Nigel Adkins faces a weekend of destiny culminating with the visit of Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon with defeat putting severe pressure on the manager.
In his relatively short managerial career Nigel Adkins hasnt really faced a lot of pressure, at Scunthorpe he took the club to unchartered heights meaning that even relegation didnt put his position at risk, at Saints although the magnitude of his task shouldnt be underestimated, the fact is that everything went in the right direction meaning that he never came under any real criticism of the job he was doing either from the Chairman or supporters.
However now he faces a real task, whilst around 75% of the Saints support appear to back him and feel he is doing a good job in difficult circumstances according to a Daily Echo poll, the fact is that many of those fans feel that last week the defeat was down to Adkins own tactical naivety and another comprehensive defeat would weaken his position not only in the boardroom but with the fans who have so far backed him.
With only one win in eight games and no signs that we can stop the unacceptable goals against tally, Nigel is going to have his work cut out, a week ago I stressed the need for him to get the selections right at Upton Park, he didnt to be blunt and that means he really has to this time out if we are to prevent ourselves getting into a rut.
Its about this time of the season when teams fall into slides that cant be stopped and we need to make sure that doesnt happen now.
But although supporters acknowledge that the manager was desperate for players in key areas that he wasnt given, the buck has to stop and he has to start doing a good job in bad circumstances and that means taking his own destiny in his hands.
If he is under pressure from above regarding team tactics and players he has to select then its time for him to stand up and be counted, there is perhaps only one thing worse than losing matches when you make tactical mistakes and that is losing matches when you allow someone else to dictate some of your decisions.
Adkins has to now stand up and take responsibility and pick the side he wants and the formation that he wants, if he does so then the supporters will back him to the hilt, if he continues with picking the same old players in the same old formation that they clearly cant play then he has to carry the can.
The phrase for the last two seasons has been In Nigel We Trust, most of us still do, time for Nigel to show us what he is made of !