Has Adkins got to know his players?

[paddy20]

It will take many months, he hasn't had nowhere near enough time to 'get to know them', remember, the only way to get to know them is seeing them play competitively. Four games in and some of you question him already?

oxf*rd pathetic. Give him a break, give the players a break. Judge them come May.

Thread should have ended with this.

Agreed. Assuming that a manager doesn't 'know' his own players is a bit nonsensical.

Though I really don't understand his or BM's treatment of ALF.

I think the point is the fans do generally have a good idea about the players. Admittedly some do have a blinkered view but some manager seem to have a blind spot also. For me it would be Adkins and Kanu. Brian and Church etc . Think Adkins is a good manager but still think he has got it wrong on some players so far.

[melonhead]

One of the reasons for appointing Adkins when we did was to allow him to get to know the players so as we could start the new season running. Sadly that doesn't seem to have happened. Otherwise why would he persist with Kanu? Why would he think that Blackman should start ahead of Alfie? Why wouldn't a fit Kebe get on the bench? Why wouldn't he try and motivate Pog to play ( he is better than anything we have as a big striker even if he may leave). What would you think if you were put on for 4 mins. Why does he play two big centre halfs who have the turning circle of a supertanker when we have our best defender making the trip to Blackpool but not even on the bench? I think a lot of the players and fans are mystified so far. Its early days but if I was a teacher I might say - must do better!!

is it cos different people think different things, and he is a different person to you, and thinks different things about them?

[melonhead]

In my opinion he's thinking about things, he knows he shouldn't play alf on his own up front especially when you're playing teams like bolton, hes judging the opposition and doing his homework to pick the best and most capable team for the game, blackman will get some of the ball alf wont... brian never done this he just picked his best 11 and didnt consider the opposition to the same extend.

[E. Andrew]

I also think that the more time a manager has spent playing at a high level, the more stubborn tendencies and biases they acquire, for better or for worse. I would imagine they tend to favor players that play like they would/did. They also see things in practice regarding how players work together. If three times he sees Guthrie and HRK thinking on different levels and going to the wrong spots, he'll opt not to play them together.

[Man Friday]

@Man Friday

We were TWO points better off this time 2005, think about it, shut the oxf*rd up and support our club instead of your proverbial bullshit post after post. You don't like Adkins, fine, but please wait until we're in the shit to start your crusade.

"It is better to be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt."

[Ian Royal]

Great, you've learnt the advice, now apply it yourself.

[Westwood52]

The thing with the Chumpionship is that with about 15 teams capable of going up (and coming straight down again)-you can be way behind at Xmas put in a run after that and still get promoted.

[urz13]

In my opinion he's thinking about things, he knows he shouldn't play alf on his own up front especially when you're playing teams like bolton, hes judging the opposition and doing his homework to pick the best and most capable team for the game, blackman will get some of the ball alf wont... brian never done this he just picked his best 11 and didnt consider the opposition to the same extend.

what a complete mug you are

[Man Friday]

Great, you've learnt the advice, now apply it yourself.

Says this site's equivalent of the village idiot.
Nice to see that you can write a sentence with hardly any grammar, syntax and spelling errors (albeit a short one). You'll be able to start secondary school soon.

[FridaysGhost]

He has, he recently asked Roberts whether he was our Press Officer. Roberts sniffed another wasted salary and said yes!

[winchester_royal]

IR is many things, but an idiot (especially compared to some on here) he is not.

[Ian Royal]

IR is many things, but an idiot (especially compared to some on here) he is not.

You're such a sweetie.

[Royalclapper]

It's an interesting point that the OP makes here. Any relatively new manager will face the problem of trying to assess who does and doesn't want to play for you and the club, the problem often surfaces when too many players are left draining the wages and are reluctant to pull on a playing shirt - Wolves are the obvious example from last season.

'Arry called it right this week when he said that he now has players who want to pay for QPR and has been both shrewd and speedy about getting it put right. Roberts, Pog, Kebe and probably a few others could fall into this (shy to play - take the pay) category so Adkins may find it tough going for a while unless he can offload and bring in his own recruits that will be chomping at the bit to get a game. The QPR situation is different to ours of course but letting the grass grow when others are building a squad might mean being left behind, although this season was always going to require some patience which some fans struggle with.

[maffff]

It will take many months, he hasn't had nowhere near enough time to 'get to know them', remember, the only way to get to know them is seeing them play competitively. Four games in and some of you question him already?

oxf*rd pathetic. Give him a break, give the players a break. Judge them come May.

At Southampton the fans thought the team regressed for the first 15/20 games until they got to grips with the style etc. Then after that they managed to get promoted, twice, consecutively.

He managed to get Bangor to win the league.

He managed to get Scunthorpe up, and to bounce back, and to stay up, on a budget that should have never allowed it.

All the while he's evolved tactics to suit the league he's in and players available. We've seen it in first and starts, but you can see what the team will look like in 10 or so games.

Can't comment on why Blackman/HRK starts etc, but there is some logic to it. I wouldn't start ALF either.

[HoneyRoastHoax]

You have to remember you watch them for 90 minutes.

He sees them play and train every day.

[Waylenstreet]

It's an interesting point that the OP makes here. Any relatively new manager will face the problem of trying to assess who does and doesn't want to play for you and the club, the problem often surfaces when too many players are left draining the wages and are reluctant to pull on a playing shirt - Wolves are the obvious example from last season.

'Arry called it right this week when he said that he now has players who want to pay for QPR and has been both shrewd and speedy about getting it put right. Roberts, Pog, Kebe and probably a few others could fall into this (shy to play - take the pay) category so Adkins may find it tough going for a while unless he can offload and bring in his own recruits that will be chomping at the bit to get a game. The QPR situation is different to ours of course but letting the grass grow when others are building a squad might mean being left behind, although this season was always going to require some patience which some fans struggle with.

This.

[Tilehurstsouthbank]

One of the reasons for appointing Adkins when we did was to allow him to get to know the players so as we could start the new season running. Sadly that doesn't seem to have happened. Otherwise why would he persist with Kanu? Why would he think that Blackman should start ahead of Alfie? Why wouldn't a fit Kebe get on the bench? Why wouldn't he try and motivate Pog to play ( he is better than anything we have as a big striker even if he may leave). What would you think if you were put on for 4 mins. Why does he play two big centre halfs who have the turning circle of a supertanker when we have our best defender making the trip to Blackpool but not even on the bench? I think a lot of the players and fans are mystified so far. Its early days but if I was a teacher I might say - must do better!!

Just FYI, not agreeing with some of the manager's selections doesn't mean he hasn't got to know his squad and the players' strengths and weaknesses. Particularly when you appear to have an extremely superficial tactical awareness. A lot of our fans are mystified by their shoelaces. It doesn't mean anything.

We've had one bad result and one bad performance four games in. Win next week and things look fine and dandy again. Lose again and it's not great, but its still early days. You really can't make judgements on results until about 10 games in. The only judgements you can make at this stage are based on performances. All that tells us is that we're light upfront. We know that. We've known that for a while, and we know the club are working on some signings to deal with that.

Spot on Ian. Speak to any Saints fan and they'll tell you it took the Bronzed one a bit of time to set the team playing the way he wanted and clicking, but once everyone was singing from the same Hymn sheet, they were flying! FFS people, it's only been four games!