Adkins - Pros and Cons

[RoyalBlue]

Just how good is he and is his value enough to keep him in the job if this pathetic run of form continues.
I have always preferred teams that can pass the ball but I don't think the current squad is good enough to carry this off.
Also, now the ownership situation has been resolved we would hope for some improvement - ti the contrary our form has totally collapsed.
On top of this he does not appears to have a plan b / know how to change tactics when it goes wrong and his team selection appears to be based on who is in the good books rather than skill and experience.
You don't win anything with (just) kids.

Sorry this post is just plain daft! You say the ownership situation has been resolved but that only happened a couple of weeks ago, long after the transfer window shut. Yet you seem to think that the mere fact that JM announces that the ownership situation has at long last been resolved, means that we should immediately see an upturn in form.

A far fairer and realistic test will be when the long term injured stars are fully fit and have been available for selection for 10 games.

[Pepe the Horseman]

I'm usually pro Nige, but why in the name of god was Cox benched? He's been our best player in the one game I actually watched recently.

[Pepe the Horseman]

My how we slaughtered Brian....and we weren't very mindful of what we wished for were we???.

NA made some strange decisions today...in fact they could be construed as "dire"

However, it was only a few weeks ago that we were accepting "mere survival" in the Championship as our target for this season.

Judge the guy at the end of the season

Well said

[windermere_royal]

Jesus christ just what we need. another thread to follow up the long one already running. at least the OP has the right user name.

[AthleticoSpizz]

and who the f11ck are you?

[windermere_royal]

and who the f11ck are you?

Just some soppy old fart who`s been drinking all day.

[Pepe the Horseman]

And then they kiss?

[AthleticoSpizz]

and who the f11ck are you?

Just some soppy old fart who`s been drinking all day.

IN

[AirRaidSiren]

Jesus christ just what we need. another thread to follow up the long one already running. at least the OP has the right user name.

Yep +1

[blueroyals]

Christ he's only working with what he's got

Our worst performers at the moment:
Blackman
Akpan
Guthrie
Pog(?)
Gunter(?)

None of his signings.

The players that he has signed have made the team better. There are still 4-5 first team players out injured. Don't judge him on McDermott's mistakes.

[AthleticoSpizz]

worst performers

that'll be the Akpan who has been pretty much motm in his last two participant games

and the same Blackman who has won us a good few points and created more than god ever did this season?

[SCIAG]

Christ he's only working with what he's got

Our worst performers at the moment:
Blackman
Akpan
Guthrie
Pog(?)
Gunter(?)

None of his signings.

The players that he has signed have made the team better. There are still 4-5 first team players out injured. Don't judge him on McDermott's mistakes.

I'm broadly pro-Adkins but this is ridiculous.

If the season ended tomorrow, Blackman would deserve to be in the top three for POTS, along with Cox and Obita. He isn't doing enough defensively, but I suspect that is as a result of tactical instructions.

Akpan is not playing well, there's no way to say otherwise without being patronising, but he's not taken part in our poor performances lately and to blame him is ridiculous. Likewise Guthrie and Pog - they're not getting on the pitch, it would be one thing thinking they aren't good enough but they are certainly not to blame for any of the recent dropped points.

So that leaves Gunter. To that list of under-performers, I would add Jake Taylor (who has improved in recent weeks), Michael Hector (who has deteriorated), Ryan Edwards and Jamie Mackie. Two of those are only at the club because Adkins wanted their contracts renewed (totally rightly, I might add) so you can't wash his hands of them. Edwards has been promoted by Adkins from basically nowhere. Mackie is Adkins' signing. I think all of them have futures at the club... OK, I think Ryan Edwards might do something good from the bench one time or something. But right now they're not doing enough.

I would further suggest that Adkins has made some tactical errors in this mini-slump that cannot be pinned on McDermott. Principally, the lack of protection for full backs. His team selection today also baffled me - why drop Cox?

We should be realistic about Adkins' failures, but I still stand firmly behind him.

[Pepe the Horseman]

worst performers

that'll be the Akpan who has been pretty much motm in his last two participant games

and the same Blackman who has won us a good few points and created more than god ever did this season?

Just when you were talking sense as well

[AthleticoSpizz]

pepe

and

pepe

[sandman]

Christ he's only working with what he's got

Our worst performers at the moment:
Blackman
Akpan
Guthrie
Pog(?)
Gunter(?)

None of his signings.

The players that he has signed have made the team better. There are still 4-5 first team players out injured. Don't judge him on McDermott's mistakes.

Guthrie may as well be his signing. Even if, as we saw with his introduction at H/T last Sunday, his presence is detrimental to the team Adkins can't wait to play the guy. Gunter is a virtual ever present under Adkins and has clearly been his type of player with two other RB's in the squad as competition. Neither Blackman or Akpan are that bad! They are just popular whipping boys from a certain element of the fans. From the outside Akpan appears to suffer in the manager's eyes from the fact his name is not Danny Guthrie. Adkins was getting praise last season for getting Pog back on track and now all of a sudden his "drop in form" is down to McDermott? Nah, sorry m8, not having that.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

I think perhaps "Adkins Dire" is a harsh thread title however.....

It is abundantly clear that many of us feel a little disillusioned at the moment & it's definitely not a knee jerk reaction off the back of yesterday.

From my perspective, I could not bloody wait for August. Was keen to see the kids get a go, see some decent quick passing football and all that jazz but it seems to be steadily getting worse.

We don't look like we're learning, we don't look like we are gelling as a team, the goals conceded get more comical by the week & frankly I am getting quite bored of watching us play.

We have no cutting edge at all & other teams seem to be much more effective with their possession of the ball than we are. It all smells a bit Rodgers again but dare I say we actually probably looked a bit better then than we do now

The fact we are not 23rd is testament to the utter turd standard of the division this year. Yes, yes, someone says that each season I hear you say, well so what, it's fcuking true & pretty much every team is dump.

The fact we have conceded almost as many goals as Bolton who sit rock bottom on 5 points is alarming, REALLY alarming. Why has there been zero focus on getting some quality in at the back? Yes his hands were tied but we've signed 4 attacking players so there clearly was some kitty available.

I am starting to wonder a little if he is the right fit TBH. I say this because as much as everyone preaches the "proper football" mantra, attendances are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down, even match threads on HNA are 25% of the length they used to be. Lets face it, many of us are switching off entirely & my interest has wained far more rapidly than I expected.

Why is that? Is it ownership, style of play, Adkins, football in general, combination of all of them? Something is just not right & I'm not convinced we'll see any decent progress this season.

I just wonder if Reading fans actually really like the style of football at the moment. It's all a bit meh for me.

Sorry bit of a rant but couldn't be bothered to start another thread.

[bcubed]

Though I am still not a big Adkins fan, I see signs of progress compared to last season
We pass more and have more possession and look to have greater goal threat, though not in last few games.
But I agree defensively we are woeful!
I really don't like a style which means I expect the opposition to score or go close EVERY time they attack.
It's far too stressful and maybe people can't bear to watch?

[Pandoras Box]

Yet you seem to think that the mere fact that JM announces that the ownership situation has at long last been resolved, means that we should immediately see an upturn in form.

However, a few months back the reason for poor form was mainly blamed on the instability of the ownership problem and the negative effect on the playing staff?

[MmmMonsterMunch]

Though I am still not a big Adkins fan, I see signs of progress compared to last season
We pass more and have more possession and look to have greater goal threat, though not in last few games.
But I agree defensively we are woeful!
I really don't like a style which means I expect the opposition to score or go close EVERY time they attack.
It's far too stressful and maybe people can't bear to watch?

I agree we probably look like we have more goals in us right now than last season...but at what cost because at present we ship more than we score! All very well people saying we're only 6 points off top spot but newsflash, we're only 7 points off bottom 3 & that's the direction we're heading right now.

I'm not finding it stressful in the slightest, I am finding it all very very dull & am just not engaged in it at all this season. I really can't quite work out why I don't give a fcuk, but I just don't. I generally don't feel like this, love the football usually.

[Pandoras Box]

I'm not finding it stressful in the slightest, I am finding it all very very dull & am just not engaged in it at all this season. I really can't quite work out why I don't give a fcuk, but I just don't. I generally don't feel like this, love the football usually.

+1, Done a few aways this season and the day out makes up for the tedium on the pitch, but the home games are now becoming an effort. Whatever anyone says, and however we kid ourselves, we aren't really improving sufficiently. We're being turned over by some pretty average outfits. I used to go home raging when we fvcked up at the back, now it's the norm, and as MMM says i don't really give a fvck cos it'll be the same next week. Get Reading will quote Adkins as saying 'poor defensive errors but we'll work on that' (again............and again..........and again). The exact schoolboy error Obita made against Wolves was replicated by Hector at Leeds only a few days later (although they couldn't take advantage).