Is Adkins the right choice?

[Denver Royal]

"Adkins is easily the best choice...nobody else was close...he was the only option available given the situation we were in..."

Not sure thats true, but lets say it is. That being the case, I'm trying to reconcile the notion that, when we were on our little search of ours, how we had 'done things right, we have handled things well, we were in a good position, things were going well, no worries' ?

I mean, if Adkins is that good but had turned us down (which according to some reports he initially did), we'd have dug quite a hole for ourselves and been in a pickle had we then had to settle and search and wait for (a very distant) 2nd best option.

[sandman]

I think Nigel Adkins is a good appointment - because he is a similar sort of manager to McDermott.

Nigel mentioned "moving on" four times in his brief interview at the press conference.

"We move on". Welcome Brian Mk II.

Don't say that! He's a revolutionary, who is going to change the club completely and is in no way like Brian don't you know.

[Millsy]

At the end of the day no one really knows anything. Saints fans are as divided as we are over Adkins and Brian.

Every situation is different, every club is different. Look at Pardew and Rodgers, failing at some places, succeeding at others. The idea that certain managers are gods who will always succeed everywhere is BS.

Yes Brian was ok and will likely do well. Although perhaps his success was due to him knowing so many of the players... He may well slip like McGhee did bu i think its unlikely.

Yes Adkins is good. Anyone who tries to ignore two successive promotions is daft. The guy they replaced him with at Soton is not doing much better (aren't they in a lower league position now anyway?).

So we've lost one good manager and we have another. People will argue one is better than the other but at the end of the ay Adkins is a fair bet at least.

But my point on the main thread stands: even though id rather Brian wasnt ever sacked this change had to happen, if Only because Anton wantd it to. As a result we'll see him give Adkins the investment we've been crying out for since Team 106. If Brian had all that money anyway then even more reason for him to have gone for not knowing what to do with it.

Either way this is a positive change and as far as I'm concerned Adkins is the best signing we could have possibly made, after Curbishley of course.

[Muskrat]

Never wanted Brian to leave and strongly disagreed with his sacking. Also not convinced that Adkins will deliver. One thing is for sure, however much money he's given he will spend every penny of it, increasing the club's debts by millions so we'd better hope he lives up to the hype.

Having said all of that he's here now and he's our manager and as I support Reading, by definition I will support our manager. I suppose

[blueroyals]

I dunno. Seems strange how he rejected us first - and presumably only came here when we came back and chucked loads of money at him. With transfers that's a given, but managers?

[Millsy]

Pleased.

Four promotions under his belt - at least twice as good a track-record as any manager RFC have ever appointed - and his sides play good football, Southampton's 1-0 win against us back in November was extremely flattering.....for Reading.

Spent a lot? Well, mainly in the Prem but - newsflash - thats what you kind of have to do to stay in this league. Points-wise, Saints cushion to survival under their new bloke is no greater now then it was under Adkins.

I like his positive attitude, handles the media well and clearly has something about him. Well done to all concerned at Reading FC for securing this.

Come on, who's hacked into Floyd's account?

To be fair he's always been pro Adkins certainly vs Poyet.

[RoyalBlue]

Interesting that in the previous poll 45% thought it was wrong to sack McDermott and 45% thought it was the right decision. Now 53% think it was right to sack McDermott and are happy with the choice of Adkins whereas only 6% say McDermott should not have been sacked, full stop.

[loyalroyal4life]

I think Nigel Adkins is a good appointment - because he is a similar sort of manager to McDermott.

Nigel mentioned "moving on" four times in his brief interview at the press conference.

"We move on". Welcome Brian Mk II.

Haha very true!

[Ascotexgunner]

For me he was the only manager on the list I wanted. Not afraid to flash the cash either. It was a bold decision by Anton to say it was Brians fault yesterday for not spending. Wonder what the reality of that was.

[melonhead]

I dunno. Seems strange how he rejected us first - and presumably only came here when we came back and chucked loads of money at him. With transfers that's a given, but managers?

A. that "FACT" comes from desperate journo's who have to fill columns with baseless drivel-no idea if true or not
B. in any negotiation you never ever accept the first offer

[Vision]

Like a few I'm intrigued rather than overwhelmed by this but in our situation he's probably what we could expect.

Oddly though people seem to be referring to his transfer prowess or being not afraid to "splash the cash" as a main attribute but I'm not convinced of this. I'm not an expert of saints and i may have got this wrong but as far as I can tell he inherited the vast majority of his back to back promotion team (and still a major part of the Premiership team) either through Pardew's signings or talented Academy players. Given Cortese's control freakery and connections I'm not convinced how much Adkins will have had to do with the Ramirez signing either and frankly if McD had spunked 7m on Jay Rodriguez for the return he's given so far there would be plenty of questions asked. Which kind of leaves us with Clyne and possibly Cork as good signings but both very much within a McD/Hammond budget and template.

His strengths to me seem to be in his ability to develop youngsters and encourage positive attractive football whilst still getting results. The fact that he's proved he can be successful at a side where resources are low as well as one where the expectations and pressure are higher is what encourages me the most.

[Ouroboros]

Setting football aside, can we all at least agree that Adkins seems like a total helmet of a bloke compared to McDermott?

Oh Maguire.

[Arch]

Interesting that in the previous poll 45% thought it was wrong to sack McDermott and 45% thought it was the right decision. Now 53% think it was right to sack McDermott and are happy with the choice of Adkins whereas only 6% say McDermott should not have been sacked, full stop.

Slightly selective reading of the polls. In the first poll 45% think he should not have been sacked and in this poll 43% say he should not have been sacked. That seems like within the margin of error. In the other poll, 45 % said he should have been sacked and 6 % said they didn't know. In this poll 54 % say he should have been. That's compatible with the don't knows making up their minds. So no great puzzle here.

[Royal91]

Setting football aside, can we all at least agree that Adkins seems like a total helmet of a bloke compared to McDermott?

Oh Maguire.

Thought he was a smug prick at Southampton, but that was out of pure jealously they were playing the more attractive and dominant football.

Now he's ours he seems like a class act, like Brian!

[Tommy Youlden's Ears]

I hope I grow to worship at his feet...but for now Adkins still seems a cringeworthy interbreeding of David Brent and a badminton-playing geography teacher. I used to wince at his interviews when he wasn't ours, now I just want to shrivel in shame.

He's a man without charisma, but who thinks he has it.

On the one hand, don't judge a book by its cover etc. On the other - what looks like twat and smells like twat is usually twat.

[Royal Ginger]

Interesting that in the previous poll 45% thought it was wrong to sack McDermott and 45% thought it was the right decision. Now 53% think it was right to sack McDermott and are happy with the choice of Adkins whereas only 6% say McDermott should not have been sacked, full stop.

Very little has changed really. 43% still believe that Brian's sacking was wrong, and 54% believe it was right. All that has happened is those who were sitting on the fence have jumped off when they've seen the replacement.

[Extended-Phenotype]

I like the irony of continually repeating a joke about McD continually repeating a phrase.

[sandman]

Setting football aside, can we all at least agree that Adkins seems like a total helmet of a bloke compared to McDermott?

Oh Maguire.

Thought he was a smug prick at Southampton, but that was out of pure jealously they were playing the more attractive and dominant football.

Now he's ours he seems like a class act, like Brian!

'greed I was real jealous of the way they were playing whilst we were winning the league.

[Royalee]

Definitely the right choice.

[mumbo-jumbo]

I felt disappointed yesterday, but have felt strangely excited today. I think his optimism and cheeky smile is growing on me and we will learn to love his little 'scouser' accent and the way he says football. Welcome Nigel.