Nigel makes plans.

It was a baptism of fire for Nigel Adkins as he arrived at St Mary's, he inheirited a squad that was in turmoil aligned with supporters who to be honest werent exactly impressed with seeing the manager of Scunthorpe arrive at the club, it would be fair to say most expected at least a man with premier experience as in some of the names touted around and failing that Eddie Howe was perhaps the popular choice.

However to give credit to Cortese he did not stray off his original blueprint for the club, Adkins might not have been first choice if we believe rumour, but he certainly fitted the bill on other criteria, not least the fact that he was a man used to working and succeeding at the level that was needed, this was a fact overlooked by many Saints fans who demand (and contine to demand judging by the Michael Owen rumours now etc) big names rather than the right experience. 

Initially Adkins struggled, it was not the type of club he was used to working at, after losing his first game in charge at MK Dons followed up by a poor goalless draw at home to Colchester he got a win at highflying Sheffield Wednesday but then saw a second win thrown away at Yeovil, five points from the first four games was distincly underwhelming andcomparisons were made with Pardew who had been sacked after getting four out of three.

A big local derby with Bournemouth who were well above us in the table beckoned and there were whispers that if Adkins lost this then he might be seeking new employment again, the Chairman might be right here when he said that there were elements surrounding the club who were looking to unsettle it, but in fairness by now he had not made many friends in the media and could expect little else.

The Bournemouth game was tense, the Cherries came out of the traps flying and hit the post in the opening minute but this bluster was soon gone and Saints triumphed 2-0 albeit two Lambert penalties, they hadnt fired on all cylinders butat least they were through a big test, they followed it up with another win against Tranmere but then took a step back by perhaps our only comprehensive defeat of the season at Huddersfield a couple of more wins meant that Adkins had won five out of six since Bournemouth, the fans were starting to warm to him a little.

But this was Saints and just as we thought the promotion charge was picking up steam we went to Carlisle and saw individual errors cost us even a point, results were a little erratic and at Xmas we found ourselves still not firing on all cylinders.

Although he had had several months in the job by now perhaps Adkins was struggling to get to grips with the situation he found himself in, at Scunthorpe he had to work with a full squad, at Saints he had at least two players in every position and if there is a criticism of his leadership it is that he didnt seem to know his best team, some players seemed to play whatever their performance whilst others seemed to be dropped after great displays, this pattern continued right up to the final game of the season.

There was no doubt tough at Christmas the jury was still out on Adkins and the fact that Saints suffered a few postponements leaving them with games in hand didnt improve league position, if they won those games then it put them in the frame, but if they didnt then it would be disaster.

The supporters went into the new year hopeful though, a 4-1 thrashing of Huddersfield plus the prospect of major money spent in the transfer window meant things where looking up.

To Be Continued ...      

Photo: Action Images

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