"If Pocchettino's good enough for Mourinho, he's good enough for me..." (From Daily Echo)

Great article. Totally agree..

100% agree.

37 years as a Saints fan I have seen, good, bad, dark and light and since Nigel took over in 2010 it has all been light. Now for two sides of how I feel...

In the manner this sacking has been dealt with I am absolutely disgusted, ashamed, embarrassed, annoyed and quite honestly betrayed by a Chairman who seems to have forgotten that Clubs don't exist without fans and the fans by vast majority were happy with our progress within the PL under the guidance of NA. Of course we do not know what has gone on behind closed doors but we do get the feeling that our Chairman Nicola Cortese has not made it easy for Nigel in terms of interference in team matters in which case NA is probably better off out. Either way we can't change what has happened.

On the flip side, we must remember that Nicola Cortese convinced Marcus Leibher to buy our beloved club and save us from going under. We must also remember that NC brought in Nigel Adkins in 2010 after the shock sacking of Alan Pardew; an appointment that the vast majority could not understand appointing someone with such little experience - well we have to tip our hats to NA on that one - he got it bang on the money. Perhaps his statement of taking us to the next level just well needs to be believed... only time will tell.

Nigel Adkins you will always have a part in Saints history, we wish you well, we are confident of your future success and above all we salute you.

Who says we wouldnt have a club ? utter urban myth as there were other interested parties.

Les Reed brought in Adkins im afraid not Cortese. That was botched by Cortese unwilling to pay compo first. We nearly ended up with Eddie Howe. Adkins was always going to be better than Dean Wilkins and three straight defeats.

'Together as one' do me a favour what utter rubbish. When Cortese hates our history and abuses our legends.

So overall yet another clueless fan that actually doesnt know what they are talking about.

Cortese is a total joke and needs to be sacked.

We need help from the Liebherr family to get this autocractic meglomaniac out of our club. Hes only here for the money and expenses ! Has no interest in our history and has turned our club into a laughing stock. Several years quicker than Rupert Lowe did !

SaintsBTGOG wrote:
Who says we wouldnt have a club ? utter urban myth as there were other interested parties.

Les Reed brought in Adkins im afraid not Cortese. That was botched by Cortese unwilling to pay compo first. We nearly ended up with Eddie Howe. Adkins was always going to be better than Dean Wilkins and three straight defeats.

'Together as one' do me a favour what utter rubbish. When Cortese hates our history and abuses our legends.

So overall yet another clueless fan that actually doesnt know what they are talking about.

Adkins did ok yes but, my mum could have got us out of league 1 ..and the championship was momentum.
As did norwich. Paul Lambert is not doing so well now.

The bottom line is we must get behind the team and the new manager,protesting is stupid and wont bring Nigel back. ok a mins applause at the start but we must move on now

SaintsBTGOG wrote:
Cortese is a total joke and needs to be sacked.

We need help from the Liebherr family to get this autocractic meglomaniac out of our club. Hes only here for the money and expenses ! Has no interest in our history and has turned our club into a laughing stock. Several years quicker than Rupert Lowe did !

I totally agree. Cortese must go. The fans owe Cortese nothing.

Great article Shona, forget the negos who said the same when Alan Pardew was sacked, but soon began clapping and sneaking back into the ground when NA started getting results.

I agree with Matt le God's sentiment in the first part of his reply, I'm horrified at the way this sacking took place. There was no time for the fans to thank Nigel Adkins for an incredible two and a half years. Like Alan Pardew the chairman decided they were going and swung the axe - at least in the office you get time to say goodbye!
Lets not also forget the way Nigel Adkins was recruited. He was asked to resign from Scunthorpe to take up the Saints job, thereby helping Saints to avoid paying compensation to the Irons. He refused, He did the honourable thing, the decent thing, the right thing by Scunthorpe. What angers me is that he has not been shown that same decency from Southampton Football Club. Did the chairman front up at the unveiling of Pochettino? No. He left Pochetino to answer all the questions about Adkins on his own. That's not a very decent thing to do and that's what has made me angry. Nigel Adkins has been treated abominably by a club which, when you listened to the way he talked about Southampton Football Club, he loved and wanted to stay with; a club he was turning around. It's clear to see though, from Pochettino's interviews, that he's been a dead man walking for weeks. How must that have felt? Yet he still fronted up to the camera's and praised the chairman for the job he was doing in trying to get players in.

I'm sorry but this whole episode stinks and whilst I will support my team and it's players; whilst I'm old enough to know that life has to go on and that quite possibly Pochettino, although being described in the Spanish press as "tactically naive" may take Saints to higher places, I don't like the way this has been done.

I will sing Nigel Adkins name. I will remember Nigel Adkins fore a very, very long time. I thank Nigel Adkins from the bottom of my heart for two and a half fantastic years. With his sacking has gone the soul of the club.

THANK YOU - ONE & ONLY NIGEL ADKINS

SaintsBTGOG wrote:
Who says we wouldnt have a club ? utter urban myth as there were other interested parties.

Les Reed brought in Adkins im afraid not Cortese. That was botched by Cortese unwilling to pay compo first. We nearly ended up with Eddie Howe. Adkins was always going to be better than Dean Wilkins and three straight defeats.

'Together as one' do me a favour what utter rubbish. When Cortese hates our history and abuses our legends.

So overall yet another clueless fan that actually doesnt know what they are talking about.

Very few Saints fans approve of all that has happened and I'd imagine and are wrestling with their football conciences. With recent high profile, media-hyped toxicities at chelsea, blackburn etc I think many fans, myself included want to keep the postivity and support the players and MP and stay in the prem. Cortese may indeed hate our history but he cannot rewrite it. COYR!

Change is only good if it brings about improvement. Potchettino was let go by Espanyol with the team bottom of La Liga. He cannot speak English. How is he an improvement on Nigel Adkins?
Cortese is a banker and knows nothing about football - sacking Adkins is proof of that. I'm surprised that some of our fans put such faith in Cortese. Such belief is irrational.

St Graz wrote:

SaintsBTGOG wrote:
Who says we wouldnt have a club ? utter urban myth as there were other interested parties.

Les Reed brought in Adkins im afraid not Cortese. That was botched by Cortese unwilling to pay compo first. We nearly ended up with Eddie Howe. Adkins was always going to be better than Dean Wilkins and three straight defeats.

'Together as one' do me a favour what utter rubbish. When Cortese hates our history and abuses our legends.

So overall yet another clueless fan that actually doesnt know what they are talking about.

Very few Saints fans approve of all that has happened and I'd imagine and are wrestling with their football conciences. With recent high profile, media-hyped toxicities at chelsea, blackburn etc I think many fans, myself included want to keep the postivity and support the players and MP and stay in the prem. Cortese may indeed hate our history but he cannot rewrite it. COYR!

Very good point - our history cannot be re-written. Everything will be there for all to see - even this chairman's disgraceful actions.

Good article, Shona. I agree with you.

COYR

We have a club to support we should be grateful. NA was a good manager and seemed a bloody nice bloke but would he if he turned down a top six club if they had coming knocking??????

Well said, too many WUM's on this site like Ospreysaint.

Paul Lucas wrote:

St Graz wrote:

SaintsBTGOG wrote:
Who says we wouldnt have a club ? utter urban myth as there were other interested parties.

Les Reed brought in Adkins im afraid not Cortese. That was botched by Cortese unwilling to pay compo first. We nearly ended up with Eddie Howe. Adkins was always going to be better than Dean Wilkins and three straight defeats.

'Together as one' do me a favour what utter rubbish. When Cortese hates our history and abuses our legends.

So overall yet another clueless fan that actually doesnt know what they are talking about.

Very few Saints fans approve of all that has happened and I'd imagine and are wrestling with their football conciences. With recent high profile, media-hyped toxicities at chelsea, blackburn etc I think many fans, myself included want to keep the postivity and support the players and MP and stay in the prem. Cortese may indeed hate our history but he cannot rewrite it. COYR!

Very good point - our history cannot be re-written. Everything will be there for all to see - even this chairman's disgraceful actions.

I was as shocked as anyone that NA was sacked by Mr Cortese, but as much as NA has done for the Club I did sometimes question his tactics. Why drop Ricky Lambert our top scorer for Jay Rodriguez? I think that was shown twice when RL came on & scored from the subs bench? Unless this was a very shrewd decision? Also substituting
players near the end of the game & conceding late goals has happened more than once this season! Playing Paul Wotton, one of the worst players to wear a Saints shirt, preferring Frazer Richardson to Danny Butterfield? Okay so I had issues, but some of the football we have played this season has been great & NA turned it around recently losing only 2 in 12 games. Wy didn't Mr Cortese take the decision to sack NA at the start or end of the season if he thought he wasn't up to the job, rather than upset the applecart mid season? Strange decision, do we have aother Rupert in the making? As a lifelong fan I hope Mr Cortese proves me wrong by appointing a Coach who clearly doesn't have a great command of English!
The parting comment from NA to his plyers eptitomises his fefreshing positive attitiude & how he always praised the fans that got behind the team. Good luck Nigel!!

Mourinho is **** live in spain ,but saint through and through been up to see real madrid loads of time the 8 years i have live here now they are crap , its like at chelsea got a good team which would have won the league anyway after put his touch on the they went crap got the sack went to inter milan again had won the leage 5 in a row left because plays didnot like like in madrid now no like because no people skills and his head to big shoud take his head out from his arse

Good letter Shona, but very naive.

The way this has been handled is a disgrace, Cortèse is a buisness man, not a football. Do you really think he's gives a rats **** what the fans think?! He knew there would be up roar which is why he hung pochettino out to dry in the press conference, he knows he's in the wrong and the questions were coming.
It's not pochettino's fault, cortèse has put him in hot water, so he will get the support or my support at least but unfortunately I don't think it will change anything...... What is he going to do or get the team doing that they weren't already doing??? Adkins deserved the season.

Littleton-Saint wrote:
Change is only good if it brings about improvement. Potchettino was let go by Espanyol with the team bottom of La Liga. He cannot speak English. How is he an improvement on Nigel Adkins?
Cortese is a banker and knows nothing about football - sacking Adkins is proof of that. I'm surprised that some of our fans put such faith in Cortese. Such belief is irrational.

Bang on!! The best teams have stability and progress slowly but surely, arsenal, Everton, Man U STOKE all with long serving managers. Cortèse is clueless when it comes to football. If the truth is known NA was probably sacked because he was annoyed with the chairman signing players and telling him to play them. Which is part of the reason Pardew was sacked. Cortèse is a coward.

Good on You Shona, well said!

Thanks for popping in a bit from a realistic fan Echo

Well, just in the interest of continuing the idea of balanced discourse, lets chuck this into the mix shall we.. :)

http://dispatchesfro
mafootballsofa.com/2
013/01/20/the-week-s
outhampton-football-
club-joined-the-asyl
um/?utm_source=rss&u
tm_medium=rss&utm_ca
mpaign=the-week-sout
hampton-football-clu
b-joined-the-asylum

Shona is absolutely right - well done Shona.

There are some short memories in some fans' minds. Cortese did the right thing in bringing in Adkins when he did. NA got us straight to the Premiership. All the know-alls on this site really do not know the reasons for NA's departure. Those that make silly statements such as NC picks the team, NA and NC didn't communicate etc, etc - how do you know? You don't - it's all conjecture.

Now, let's face facts that we do know. We have a new manager, like it or lump it. Are we NA fans or SFC fans? I was both, but always SFC first and foremost. I was shocked at the dismissal of Nigel, and the way it was handled, but there is nothing I or any one else can do about it. I will NOT demonstrate tomorrow evening, that will only serve to destabilise the team and its confidence. Get behind the team and will them on to beat Everton.

At the end of the day, we've been able to make feelings known, through sites like this and more importantly, in the major media (press and broadcasting). Cortese knows the strength of feeling, but it will not sway him him one iota. So, get real and leave it at that - grow up and support SFC and the players on the Park tomorrow. We need wins and points. Demonstrating against the Club (and that's effectively what you will be doing - not against Cortese) will have disastrous results.

A message for Nigel Adkins. Many many thanks for what you achieved at SFC. We are sorry at the way your departure was handled. Real fans of the Club will forever be grateful for what you achieved here. Good luck in your career in the future - you deserve total success, and I reckon you will achieve that.

hoskins wrote:
Mourinho is **** live in spain ,but saint through and through been up to see real madrid loads of time the 8 years i have live here now they are crap , its like at chelsea got a good team which would have won the league anyway after put his touch on the they went crap got the sack went to inter milan again had won the leage 5 in a row left because plays didnot like like in madrid now no like because no people skills and his head to big shoud take his head out from his arse

Mourinho is Portuguese, not Spanish but I wonder if he still live in Portugal or Spanin, I wonder?

SaintsBTGOG wrote:
Who says we wouldnt have a club ? utter urban myth as there were other interested parties.

Les Reed brought in Adkins im afraid not Cortese. That was botched by Cortese unwilling to pay compo first. We nearly ended up with Eddie Howe. Adkins was always going to be better than Dean Wilkins and three straight defeats.

'Together as one' do me a favour what utter rubbish. When Cortese hates our history and abuses our legends.

So overall yet another clueless fan that actually doesnt know what they are talking about.

Atkins brought us " together as one ". It was not a club motto. " the Southampton way " was also Atkins . We have lost that because of Cortese. Shame.

Paul Lucas wrote:
I agree with Matt le God's sentiment in the first part of his reply, I'm horrified at the way this sacking took place. There was no time for the fans to thank Nigel Adkins for an incredible two and a half years. Like Alan Pardew the chairman decided they were going and swung the axe - at least in the office you get time to say goodbye!
Lets not also forget the way Nigel Adkins was recruited. He was asked to resign from Scunthorpe to take up the Saints job, thereby helping Saints to avoid paying compensation to the Irons. He refused, He did the honourable thing, the decent thing, the right thing by Scunthorpe. What angers me is that he has not been shown that same decency from Southampton Football Club. Did the chairman front up at the unveiling of Pochettino? No. He left Pochetino to answer all the questions about Adkins on his own. That's not a very decent thing to do and that's what has made me angry. Nigel Adkins has been treated abominably by a club which, when you listened to the way he talked about Southampton Football Club, he loved and wanted to stay with; a club he was turning around. It's clear to see though, from Pochettino's interviews, that he's been a dead man walking for weeks. How must that have felt? Yet he still fronted up to the camera's and praised the chairman for the job he was doing in trying to get players in.

I'm sorry but this whole episode stinks and whilst I will support my team and it's players; whilst I'm old enough to know that life has to go on and that quite possibly Pochettino, although being described in the Spanish press as "tactically naive" may take Saints to higher places, I don't like the way this has been done.

I will sing Nigel Adkins name. I will remember Nigel Adkins fore a very, very long time. I thank Nigel Adkins from the bottom of my heart for two and a half fantastic years. With his sacking has gone the soul of the club.

THANK YOU - ONE & ONLY NIGEL ADKINS

Agree entirely. Well said.

I woud have to agree with Shona above. Disappointing timing but we have to get over it. Loud and proud tomorrow please!

Also, remember that young Brazilian midfielder at Inter Milan we were allegedly interested in? Coutinho? Just read on another site that he spent most of last sason on loan at Espanyol!!! Funny if we go out and gazump Liverpool for another player?!!

Littleton-Saint wrote:

SaintsBTGOG wrote:
Cortese is a total joke and needs to be sacked.

We need help from the Liebherr family to get this autocractic meglomaniac out of our club. Hes only here for the money and expenses ! Has no interest in our history and has turned our club into a laughing stock. Several years quicker than Rupert Lowe did !

I totally agree. Cortese must go. The fans owe Cortese nothing.

This is so stupid, I have lost the will to respond. please just go away if you can't stand the heat.

The way I see it is that we are just making things more difficult for ourselves. We don't appear to have a great reputation in football already, Cortese has a reputation for being difficult to deal with, our agent fees are far less than anyone else in the league (check out the table on the BBC), and lets assume MP is not a success, who in their right mind would come here? Even if you do well, you could get sacked!

And yes there are good times to sack managers, namely when you are doing badly and a transfer window is coming up. Not when you are doing well & you are halfway through a transfer window.

Lets not kid ourselves, MP has a lot of work ahead. We are still in a relegation battle. He will have pretty much the same squad as Adkins, and has to man manage without speaking English. That coupled with additional pressure from the fans unhappy at Adkins going and we have a bumpy ride ahead of us.

One things for sure though, if we don't stay up now there will be one heck of a s***storm at the end of the season.

"Revolting players"

skatebait wrote:

SaintsBTGOG wrote:
Who says we wouldnt have a club ? utter urban myth as there were other interested parties.

Les Reed brought in Adkins im afraid not Cortese. That was botched by Cortese unwilling to pay compo first. We nearly ended up with Eddie Howe. Adkins was always going to be better than Dean Wilkins and three straight defeats.

'Together as one' do me a favour what utter rubbish. When Cortese hates our history and abuses our legends.

So overall yet another clueless fan that actually doesnt know what they are talking about.

Adkins did ok yes but, my mum could have got us out of league 1 ..and the championship was momentum.
As did norwich. Paul Lambert is not doing so well now.

Nice point, well made. Many fans also thought that a more tactically adept manager could/should have won the Championship...BTGOG who were all these other interested partners then??!! Smae one as interested in Pompey now?? You make me laugh with your scornful attitude of everyone else...your posts are a joke, mate.

Littleton-Saint wrote:
Change is only good if it brings about improvement. Potchettino was let go by Espanyol with the team bottom of La Liga. He cannot speak English. How is he an improvement on Nigel Adkins?
Cortese is a banker and knows nothing about football - sacking Adkins is proof of that. I'm surprised that some of our fans put such faith in Cortese. Such belief is irrational.

Not really...Cortese hasn't got anything wrong yet! What IS irrational is the emotional outpouring for NA who:
a)is not dead
b)is a millionaire thanks to Cortese
c)will get a fine job soon thanks to Cortese giving him an opportunity with us etc etc.

Shona wake up from your dream and life in your fairytale castle that everything in the world is perfect!
Then again you were probably one of those who kept supporting Rupert Lowe!

Looking beyond some of the dubious detail in this missive, can't we agree on some matters of principle:

1) Nigel Adkins has been treated badly. When, within a team environment, you see top brass casually defecating on those below with no regard for honesty, decency, morale, you wonder who is next. This damages team spirit and, last time I looked, football was a team game which where success is ONLY ever earned collectively.

2) What's so great about 'top' European players, striving for the Europa League and having a manager who is liked by Mourinho, the most divisive man in football? Don't you get the fact that what Cortese is doing is attempting to 'grow the brand'. The brand involves TV, it involves execs, it involves Asia. It does not involve Southampton. The club is a vehicle, nothing more, nothing less, for the business/investment ambitions of an elite. The only involvement people from Southampton have is to pay for the privilege of making the ground look nice on TV so that Cortese and his gang can attempt to attract 'global elite' who are going to make our club 'great' (ie richer, he hopes).

I want my football club back.