Sport RSS Feed Send your news, pictures & videos


Daily Echo Sport

The rise of Nigel Adkins

2:39pm Wednesday 8th September 2010 in


NIGEL Adkins looks set to complete a remarkable rise that would take him from Bangor City to Saints.

The 45-year-old Scunthorpe manager is understood to be on the brink of being appointed the new manager at St Mary's.

Adkins is one of the most qualified football managers in the leagues, with a sport psychology diploma, a business and finance degree, UEFA coaching badges and experience from the ‘applied management in professional football’ course at Warwick Business School.

On top of all that he is a trained physio – the role in which he originally joined Scunthorpe after a career in the lower leagues of English football as a goalkeeper and then a successful spell as boss at Welsh side Bangor City, who he led to the qualifying stages of the Champions League.

Adkins was handed the job at Scunthorpe on a caretaker basis in November 2006 following the departure of Brian Laws and was given the role permanently a month later.

Since then he has enjoyed remarkable success. In 2007 he guided Scunthorpe to the League One title and promotion to the Championship – the first time the club had got out of the bottom two tiers of English professional football for 43 years.

Though they were relegated the following season Adkins rebuilt and took his side back to the Championship via the playoffs in May 2009.

In that same season, in which young Saint Joseph Mills was on loan at Glanford Park, they also got to the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final, losing to Luton.

Perhaps an even more remarkable achievement than the promotions though was that last season Adkins managed to keep Scunthorpe in the Championship.

That was with a ground that at capacity holds just 9,088 and last season had an average attendance of 6,383, some 14,559 less than Saints had in League One and a staggering 37,004 less than Championship winners Newcastle achieved.

It all meant that Scunthorpe had the lowest budget in the division – it is said to have been lower than Saints’ – and so the feat of avoiding relegation made Adkins a massive hero in Scunthorpe.

With Adkins' stock rising he has been linked with other high-profile jobs.

There were suggestions that he would leave for Championship side Swansea in the summer but the Iron held on to their man, who followed the likes of Bertie Mee and Bob Paisley from the role of physio to manager.

Saints though is potentially seen as a perfect step for Adkins.

The new look set-up is considered one in which he may be able to thrive, whereas a more conventional British manager may not, as they will not have control of every aspect of the football club.

It is also felt that he could grow and develop with the club if they achieve their aims of rising through the divisions, though he doesn’t have experience of managing at the very top level.

Comments(22)

LE BIG HOOTER says...
2:42pm Wed 8 Sep 10

FANCY HEY ?!?

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

LE BIG HOOTER says...
2:45pm Wed 8 Sep 10

Maybe Nicola wants him to carry the bandages as well as manage the team - cost savings a plenty !!

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

saintsayer says...
2:47pm Wed 8 Sep 10

Clever bugger though isn't he just hope he can get a hat trick of L1 promotins 2007/09/11

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Bitterne Park Tim says...
2:55pm Wed 8 Sep 10

nononononononononnon
onononono

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

saintssaintssaints says...
3:00pm Wed 8 Sep 10

This appointment tells me a lot.... Not in a good way.

Without garry hooper they would of struggled big time to even get up let alone stay up. Without him adkins is no one. they had a striker who the hole team realied on. We've made a big mistake. He'll b out by November.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

saintssaintssaints says...
3:02pm Wed 8 Sep 10

Saints r too big for him. Remember sturrock? Same issues.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

TUNA_MAN says...
3:06pm Wed 8 Sep 10

Seems like the ideal candiate,Moaners stfu up and get behind us !!!

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

championpish says...
3:07pm Wed 8 Sep 10

well of course it was dreamland to think oneill.

Adkins would be a great appointment, defo be much happier with him than Brown!

If he gets it lets all get behind him and the team and not put him under pressure.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

7saint7 says...
3:16pm Wed 8 Sep 10

he does sound like a very good up and coming manager. and he will be takeing a step down but to a much better club so would be a smart move for him. he will have fund's he never dreamed of a team club and fan's also. could make or brake him .

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

ourkid1984 says...
3:17pm Wed 8 Sep 10

Although my favoured realistic choice is Brown I think Adkins is a decent choice. He must be a good man manager to be able to achieve what he has with Scunthorpe. When we were in the same league as us I went to the home and away games and I was impressed by how they played.

I don't understand what some people were expecting, I mean we are (reality check) in League 1, not the Premier or Championship and we haven't exactly got off to a flyer have we. I happen to think that Sturrock done quite well and seems to have done well for himself since leaving Saints with similar size clubs. And as for someone suggesting that if it wasn't for their star striker they would of done nothing, isn't that the same boat we were in last season? And wasn't that the same thing for us back in the days when a certain big time Saints manager told the players to pass it to le tiss? I think so!

If Adkins does become our manager I will give him all my support and hope that he can do the job for us.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

RealTalkMuhFuggas says...
3:26pm Wed 8 Sep 10

If it is, I hope he can handle the pressure. 14000 more fans every home game is gonna be a nice shock for him.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Whiters says...
3:43pm Wed 8 Sep 10

A good solid choice imo, has won two promotions from League One on far smaller resources than he will have at St Mary's.

What he will need is everyone to give him a fair crack of the whip and get behind him, that goes for Cortese, the training ground staff (although I don't necessarily believes they weren't behind Pardew), the players AND us fans.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

saint t.boy says...
4:04pm Wed 8 Sep 10

7saint7 wrote:
he does sound like a very good up and coming manager. and he will be takeing a step down but to a much better club so would be a smart move for him. he will have fund's he never dreamed of a team club and fan's also. could make or brake him .
absolutly this is either the making of him if he gets his big chance does well and i hope he does.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

SpanishSaint says...
5:04pm Wed 8 Sep 10

Some great comments, and after reading N.A's profile and looking into his past a bit deeper I am of the opinion that he 'could' be the man!! But hey, who knows, no matter who takes on the job he will of course have his work cut out to get Saints back on to winning ways. I must admit I was'nt keen on Brown, a bit full of himself at times. But whoever gets the job will certainly have my full backing if only from afar coyr!!

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Littleton-Saint says...
5:28pm Wed 8 Sep 10

I doubt whether many people knew of Adkins before Saints propelled him into the lime-light. He's certainly no big name and lacks the big WOW factor that the Saints fans deserve.

I wish him well if he should be appointed as I want Saints to gain promotion, but if the alleged problem of interference from NC and LR should surface, then I can't see anyone putting up with it - even on a fat salary.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

sfc5018 says...
5:50pm Wed 8 Sep 10

AWAY GAME PARKING AT STADIUM WILL BE REDUCED TO £5 FROM THIS SATURDAY. ENTER BARRIER IN NORMAL WAY THEN PAY SECURITY GUARD £5 FOR PRE-PAID EXIT TICKET. THE CLUB HAS LISTENED TO LOYAL AWAY FANS AND RESPONDED ACCORDINGLY

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

saintkenny says...
6:32pm Wed 8 Sep 10

saintssaintssaints wrote:
Saints r too big for him. Remember sturrock? Same issues.
wake up we our in league 1 the season as started it just makes sense ,hes won promotion twice in the last few years .lets just get out of league 1 .a premier manager might of taken more than 1 season to deal with this league .lets get behind the new man and the team coyr

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

juan101 says...
7:43pm Wed 8 Sep 10

I think this is a huge risk. Despite some success at Scunthorpe, Adkins is unproven over a period of time. This is a MUCH bigger job. Saints have been used to being in the big time and the fans are going to be much more demanding. We are going to have a manager learning on the job and, I would say, Mr L Reed is going to be in the background 'advising' (or interferring). It looks as if they have gone for a 'yes' man which Pardew clearly wasn't. I still feel strongly that Pardew should not have been sacked. He took Reading into the Prem and I think he would have taken Saints back there. We'll see, but I won't be surprised if this ends in tears. By the way was does NC know about English lower division football? Not a lot I would opine, and this reinforces my view that the Adkins thing is the work of Les Reed, the man who was a total failure as a manager at Charlton FC!

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

the third hardest man in sholing says...
7:54pm Wed 8 Sep 10

Whiters wrote:
A good solid choice imo, has won two promotions from League One on far smaller resources than he will have at St Mary's. What he will need is everyone to give him a fair crack of the whip and get behind him, that goes for Cortese, the training ground staff (although I don't necessarily believes they weren't behind Pardew), the players AND us fans.
Cheers mate,you have said it all for me.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

snake hips says...
9:45pm Wed 8 Sep 10

saintssaintssaints wrote:
Saints r too big for him. Remember sturrock? Same issues.
too big??? your a league 1 club!! not premiership or championship!

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Chicago Saint says...
10:58pm Wed 8 Sep 10

Nice resume, think he would be a good fit at Saints. Definitely sounds like a good motivator and that has lacked on this team in key games last year. Comrades... let's not forget that it was not his fault AP got the sack. So if he does get the job, it is important that everyone give him a chance and get behind him 100% and with a positive state of mind.

Speaking of AP, I myself being a fan of his, kind of makes me now wonder about his sacking. I can understand Cortese not willing to give details on his sacking (right or wrong), but if AP is not even commenting now, almost two weeks later, then it makes me wonder if he possibly acted somehow unprofessionally within the club. And if that is the case, then Cortese will prove to be a true gentleman for not airing the dirty laundry. Just a thought.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Elgy says...
2:13pm Thu 9 Sep 10

snake hips wrote:
saintssaintssaints wrote:
Saints r too big for him. Remember sturrock? Same issues.
too big??? your a league 1 club!! not premiership or championship!
So Blackpool are a bigger club than Leeds, Cardiff, QPR, Boro etc? Bigger stadium, more fans? No.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

More Sport stories


Nigel Adkins Nigel Adkins

Most popular







• Saints

 • Football

 • Cricket

 • Boxing

 • Golf
Hampshire FA Respect the Ref
Get Adobe Flash player

Local Information

Enter your postcode, town or place name

House prices »   Schools »   Crime »   Hospitals »

Local Businesses