Reading, Southampton and Scunthorpe fans view on Nigel Adkins

Reading Fans

“Great Appointment for them”

“He was promised lots with us but it never materilised”

“He’s back! Since Nigel left Reading he’s only had Twitter as an outlet for his relentless optimism. Set phasers to ‘motivational'”

“Nigel Adkins will be getting the Sheff U job. Sliding down the divisions isn’t he, Brendan Rodgers will be next one on that downward spiral.”

“I fully expected open entertaining football under Adkins where we would concede a lot, but score more (lots of 3-2s, 4-3s, etc) but that plan falls down when you don’t have a decent forward line. or the ability to organise a defence”

“Adkins doesn’t matter – other than the work he did in blooding some of the youth we’re still bringing through now.”

“my highlight of last season was when Adkins got sacked. Absolutely serious.”

“SERIOUSLY? Last season we were fighting to make the POs …and this season we were fighting against relegation. Fact is Adkins got us to 7th last season – this season when he left we were 17th”

“Adkins gets slammed here but at least He took Southampton from League 1 to The Prem.”

“Adkins deserved to be sacked”

“LOL at all you divs who thought Adkins was the problem 😆 😆 “

“With Adkins we would still have failed just as miserably & ended up about 18-20th & not got to a cup final so meh.”

“Even Adkins was better able to motivate than Clarke is”

“When Adkins was in charge his failures were put down to the players and now Clarke’s in charge it’s the manager.”

“Adkins had a better record than Clarke”

“Constant formation changes was one of Adkins biggest problems”

“Adkins knew what he was getting into when he joined. It turned out that at best he hadn’t been told the full truth and at worst he had been deliberately misled.”

“We seem to play a lot less long balls than we did under McDermott and Adkins”

“Had a Southampton fan telling me we shouldn’t have sacked Adkins and that Clarke would fail because he’s an assistant manager, not a manager.
He completed ignored me telling him performances under Adkins had been steadily declining, which cumulated in the 6-1 defeat while Adkins has shown promising signs, although it being painfully clear we lack a decent goal-scorer.”

“I thought Adkins was a good move (until I heard his press conferences!) But I saw absolutely no sign of defensive improvements”

“Clarke was brought in because apparently Adkins was the problem and the squad were better than they’d showed. Except results are worse under him.”

“Adkins seemed to lose the plot once a lot of the injured “first teamers” came back into the side.”

“Adkins was about as far away from “the perfect fit” as you can get. He gave up on the young players that he had been using at the start of the season as soon as more experienced players came back from injury “

“Adkins was given about 20 months & did actually get a bit of money albeit not a lot”

“That team was Adkins team who left us in deep trouble never should of came to manager reading FC”

“The league campaign was truly dreadful under Adkins this season – we were conceding the most pathetic, spineless goals week in, week out. In addition, the players looked miserable, they didn’t know what to do, and the post match interviews got more insane / erratic by the week. I’d also add his backroom team were dreadful – Crosby does not inspire any confidence whatsoever.”

“Adkins may not have had a cluee how to coach a side defensively, but I’ve seen nothing to suggest Clarke has a clue offensively. “

Southampton Fans

“Good look Nigel”

“Congrats to Nige. Football is a better place with him back in it. Saints legend”

“I predicted a few weeks ago that Nigel would be the new Sheff Utd manager. Perfect fit and he belongs at a big club. Good look Nige”

“Nigel Adkins is the best managerial signing Sheff Utd could make. Saints fans didn’t agree with his sacking. He makes players believe in themselves, up their game and play attacking football on the floor.
“

“Not many Saints fans are keen on Clough after his disrespect of Koeman (well played btw – you were much better than us on the day…)
Nigel is an excellent manager who found himself victim of a ruthless chairman (although I’m not complaining now..) His enthusiasm is infectious, and he’s a thoroughly likeable guy. He’s done the business in League 1 on several occasions and proved himself capable of Championship management with Saints. Likes to play attractive football, so will give you some great spectacles (expect numerous 3-1 victories!)”

“As a Saints fan I have nothing but thanks for what Nigel did in helping us towards where we are now. If you appoint him I hope you treat him well because he will serve you well. Good luck – if it happens.”

“Looks like a great move for all concerned if it happens
I shall follow his progress with interest
Really nice guy and will always have my respect”

“I was just thinking about the effect that Nigel has had on us all as people. I’m not talking about the great things he achieved for our club, but has his outlook and ‘Adkinisms’ shaped us at all?
The first thing I have noticed is the aftermath of his removal. First there was disgust etc, but this soon went to a weird sense of trying to be positive – a true Nigel trait. We then went to the what is done is done phase and “draw a blue line under it”. The game against Everton could have been a terrible atmosphere, but there was a positive vibe – “together as one”. We cheered the team on against high flying Everton with a team that had 4 of the first team from our league 1 team (7 if you include subs) – “hard work beats talent, if talent doesn’t work hard”. Despite losing Nigel, we came away “with a smile on our face” and most of us are even warming to Nicola’s decision (though not the manner of execution). There is a feeling that “don’t get too high when we’re winning and don’t get too low when we’re losing”
I find that in everyday life I am more positive and often quote Adkins (my fav is “pressure makes diamonds” and the hard work quote). It seems his legacy may be more than getting us back to the top flight…..”

“Adkins had a positive effect on the fans (coupled with the teams performances, of course). He didn’t allow himself and us to get down when things went against us. Apart from his managerial skills, he also provided a human face to SFC.”

“Adkins is a beacon for clear-headed, positive yet rational thinking, and I believe he has been a good lesson to many of us both in football and in the outside world.”

“Nigel’s given us some great memories, some of which will warm my heart til the day I die. Not sure I’m going to turn in to him though; after all, Gordon Strachan didn’t turn me into wise cracking smart arse.”

“One thing we should all remember Nigel for is his positivity. Positivity in life is so important. There are always positive and negative people in life. I always like to surround myself with positive ones and try hard to effect the negative ones as much as possible. It even happens on the forums.. why do you think that some peopel get called “Happy Clappers”? It’s becasue we are positive. If someone says something negative, I always like to try and flip it to see a positive view. it can piss people off, but I much rather be with positive people than what I call “NegHeads”
Nigel could start a daily email quote, and I’d sign up immediately.
I actually do recieve a similar thing from a bloke called Richard Denny. If you like that sort of thing, google him and sign up. He sends you an email every day and they are positive. Just pretend it’s from Nigel and you’ll feel good.”

“I think to be honest our rapid rise up the leagues has had a bigger effect on our positive outlook than Adkins’ positivity.”

“The best thing about him was how hard working he was, and I think he will succeed anywhere with his attitude. He seemed like a great family man as well, I like that.”

“I think the lasting legacy, which might be unique to Nigel Adkins, throughout the leagues, is that he could get tired, cynical and jaded football supporters to lustily sing as one… There’s Only One Nigel Adkins, whether we were winning or losing. There was belief in the guy. And supporters don’t do that unless they mean it.
When he used to talk about our brilliant supporters, in post-match interviews, he always added that final nail by saying… we’re together as one..!
That kind of talk never falls on deaf ears. Oh dear, I’m getting a little emotional. Forgot how much I like the bloke.”

“Another legacy is that he, with the help of Andy Crosby, has made good footballers even better, physically and more importantly, mentally. “

“Adkins actually did have a bit of an effect on me. To be honest, it’s because I initially thought he was kind of a loser with all his hokey sayings and positive management style.
He said the kinds of things where if I was at some kind of meeting with my boss and he said something like “Draw a blue line under it and move on” to motivate me I would roll my eyes. But it actually worked! So for the last year or so I’ve sort of been trying not to be such a cynical smart ass in my own life and actually try to live those Adkinisms with as much sincerity as I could muster. And I have to say, it somewhat worked for me as well. “

“I loved the guy and every time I saw him he made me smile and feel good.”

“He’s a smart cookie, our Nige.”

“Adkins is why they still have academy lads acting as boot boys at Saints…Gives the youngsters some humility and provides them with a direct link to the senior team.”

“Adkins is a great guy.”

“Although he was beginning to turn things round, it may have just reached the point where Adkins could take us no further. Not a reflection on him, but the team had heard it before and needed new ideas. “

“Adkins is a top man and still so popular with us Saints fans.”

“I say Adkins deserves a shot at a decent club. Could he have been successful in the Premier League with Saints? I think so. I find it interesting that some ‘journalists’ suggest that Ron is lucky to have inherited good players and a style of play from Pochettino. In fact Pochettino was the lucky one with what he inherited from Adkins. I’ll not deny that he improved us, but the style of play was essentially the same.
Adkins was playing the same way in Div One. Pressing all over the pitch with attacking full backs. I genuinely think he has been much copied without getting the credit.”

“Adkins’ style was to press intelligently, same as Koeman’s, but with players of lesser quality. This could be maintained almost throughout the match. What let Adkins down was the intelligence and quality of his squad, and possibly the quality of his coaching [that possibility can’t be ignored, the same with all coaches and coaching]. Koeman certainly has a stronger squad of players who are fitter, stronger, smarter and more skilful and can press when required for an entire match. He also has higher quality match winners at his disposal. Match winners take the strain off a team, as we all know.”

“Adkins is a man who simply loves football and can’t get enough knowledge on it. He seems to be soaking up information wherever he goes.”

“It’s a very popular choice for the supporters. Hope he gets them out of La Leagua One.”

“I can only ever wish NA the very best of luck. A good man!”

“A shame our club couldn’t find a position for him. Would love to have him back in some capacity.”

“We are forever in his debt for taking us back to the land of milk and honey, but he has moved on and as they say, don’t go back !!”

“His ability at our club was no fluke. He had done amazing things at Scunthorpe and he did ok at Reading at a time when they were on a downward trend. Really like the guy and has shown such dignity at all times. He will always be welcome at Saints. “

Nigel Adkins in charge of a team in League 1 who play in red and white stripes. It could be like 2010 all over again.

“He’s just a thoroughly decent, lovely bloke who has a genuine love for this club & a lot to offer as he knows pretty much every position in the backroom staff”

Scunthorpe Fans

“Reading never looked the right option but he still has a fantastic CV overall.”

“Good luck to him”

“When the Adkins era arrived with the Wembley appearances plus three out of four seasons in the Championship, I really thought I’d died and gone to heaven. For me this had always been nothing more than a pipe dream.”

“Adkins did more in the short time he was with us than Laws had done in the previous 10”

“Nigel Adkins took us to glory ! Laws was the man that led us to our lowest league position in living memory !”

“The football we played under Adkins was magnificent”

“They will get promoted without a doubt.”

“Top man”