Nigel Adkins

[Millsy]

If there was ever proof of desperately scraping the bottom of the barrel to try and explain away the most blatant barn door cockup/ lie in RFC history it's the fact that you have to write huge amounts to effectively say bugger all other than baselessly insulting anyone who can see what is happening as "mongs".
Ending with an injection of sanity I.e. that no one should be blaming Adkins doesn't qualify the rest of that poor attempt.

Apart from Adkins' defence and the dismissal of stupid conspiracy claims, what a load of absolute drivel.

When we're told that we are to expect several signings yet we get no one and the departure of two of our best players really anything you say just makes you look a little stupid mate.

If a sensible poster wanted to defend the club they'd at least put their hands up and say "yes ok there's been a bit of a cockup somewhere" before discussing sensible reasons. Your approach cypry is not worth dignifying with a response quite frankly as its so clearly biased or you are not a very intelligent person. Remember you are dealing with people with multiple Oxbridge degrees with professions and critical insight that could whoop anyone at RFC. Don't insult our intelligence, RFC. Anton/John should cut some of your wages. Poor poor post.

[kwik-silva]

I love how Jimmy has turned from 'injured crock of shit' to our best player in 2 weeks.

[Handsome Man]

Has he been sacked yet?

[Royalee]

adkins' 100 goals and antons 7 players rubbish havent really helped matters in the mean time though, ill grant you
but i think antons just been a bit naive and silly, rather than duplicitous

This is where all the recently backlash from the fans has come from. Let's face it the club made an absolute shambles with their PR this summer which has caused them all sorts of grief which has led to normally very patient fans like myself to worry a bit about the club.

I think the club often forget the emotional attachment people have to the club so when they get something wrong these people react emotionally to it usually with negative emotions. It may well be a business to them but to me it's a massive part of mine and my families life and I worry about the club as though it was a member of the family.

The thing is, there are an awful lot of people out there who seem to only want to hear what they want to hear, and ignore anything else.

From the very first communication when the takeover became knowledge we've been told consistently that the club would continue to operate within it's own means as much as possible.

For whatever reason, there seem to be a significant proportion of people who either didn't hear this, or have ignored it.

"Anton, put your hand in your pocket!!!" - when has he ever said he'd be putting his hand in his pocket, yet people are lambasting him for supposedly lying.....

Anton, and Adkins to an extent don't seem to have realised what a bunch of mongs a significant proportion of our fanbase are - Anton, could have qualified his "7 signings" statement with one word "trying", or possibly even "hoping". Maybe he was overconfident, maybe he simply didn't realise that people would overanalyse every word he says and produce ridiculous conspiracy theories using it as evidence.

Adkins first mentioned the 100 goals at the fans forum - people are using it to ridicule him, but it's being taken completely out of context. He was talking at the time about his targets for the season, and said that if we could get 100 goals and 21 clean sheets, then statistics would show that we would win the league, and that was his target. He also spoke about looking at the current squad, and trying to work out where those 100 goals would come from, and added that at that time he couldn't immediately see all the goals in the squad. What's the point in having a target if you can easily achieve it? Anyone heard of stretch goals?

Adkins did sound a bit frustrated on BBCRB this morning, and I suspect he is disappointed that we didn't get our targets, but I think his quoted comment in response to the question about lack of depth in the squad was more from frustration at Dellor asking the question, than frustration at the board. Certainly that's the way I heard it...IMO I'd rather we signed nobody, than signed just anybody for the sake of appeasing the fans....that kind of approach almost never ends well....

I think a lot of people are getting swept up in the endless speculation on Twitter, and here, and the, quite frankly clueless, conspiracy theories which seem to be popping up all over the place.

The latest one about mortgaging the stadium? I guess it's possible we are looking at mortgaging the stadium....perhaps the club need to free some funds towards the purchase of Bearwood...?
"But I thought Anton would pay for that from his own pocket!!!" - what part of "club operating within it's own means" don't people understand. That would be a perfectly reasonable and businesslike approach to buying a significant lump of real estate (capital) for any business - let's face it, what's the point in having £xM of capital sat locked in to the stadium, when those funds could be freed for investing in much needed infrastructure.

Everything, at the moment, points to Anton having a long term strategy for the club and for that I support him. If and when something significant (backed by real evidence) happens to change my mind then I'll review this, and be as vocal as anyone else in slating TSI, but like Melonhead, I am just getting fed up to the back teeth with the "lies" and "no money" brigade - there's no EVIDENCE that either is true. In the meantime, I hope the doom-mongers can keep a lid on it for long enough to give Adkins a chance. I strongly suspect that the fans reaction to some of Brian's last games was a factor in his departure (I wonder how many of those now slating Anton for sacking McD booed at the end of the Villa game?), and I'd hate Adkins to be effectively hounded out on the back of baseless speculation and theories....

Spot on.

[Cypry]

If there was ever proof of desperately scraping the bottom of the barrel to try and explain away the most blatant barn door cockup/ lie in RFC history it's the fact that you have to write huge amounts to effectively say bugger all other than baselessly insulting anyone who can see what is happening as "mongs".
Ending with an injection of sanity I.e. that no one should be blaming Adkins doesn't qualify the rest of that poor attempt.

Apart from Adkins' defence and the dismissal of stupid conspiracy claims, what a load of absolute drivel.

When we're told that we are to expect several signings yet we get no one and the departure of two of our best players really anything you say just makes you look a little stupid mate.

If a sensible poster wanted to defend the club they'd at least put their hands up and say "yes ok there's been a bit of a cockup somewhere" before discussing sensible reasons. Your approach cypry is not worth dignifying with a response quite frankly as its so clearly biased or you are not a very intelligent person. Remember you are dealing with people with multiple Oxbridge degrees with professions and critical insight that could whoop anyone at RFC. Don't insult our intelligence, RFC. Anton/John should cut some of your wages. Poor poor post.

Fine, if it's so poor, where have I said anything that's incorrect?

Your opinion, seems to be that the club deliberately lied about what they would be doing in the transfer window to sell more season tickets. My point of view is that I don't believe that anything so calculated went on, and that we simply didn't get the targets we were after, for a multitude of reasons, but in the main it was because the players we were after got offers from Premier League sides, and chose the Premier League over the Championship, Austin being perhaps the only exception....as for "selling our best two players", the players wanted to leave....what were we supposed to do? Force them to play for us?

I've said on numerous occasions that I'm disappointed that we didn't sign a striker, but there really is no point in getting all het up over it, what's done is done. I don't feel "lied to" by the club, just that they weren't able to achieve their aims...sorry, that's just what I feel....

What does boil my piss is the way the disappointing close to the window has spawned so many malicious conspiracy theories, and so many people are seemingly taking them as gospel truth. Sorry, but if people take every half arsed rumour on Twitter as gospel, and want to take everything anyone from the club says verbatim, and if ambitions aren't achieved then they feel lied to, then I'm sorry, in my opinion they are mongs...

I'm intelligent enough to form my own opinion, and, unless I see some solid evidence to the contrary then I'll continue to believe that Anton and TSI seem to have a decent, long-term vision for the club....if I see evidence to the contrary then I'll admit I've been wrong, but at present there is no such evidence in my opinion, just a whole load of complete over-reaction to a disappointing end to the transfer window....

[P!ssed Off]

adkins' 100 goals and antons 7 players rubbish havent really helped matters in the mean time though, ill grant you
but i think antons just been a bit naive and silly, rather than duplicitous

This is where all the recently backlash from the fans has come from. Let's face it the club made an absolute shambles with their PR this summer which has caused them all sorts of grief which has led to normally very patient fans like myself to worry a bit about the club.

I think the club often forget the emotional attachment people have to the club so when they get something wrong these people react emotionally to it usually with negative emotions. It may well be a business to them but to me it's a massive part of mine and my families life and I worry about the club as though it was a member of the family.

The thing is, there are an awful lot of people out there who seem to only want to hear what they want to hear, and ignore anything else.

From the very first communication when the takeover became knowledge we've been told consistently that the club would continue to operate within it's own means as much as possible.

For whatever reason, there seem to be a significant proportion of people who either didn't hear this, or have ignored it.

"Anton, put your hand in your pocket!!!" - when has he ever said he'd be putting his hand in his pocket, yet people are lambasting him for supposedly lying.....

Anton, and Adkins to an extent don't seem to have realised what a bunch of mongs a significant proportion of our fanbase are - Anton, could have qualified his "7 signings" statement with one word "trying", or possibly even "hoping". Maybe he was overconfident, maybe he simply didn't realise that people would overanalyse every word he says and produce ridiculous conspiracy theories using it as evidence.

Adkins first mentioned the 100 goals at the fans forum - people are using it to ridicule him, but it's being taken completely out of context. He was talking at the time about his targets for the season, and said that if we could get 100 goals and 21 clean sheets, then statistics would show that we would win the league, and that was his target. He also spoke about looking at the current squad, and trying to work out where those 100 goals would come from, and added that at that time he couldn't immediately see all the goals in the squad. What's the point in having a target if you can easily achieve it? Anyone heard of stretch goals?

Adkins did sound a bit frustrated on BBCRB this morning, and I suspect he is disappointed that we didn't get our targets, but I think his quoted comment in response to the question about lack of depth in the squad was more from frustration at Dellor asking the question, than frustration at the board. Certainly that's the way I heard it...IMO I'd rather we signed nobody, than signed just anybody for the sake of appeasing the fans....that kind of approach almost never ends well....

I think a lot of people are getting swept up in the endless speculation on Twitter, and here, and the, quite frankly clueless, conspiracy theories which seem to be popping up all over the place.

The latest one about mortgaging the stadium? I guess it's possible we are looking at mortgaging the stadium....perhaps the club need to free some funds towards the purchase of Bearwood...?
"But I thought Anton would pay for that from his own pocket!!!" - what part of "club operating within it's own means" don't people understand. That would be a perfectly reasonable and businesslike approach to buying a significant lump of real estate (capital) for any business - let's face it, what's the point in having £xM of capital sat locked in to the stadium, when those funds could be freed for investing in much needed infrastructure.

Everything, at the moment, points to Anton having a long term strategy for the club and for that I support him. If and when something significant (backed by real evidence) happens to change my mind then I'll review this, and be as vocal as anyone else in slating TSI, but like Melonhead, I am just getting fed up to the back teeth with the "lies" and "no money" brigade - there's no EVIDENCE that either is true. In the meantime, I hope the doom-mongers can keep a lid on it for long enough to give Adkins a chance. I strongly suspect that the fans reaction to some of Brian's last games was a factor in his departure (I wonder how many of those now slating Anton for sacking McD booed at the end of the Villa game?), and I'd hate Adkins to be effectively hounded out on the back of baseless speculation and theories....

This is pretty laughable.
You ignored a categorical statement given by Anton Zingarevich on BBCRB, on the basis that Zingarevich is a foreigner so we shouldn't take what he says seriously.
Total hypocrisy to claim that other people aren't listening to what the club are saying when you yourself, mere days ago, refused to accept a statement when presented with it.

If the club wants to hand out mixed messages...
'i.e.
We're going to be sensible.
We're not going to break the bank
We want to sign 7 players.
We want to win the league.
We want to score 100 goals and keep 20 clean sheets.'

...then it's my prerogative to pick and choose which message I wish to hold the club to.

I've no massive loyalty to either Adkins or Zingarevich, both have only been here 5 minutes, and have had mixed performances so far.
I don't feel a need to overly give them the benefit of the doubt or wrap them up in cotton wool.
As I've previously said, if they're going to talk bollocks, then I will hold them to it.

They've got plenty of PR and business advisers at the club, they're is no oxf*rd excuse for when they say something stupid. If they oxf*rd up, it's their fault.

[Lacoste]

Akpan has gone to Crawley on loan. Not sure what to make of that.

[Cypry]

This is pretty laughable.
You ignored a categorical statement given by Anton Zingarevich on BBCRB, on the basis that Zingarevich is a foreigner so we shouldn't take what he says seriously.
Total hypocrisy to claim that other people aren't listening to what the club are saying when you yourself, mere days ago, refused to accept a statement when presented with it.

If the club wants to hand out mixed messages...
'i.e.
We're going to be sensible.
We're not going to break the bank
We want to sign 7 players.
We want to win the league.
We want to score 100 goals and keep 20 clean sheets.'

...then it's my prerogative to pick and choose which message I wish to hold the club to.

I've no massive loyalty to either Adkins or Zingarevich, both have only been here 5 minutes, and have had mixed performances so far.
I don't feel a need to overly give them the benefit of the doubt or wrap them up in cotton wool.
As I've previously said, if they're going to talk bollocks, then I will hold them to it.

They've got plenty of PR and business advisers at the club, they're is no oxf*rd excuse for when they say something stupid. If they oxf*rd up, it's their fault.

I never said he should be ignored,and nor did I deny that he said we'd be signing more players, but what I did say is that he needs to be cut a bit of slack, and what he says shouldn't be taken word for word as English isn't his first language....nowt more, or less, than simply applying a bit of common sense to the situation and seeing it in shades of grey rather than stark back and white......

Only problem I have is with people accusing him of being a liar on the basis of not properly qualifying his statement, showing a bit of ambition, but falling to deliver.....like I said, to be a liar you have to tell a calculated untruth. I don't believe he deliberately mislead anyone....

The statements about the financial principals behind running the club have come from multiple sources, over a long period of time.....if you want to beat the club up, then by all means be selective in what you choose to believe. Personally I find it a bit silly - when things don't go to plan it seems to me to be far more constructive to be supportive of the club, than to become one of the boo boys, and potentially make the situation worse.....

[Cypry]

Akpan has gone to Crawley on loan. Not sure what to make of that.

I'd suggest that given that he's competing with (in no particular order) McAnuff, Drenthe, McLeary, Obita, Guthrie, Karacan, Williams and at some point Leigertwood, for as few as four spots in the team, and he won't feature for the U21 side, we probably felt he was better off getting some game time somewhere....

[creative_username_1]

Shocker! Atkins getting rid of another brother from the team...he won't be happy until they're all gone

[The Real Sandhurst Royal]

Players in or not Adkins style of football to date has been pretty one dimensional with no pace bar the first 45 minutes against Watford.

They pass it at the back, they pass in the middle but when it comes to delivery into the box it has been poor giving Le Fondre nothing to feed on after all every thing is played in the air and not to his feet giving him no chance.

For me the system whatever it is meant to be is not working....we have natural winger at the club McCleary, McAnuff, Kanu Robson, Obita who can cross a ball that are not in the staring line up. Play 4-4-2 get down both wings with both full back supporting play with Williams, Drenthe or Karacan in the middle, they all have good engines to go box to box like Sidwell and Harper did.

Drop Guthrie he flatters to deceive, he links play at the back, plays the glory cross field ball out wide but when he has to deliver a ball that counts he does not , he just chips it up into the box and hopes.

4-4-2 works for me with the team line up ---MCarthy, Kelly, Morrison, Pearce, Bridge, Mcleary (Kanu Robson) Wiliams (Drenthe), Karacan, McAuff (Obbita), Le Fondre, New Striker.

Will Adkins change it NO!!





.



When you rely on your left back Bridge to cross the ball against Brighton all the time that is not right.

Bring on brifge against Brighton at hald

[Handsome Man]

Players in or not Adkins style of football to date has been pretty one dimensional with no pace bar the first 45 minutes against Watford.

They pass it at the back, they pass in the middle but when it comes to delivery into the box it has been poor giving Le Fondre nothing to feed on after all every thing is played in the air and not to his feet giving him no chance.

For me the system whatever it is meant to be is not working....we have natural winger at the club McCleary, McAnuff, Kanu Robson, Obita who can cross a ball that are not in the staring line up. Play 4-4-2 get down both wings with both full back supporting play with Williams, Drenthe or Karacan in the middle, they all have good engines to go box to box like Sidwell and Harper did.

Drop Guthrie he flatters to deceive, he links play at the back, plays the glory cross field ball out wide but when he has to deliver a ball that counts he does not , he just chips it up into the box and hopes.

4-4-2 works for me with the team line up ---MCarthy, Kelly, Morrison, Pearce, Bridge, Mcleary (Kanu Robson) Wiliams (Drenthe), Karacan, McAuff (Obbita), Le Fondre, New Striker.

Will Adkins change it NO!!





.



When you rely on your left back Bridge to cross the ball against Brighton all the time that is not right.

Bring on brifge against Brighton at hald

It is very difficult to play if you don't have a striker, and unless Pogrebnyak recovers his inspiration, or one of the youngsters comes good, we are a bit stuffed. The attacking midfielders cannot magically create a situation where Le Fondre has an open goal with no defenders within six yards of him, and Blackman also doesn't look to mave made the step up from Division 1.

[Avon Royal]

I can see why people want to go back to 4-4-2, but that would really be a short term fix.

If we ever want to establish ourselves in the Premier League we need to accept that a different style is needed, and that style will take time to evolve.

We are a good 2-3 years away from challenging for promotion again, and most of the current team may well have been shipped out by then in favour of players who can play a more possession based game.

[paultheroyal]

I can see why people want to go back to 4-4-2, but that would really be a short term fix.

If we ever want to establish ourselves in the Premier League we need to accept that a different style is needed, and that style will take time to evolve.

We are a good 2-3 years away from challenging for promotion again, and most of the current team may well have been shipped out by then in favour of players who can play a more possession based game.

Yep, this. In for the long game!

[paultheroyal]

Bring on brifge against Brighton at hald

Absolutely!

[paddy20]

I can see why people want to go back to 4-4-2, but that would really be a short term fix.

If we ever want to establish ourselves in the Premier League we need to accept that a different style is needed, and that style will take time to evolve.

We are a good 2-3 years away from challenging for promotion again, and most of the current team may well have been shipped out by then in favour of players who can play a more possession based game.

Trouble is where's the money going to come from to do that

[sandman]

Err we're already playing 4-4-2 it's just that it's a version that doesn't suit us. I don't get all this sneering about 4-4-2 and how we can't go back to that when we're actually playing it, talk about Emperor's new clothes.

"If we want to establish ourselves in the Premier League" is one that regularly pops up on here and is really getting annoying now. WE ARE IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP it's stating the bleeding obvious but it seems some need to be told that fact. It's fine having one eye on the Premier League but if you're concentrating on establishing yourselves in the Premier League then you are destined to fail because the Championship is not a League that allows for that.

[Royal Lady]

Err we're already playing 4-4-2 it's just that it's a version that doesn't suit us. I don't get all this sneering about 4-4-2 and how we can't go back to that when we're actually playing it, talk about Emperor's new clothes.

"If we want to establish ourselves in the Premier League" is one that regularly pops up on here and is really getting annoying now. WE ARE IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP it's stating the bleeding obvious but it seems some need to be told that fact. It's fine having one eye on the Premier League but if you're concentrating on establishing yourselves in the Premier League the you are destined to fail because the Championship is not a League that allows for that.

But that's what the CLUB have told us....

[Eaststandman]

Err we're already playing 4-4-2 it's just that it's a version that doesn't suit us. I don't get all this sneering about 4-4-2 and how we can't go back to that when we're actually playing it, talk about Emperor's new clothes.

"If we want to establish ourselves in the Premier League" is one that regularly pops up on here and is really getting annoying now. WE ARE IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP it's stating the bleeding obvious but it seems some need to be told that fact. It's fine having one eye on the Premier League but if you're concentrating on establishing yourselves in the Premier League the you are destined to fail because the Championship is not a League that allows for that.

Furthermore if we fail to concentrate on where we are now we will not be in the Championship over the next 2-3 years!

[Snowball]

I really don't get all the negativity

We are going through change, yet are right now averaging the points required for 8th/9th and WILL improve,
so, IMO, we are good for at least the POs.

I'll say again, we miss L-Wood in front of the defence