be trusted ) but the guy has won promotions wherever he has been, even from being a Bangor City his first appoinment. Seems to have something about him so why not?

(and if nothing else, as a trained physio we should get a better quality 'injury' excuse if he is appointed )

[Ouroboros]

I'm not the one being obtuse. How is it a "lucky" win when there weren't any controversial decisions, sendings off, penalties etc. We went away to Southampton in a de facto title decider and stuck three past them. Textbook away performance.

Fair enough.

How would you say that game reflects upon the two managers (and let's put to one side the fact that McDermott was coping without key players)?

I would say that although McDermott deserved great credit for gambling on an additional striker late on, the balance of play was so overwhelming that it largely vindicated Adkins despite the final result. I think if the Reading side of late last season played against that Southampton side 10 times they would have lost more than they won.

Again, the players we were missing on that day are a mitigating factor, but I think the balance of play wouldn't have been so different with a full strength Reading team.

[The Goat was fed]

Brian McDermott completely murked Adkins managerially last season. I don't see how he represents anything more than a step sideways.

[Royalwaster]

Brian McDermott completely murked Adkins managerially last season. I don't see how he represents anything more than a step sideways.

In results but not in style of play, surely?

[floyd__streete]

How would you say that game reflects upon the two managers (and let's put to one side the fact that McDermott was coping without key players)?

I would say that although McDermott deserved great credit for gambling on an additional striker late on, the balance of play was so overwhelming that it largely vindicated Adkins despite the final result. I think if the Reading side of late last season played against that Southampton side 10 times they would have lost more than they won.

Again, the players we were missing on that day are a mitigating factor, but I think the balance of play wouldn't have been so different with a full strength Reading team.

Hob Nob Anyone - the only fans website where games played 11 months ago are analysed in depth

[winchester_royal]

Brian McDermott completely murked Adkins managerially last season. I don't see how he represents anything more than a step sideways.

'Completely murked'? Rofl.

Brian ended up on top by a couple of points, hardly a murking, especially considering our wage budget was higher than theirs last season.

[winchester_royal]

Not to mention they'd just come up from L1 while we were play-off finalists the year before.

[Ian Royal]

We won the league, not because we were the best team, but because we were the third best team, under little real pressure, putting the best two teams under lots of pressure, on top of the pressure they were putting on each other. And they cracked mentally under the strain allowing us to take points off them away and steal ahead. I'd say our superb run of form could be better described as being ruthlessly efficient at grinding out points rather being clearly the best team in the matches we played on a regular basis.

When it comes down to it, if we hadn't out psyched our nearest rivals (and Brighton) and really upped our game against them, we wouldn't have been Champions. It was almost a text book way for a slightly inferior team to steal the title and we executed it near perfectly. Take nothing away from McDermott and the players, it was a superb achievement. But Saints should have won the league.

[winchester_royal]

We won the league, not because we were the best team, but because we were the third best team, under little real pressure, putting the best two teams under lots of pressure, on top of the pressure they were putting on each other. And they cracked mentally under the strain allowing us to take points off them away and steal ahead. I'd say our superb run of form could be better described as being ruthlessly efficient at grinding out points rather being clearly the best team in the matches we played on a regular basis.

When it comes down to it, if we hadn't out psyched our nearest rivals (and Brighton) and really upped our game against them, we wouldn't have been Champions. It was almost a text book way for a slightly inferior team to steal the title and we executed it near perfectly. Take nothing away from McDermott and the players, it was a superb achievement. But Saints should have won the league.

Oooh Mags isn't gonna like that

[Ian Royal]

I'll cry about that later.

[paultheroyal]

We won the league, not because we were the best team, but because we were the third best team, under little real pressure, putting the best two teams under lots of pressure, on top of the pressure they were putting on each other. And they cracked mentally under the strain allowing us to take points off them away and steal ahead. I'd say our superb run of form could be better described as being ruthlessly efficient at grinding out points rather being clearly the best team in the matches we played on a regular basis.

When it comes down to it, if we hadn't out psyched our nearest rivals (and Brighton) and really upped our game against them, we wouldn't have been Champions. It was almost a text book way for a slightly inferior team to steal the title and we executed it near perfectly. Take nothing away from McDermott and the players, it was a superb achievement. But Saints should have won the league.

Do you know what Ian? .... I agree with all of that. Fair play to you.

[AWNIAPS]

Nigel Adkins now 1/1 odds on skybet

[Skin]

Dolan 7/2.