Adkins - Pros and Cons

[Schards#2]

I can't think of a team in the history of football that has prospered while there has been problems with the ownership, most (Portsmouth, Blackpool, Birmingham, Barnet, Coventry etc) plummet in the wrong direction.

Throughout Adkins reign the ownership issue has been shambolic and there has been no money to spend (other than what Zigaravitch appears to have spent out on his own selections). It is folly to ignore this when judging Adkins record which, in the circumstances, has been pretty good.

The main reasons I hear why people don't go is because the football is crap and boring, and the players don't care and have no affection for the club. Whilst we are not currently winning week in week out, the football is now extremely attractive and entertaining plus we are fielding 5-6 former acadamy players every game. I would imagine this is the highest ratio of any club in the division.

With the ownership issue settled, I expect us to kick on over the next 12-18 months and hope Adkins is at the helm throughout.

Good football>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>irritating post match interview style

[Extended-Phenotype]

Seemed to me individual mistakes by Pearce and Obita cost us 3 points in an otherwise decent performance yesterday.

Progress has been slow but even Adkins biggest critics would have to admit that big factors in this would be the injury crisis and ownership/financial issues.

We are starting to see performances coming together. Good passing, attacking football with plenty of chances and goal being scored.

The results will follow. Once a few issues at the back have been ironed out, we look a surprisingly decent side. Our midfield looks strong, our strikers are scoring; I think things are on the right track.

[Pepe the Horseman]

Agree with all of the above.

[tidus_mi2]

Also you'd just have to see Pearce after a win or anytime he scores a goal for a player who loves the club, probably my favourite player at the moment even when he has a dodgy game.

[Silver Fox]

It doesn't really matter how shit the pcunt is, he's always going to have people lining up making excuses for him it seems

[KC Royal]

One frustration I have with Adkins is that sometimes he can be too tactical and over complicate things with his subs. Yesterday I would say it was the team spirit that got us the result rather than his decisions. I hope yesterday was a one-off as from the few games I've seen this season plus the comments that have been made in here during the games his subs haven't really been a problem this season. In fact i'd say the opposite if anything.

I'll admit I wasn't a fan of him last season, but i'm much happier with him this season, very positive signs. I haven't been able to warm to him though and not sure that's going to change. Don't really have a problem with his positivity though even if he can go a bit too far at times.

[Zana Badawi]

Seemed to me individual mistakes by Pearce and Obita cost us 3 points in an otherwise decent performance yesterday.

To what would you attribute the 'individual mistakes'?
For me, two of the goals we conceded were after the break when we were a mess. If the team allows itself to be pressurised then individual mistakes will occur, no?
Similarly we allowed a late goal when Wolves turned up the heat a bit. We cracked as a UNIT, panicked and the mistakes happened.

If the players are panicking and/or not really confident or sure of what they are doing then NA has to shoulder some of the responsibility.

Progress has been slow but even Adkins biggest critics would have to admit that big factors in this would be the injury crisis and ownership/financial issues..

Agreed, but there is some concern about how long it is taking for some players to return to full fitness and, surely, this is within NA's remit as well?

The results will follow.

Maybe.

Once a few issues at the back have been ironed out, we look a surprisingly decent side. Our midfield looks strong, our strikers are scoring; I think things are on the right track.

We've had issues at the back for the whole of NAs tenure (you could argue we've had issues since Gorkss lost his yard of pace) when is NA going to get around to it? Strikers will improve massively if/when we get Murray. I also think we have a decent midfield but there's an awful lot of round hole/square pegging going on.

[floyd__streete]

negs
er...

So you can think of no negatives over the last 18 months of steady decline and failure

Right-o, Ian.

[winchester_royal]

negs
er...

So you can think of no negatives over the last 18 months of steady decline and failure

Right-o, Ian.

18 months of steady decline? I think the club and team is in a far better position than it was 12 months ago, and even if it wasn't the massive instability created by the fall of the Zingarevich regime means that very little blame should be passed on to Adkins.

Give him the time and opportunity to build a team based on stability and long term planning and we'll then be able to come to a proper conclusion on this thread. If in 12 months there's been no progress then I'll happily join in with the dissention (assuming the Thais don't do a runner), but until then..how about we all just cut the guy some slack and give him a chance? He's done absolutely nothing to deserve some of the ridiculous name calling on this site, most of which is coming from posters who really should know better.

[floyd__streete]

18 months of steady decline? I think the club and team is in a far better position than it was 12 months ago

Q: so you think we'll finish as high as the 7th place we snatched from the jaws of achievement last season

[winchester_royal]

18 months of steady decline? I think the club and team is in a far better position than it was 12 months ago

Q: so you think we'll finish as high as the 7th place we snatched from the jaws of achievement last season

A: I think we'll be there or thereabouts, yes.

However the more pertinent question is whether I think the club is moving in a direction that will, in the long run, give them a better chance of being a sustainable PL club than the way it was going 12 months ago, and the answer to that is an emphatic yes. I think we're playing 'better' football this season, with a considerably younger squad, and we have our best players from last season still to return.

[Royalwaster]

I can't think of a team in the history of football that has prospered while there has been problems with the ownership, most (Portsmouth, Blackpool, Birmingham, Barnet, Coventry etc) plummet in the wrong direction.

Throughout Adkins reign the ownership issue has been shambolic and there has been no money to spend (other than what Zigaravitch appears to have spent out on his own selections). It is folly to ignore this when judging Adkins record which, in the circumstances, has been pretty good.

The main reasons I hear why people don't go is because the football is crap and boring, and the players don't care and have no affection for the club. Whilst we are not currently winning week in week out, the football is now extremely attractive and entertaining plus we are fielding 5-6 former acadamy players every game. I would imagine this is the highest ratio of any club in the division.

With the ownership issue settled, I expect us to kick on over the next 12-18 months and hope Adkins is at the helm throughout.

Good football>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>irritating post match interview style

+100000

The Voice of Reason - couldn't agree with you more.

I've found this season, results aside, the most enjoyable for many years ... both the style of football and the fact that so many young players are consistently featuring is a big plus for me. A lot of other managers would have not played Taylor on Sunday, but I'm glad to see that NA has continued to give him a go - he's not been the most accomplished player so far and I've felt that in certain games he's been quite weak, but I love his enthusiasm and think that over the season he'll grow and grow and will turn out to be a very good player, like Obita ...

[Ian Royal]

negs
er...

So you can think of no negatives over the last 18 months of steady decline and failure

Right-o, Ian.

In terms of Adkins ability and performance, no, not really. And I also reject that there's been steady decline over 18 months. There was dramatic decline before that (under McDermott), most of the marginal decline we've had since then has been the deceleration and fall out of those earlier problems largely caused by Zingarevich's poor stewardship.

The issues I've had with Adkins have largely been covered by outside factors like ownership and injuries. He's made mistakes here and there, but so did Coppell. I don't expect a manager to be perfect. Nor do I think that just because a manager doesn't do things exactly the way I would that he's made a mistake.

[Bandini]

pros

There are worse managers I guess.
Good to have someone around the place for security and such like.
Modest upkeep costs (presumably we're not paying him much).

cons

Not very good at managing a football team.
Shit-eating grin.

[Extended-Phenotype]

It doesn't really matter how shit the pcunt is, he's always going to have people lining up making excuses for him it seems

Pearce or Adkins?

[Extended-Phenotype]

Seemed to me individual mistakes by Pearce and Obita cost us 3 points in an otherwise decent performance yesterday.

To what would you attribute the 'individual mistakes'?
For me, two of the goals we conceded were after the break when we were a mess. If the team allows itself to be pressurised then individual mistakes will occur, no?
Similarly we allowed a late goal when Wolves turned up the heat a bit. We cracked as a UNIT, panicked and the mistakes happened.

If the players are panicking and/or not really confident or sure of what they are doing then NA has to shoulder some of the responsibility.

Maybe I saw it differently but all I saw was a team putting us under pressure (as happens in football, whether you are playing well or not) and (1) Pearce made a poor decision to leave a cross and (2) Obita spooned a clearance. In my opinion it is counter-intuative to blame a team for putting players under the pressure which caused their error. They should be able to cope with the pressure, teams attacking you is part of the bloody game.

Progress has been slow but even Adkins biggest critics would have to admit that big factors in this would be the injury crisis and ownership/financial issues..

Agreed, but there is some concern about how long it is taking for some players to return to full fitness and, surely, this is within NA's remit as well?

Possibly. But our club forces our managers into buying cheapo players who are injury-prone or take longer to recover. As I have said before, what is going on with the injury crisis? Is is training? Is it bad luck? Or is it the type of players we are in the market for?

The results will follow.

Maybe.

Ok, bit of a cliche but you don't go long with one without the other where performances and results are concerned. It looks like a lot of things are working, just a few creases to iron out - namely, IMO Pearce.

Once a few issues at the back have been ironed out, we look a surprisingly decent side. Our midfield looks strong, our strikers are scoring; I think things are on the right track.

We've had issues at the back for the whole of NAs tenure (you could argue we've had issues since Gorkss lost his yard of pace) when is NA going to get around to it?

Do the best with what he has until the new owners put their hands in their pockets and improve our defence. We have an inexperienced academy youngster at CB, a recent graduate who is liability as another CB, and a midfielder filling in at fullback. Pearce has been poor for a long time, Hector is young and I don't care how good he is, Obita isn't even a defender - mistakes are going to happen. A lot. Get some investment in there, replace what we have lost. We've been pleading all summer.

[liamobey]

Pros - Him being in charge means I've decided to suspend my support for the team which means i don't have to attend the Madejski Stadium every week. However, I did go to the Millwall game but could barely muster the effort to get out of my chair when we scored.

Cons- Because of the above I have lost interest so much that I didn't even watch the game on the tele yesterday. I couldn't even tell you who scored. This means I have nothing to talk about with my grandad and it's all Atkins fault.

[Barcelona Blue]

Pros- Did well for Southampton
- seems keen enough

Cons

- keeps saying "football club" in every sentence
-lapped up everyone saying how patient he´s been when he gets paid sheds load of money and has the perfect excuse for crap results

[windermere_royal]

Pros - Him being in charge means I've decided to suspend my support for the team which means i don't have to attend the Madejski Stadium every week. However, I did go to the Millwall game but could barely muster the effort to get out of my chair when we scored.

Cons- Because of the above I have lost interest so much that I didn't even watch the game on the tele yesterday. I couldn't even tell you who scored. This means I have nothing to talk about with my grandad and it's all Atkins fault.

Don`t slam the door on the way out. what an immature bellend

[Royalwaster]

Pros - Him being in charge means I've decided to suspend my support for the team which means i don't have to attend the Madejski Stadium every week. However, I did go to the Millwall game but could barely muster the effort to get out of my chair when we scored.

Cons- Because of the above I have lost interest so much that I didn't even watch the game on the tele yesterday. I couldn't even tell you who scored. This means I have nothing to talk about with my grandad and it's all Atkins fault.

PROS - idiots like you stop supporting Reading and support Chelsea instead ...
PS: who is Atkins?