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Adams not running, but he could still go?

Despite another defeat, and a defeat that leaves us teetering on the brink of slipping into the drop zone - something that I really fear we will find hard, if not impossible to get out of if we drop in - Tony Adams has vowed to BBC Sport that he will not run away from his job and will keep fighting, as the players must: 'I'll pick us up and get on with the next game and rally the troops. I don't run away.

'I'll fight and these players have to fight and stay together. It's a scrap, but I'll be scrapping.'

We have now lost 6 of the last 7 games and are without a win in the league for 2-months, all of which leaves him very, very much under pressure yet he still refuses to concede that he is worried about his future: 'no, I don't think so.

'It is all good at the moment. I do my job to the best of my ability. It has been a tough period. The last two months have been difficult, both on and off the pitch.'

The transfer window is something that he is looking forward to seeing the back of, as heads have been turned, but once this slams shut at 5pm tomorrow that is it, you get on with what you have - yet he still hopes to add a player or two, but rightly so Dave Nugent will again get a chance, although I suspect it will not be in a 4-4-2 against Liverpool but out wide on the right in a 4-5-1: 'heads have been turned up and down the country. Once it is closed we can get on with business.

'I didn't have many options on the bench. But I think David Nugent will get a chance, he worked his socks off.

'But we need a couple of players as I am limited to what I can do.

'Jermaine Pennant is suspended for the next game and he's also got a knock at the moment so I am running out of players.

'The situation has changed at the football club. I've not been given £100m to spend in this window that's for sure, but you get on with the squad you've got.'

The calls for Adams' head grow louder and louder, and whilst I concede things are not looking good I am still at a loss to see who would be better to bring in - managers are invariably out of a job for a reason, if they were up for the job they were being asked to do they would still be doing this wouldn't they?

Another thought is, who would come in and work to the constraints they would have to?

For me, chances are more players will need/want to be sold in the summer, if anyone else came in I am not sure they would accept the need to sell players as readily as Adams does.

If we were going to make this change I feel we should have made this at the start/early in January - doing it now is not going to achieve anything, granted you usually get that 'new manager boost', which could give us a few wins we need to stay up but now is the time for all to rally round and prove we are all singing from the same song sheet, yep the manager takes the can, but he is not the one that goes out on the pitch and performs is he. That said, he needs to get them in the frame of mind to perform, that he can help...

Despite all of this, and talks to the contrary more and more 'reports' are growing today that Adams is likely to lose his job today with Peter Storrie and Sacha Gaydamak holding 'crisis talks'.

At these talks today it is said that it will be decided that we are best off cutting our losses with him, something that is claimed did not happen yesterday at the end of the Fulham defeat as Storrie intervened?

'Should' he go, and some reports even claim that Adams himself has actually decided enough is enough, then it is believed that Avram Grant, who seems to have been waiting in the wings for months, would be the man we turn to with immediate effect.

Come on then guys, where do you stand on this issue? Share your views, but ideally if you could also add some reasoning behind your thoughts - for me just saying 'sack him' or 'keep him' without any thought or reasoning behind your argument is taking the easy way out...

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Writer: pompeyrug

Date:Sunday February 1 2009

Time: 9:54AM

Your Comments

IF Adams gets the boot, I don't think he will, we need a man with charisma to come in, someone media friendly, and someone who gets passionate, these attributes seem to hold more weight with players for some reason, you can get a coach in to coach, but the manager needs to be the one who mollycoddles the players and sucks up to the press

paultsmouth

Rug i feel yesterday was probally the turning point & TA will now go how many chances can he have although his heart is no doubt in the right place but the issue is about the premier survival of PFC & personalaties have no place we need points probally 14 to make sure of staying up but wh knows with a crazy league this year im still not sure all the players are as much behind TA as they say & with most probally having relegation get out clauses & out of contract this summer giving 100% may not be thier worry . but they are paid to do a job. This transfer window has been rather strnge only three in ? has PS been focusing on two front finding a replacement for TA as well as adding to the squad . All i know is we need somthing to happen for the good of PFC wether it be to sack TA or getting some points . & it needs sorting out now. Oh how i wish this was Feb 08 again what a differance a year makes

sea-juicer

I believe TA whe nhe says he is doing his best; well his best is fast becoming not good enough. Should we sack him? I honestly don't know as who would come in and do a better job at this late stage? If he can keep us up (Liverpool next week and our record against them at FP ain't too shabby) then he has a chance to shine in the first couple of months of next season. If we're struggling then, that is the time to get rid.

UKTony

He has to go he is tearing this club apart now.No win in 2 months is shocking form us fans deserve more than this.He transfers have been ok but when you look at the players he was going to bring in they are future players.Pele and sunny are young players.We need people who can start playing now to get us out of this mess.How can you turn saviola down ?? he good player scores goals but no he turns him down and would rather go for so called ' future players' dos santos i would be happy with but if he cant gt in the spurs 1st team how is he going to get in ours ??? unless we stick him up front with crouchie.so im another ADAMS OUT !!!we only appointed him because he was the cheapest option to be honest right now get Grant in to the end of the season before its to late. PUP

stfc ballboy

Well until he's sacked I'm backing him. Yes, I'm running out of patience, and yes I'm HATING the results, but at the end of the day whether I like it or not he's our manager and if we are all on at him to be sacked then it's making his job a hundred times harder.

PFCGino

I say stick with him regardless, even if we go down. Someone has to make a stand against this constant firing and hiring. He is not being helped by poor displays by our top players Crouch, Distan and injuries to top players - we need Silvie with Sol - and, unfit, Kranjcar is a waste of space - better to have 12 million quid. give Sean a new contract, quickly, he's great and we might need him next season in the Ch*****ship. The only glows on the horizon are Spuds losing in the last minute and that little Chav Git being injured. If you want someone to blame it's Gaydamak, throwing money around then not having the bottle to 'pay up and look big'. Basically, he changed his mind about the club and has asset stripped it. All the promises, all the hype and it will all amount to 'The FA Cup and Relegation. Possibly.

Et_tu_Pompeii

Remember why we are in this mess - Jamie's Dad transferred himself to Spuds after tapping himself up. Tony is trying but he has not really got the necessary experience.

eastneydave

Let him go, we are doomed if he stays, if he does stay get some one in to help him,like Graham, Grant or Souness. He is not good enough tactically,and does not appear to be able to motivate this team to perform. Kranjcar should be gone,as should Hughes and Traore they are not good enough and should have been let go, Nico is a lightweight with no bottle for the fight, thats what we need now. Adams need to look at Benjy and a creative midfielder, not a Spurs reject, or Kitson or Surridge, they will not save us. We were poor yesterday and the players heads were down pretty quickly. I heard this morning that there was confrontation in the dressing room after, pity it did not spill over onto the pitch at 3 o'clock!!

Owenspompey

I'd swap The Cup for 10 years of solid Premier League status, wouldn't you? Well, that's where we were going untill Gayderknapp and Redmak balls it all up. One last thing, despite what I've said, I think the worst reason for our plight is 'refereeing decisions and poor luck (which is a combination of crap refs and our own inability) Think back to the Villa game, how much did the ref and lino's cost us? The game? Against Fulham, at 1-0 down we get refused 2 penalties, both of which looked dead certs. Suddenly we're 3-0 down. @Joker cards' is what we need. twice during a match managers can play a 'joker' which forces the 4th official to watch a replay with the ability to alter the decision.

Et_tu_Pompeii

TA without a doubt needs someone to help him - his fear probably is by bringing is someone with experience to help him, they would be 'waiting' to take his job... i think this is probably a risk he has to take now, as chances are he will lose this job anyway unless he swallows his pride and asks for some help...
blaming him for the players we have lost, and will probably lose in the summer, for me isnt fair - we spent well beyond our means so players are being sold as they have to be, not because we want them sold, the plus point is we are getting good money for them. jamie's dad takes alot of the blame for our current position but sacha is the one that kept giving him money, money that he did not have!
i cannot see what sacking TA now will do to help, we should have done this weeks ago if we were doing it - we must work double, double time over the next 24-hours and give him the backing to bring in at least one player, maybe two - if need be terminate traore's loan, i like the fella but his confidence has gone and he offers nothing, and bring in someone on loan. we have little or no cash but spending a smallish amount to get us out of the hole would surely be preferable to the option of not and losing even more by going down - which i think will happen either way, down or stay up, with or without TA. whichever way we are going is going to happen with or without him in my opinion, i just pray that it is stay up and with him...

pompeyrug

I felt that no matter what we did yesterday Murphy and Davies were running the game, and that Johnson and Nevland were too good for the back four, so no matter what we were going to get nothing when Adams put this side out.

Owenspompey

Roberto Mancini! Blimey! Class Act!

PompeyFCUK

if we were going to bring in a name like mancini we would have done that in the first place - we cannot offer managers like mancini and so on what they will crave, which is money to spend to buy players, and the luxury of keeping others... well thats what i think anyway.

pompeyrug

Well said rug, this will be the deciding factor for any new manager, do i want to manage this squad?,or create a a new one, there is no money and no prospect of survival with these players.

Owenspompey

I'm gutted that Adams hasnt (so far) been able to make it work, I continue to defend him to my non-pompey mates, but i'm running out of excuses and we're running out of time. I don't think it's too late to make a change, whether thats replacing Tone or getting someone else in above him. I think we'd turn it around by bringing in Grant to work with him AND by Sacha putting his hand in his pocket and making a big signing, someone who'll bring a big injection of confidence in the side and get the tony-haters back behind the team.

SUAC51

...Whats £10Million for a player, balanced against the £30Million or so we'll loose if we drop out of the premier league?

SUAC51

Good players dont always make good managers, they may be able to coach, but not manage, which is a different skill/art altogether. Adams may well be a good coach, but he needs to work under an experienced manager, and thats what the club should have looked at, instead they let him go to Blackburn!!

Owenspompey

meh why get rid of adams i really don't see the point no other manager that we can get will be any better. personally i still think we should have grabbed big sam when jamies dad left

pompeym@

Part of the problem is TA's lack of experience and tactical nouse, but part of it is the situation at the club has changed. Sacha, for whatever reason, wants to/has to sell the club, and therefore recent sales have gone to balance the books - there is only money to buy players now if we sell. This is a very different situation to when Mr Sandbanks was in charge, and may well be part of the reason he went. I can't think that any incoming manager would be happy to come in under these circumstances. There is no magical saviour out there - we do have a through and through football man, who is dedicated to the cause and trying to learn fast. OK, I don't agree with all his decisions. Also, as much as I'm trying to be positive, I'm genuinely worried, and its so depressing seeing Pompey get beaten all the time, but I don't see any choice but to stick with TA for now, and hope for the best.

tracyc

Act in haste,repent at leisure. It was too convenient and too easy (and cheap) to make Tony Manager when we did. Also, if he said he didn't want an Assistant Manager, then that was too easy (and cheap) as well. I see greed running right through this scenario, Sascha is going to get out as cheaply as he can. Unfortuntely, the fall guy will be Tony Adams. I think the fair thing to do is to bring in an Assistant Manager until the end of the season and see how things go. The only other option is a Caretaker Manager - what decent Manager would undertake a situation where we have no money, an uncertain future, disgruntled players etc., etc.? Only someone who can' get a job anywhere else........

Gandor1

Avram Grant anyone? Not that I think he has oddles of presence!

stillthewhizz

i think this will be my final say on this matter, we stick by TA, i know we only look at our position, but if he goes then surely another half a dozen/dozen managers should also go, as they are in the same positon as he and we... 'if' it was only us and a couple of other clubs in this dreadful position i think i would probably agree, get rid of him, but there are so many that could go down, plus the burning questions who the hell is going to come in and do anything better than TA? again i say people are out of a job for a reason, there is no charismatic manager that would come in...

pompeyrug

TA won't go off his own free will but he could get pushed. Unless we pick a win up soon we will ne in the bottom 3. Do we have some players that have a clause in their contract to leave if we are relegated, cause some of them are pushing that button? Are building a team to survive & then we would have to build again for next season, unsure which division now.

storagematt

No point in getting Adams out now,the window is about to close,new manager would not know the players,& as some have said who could we get that would do better, with the transfer window I feel Adams hand has been extremely restricted unlike others. but do you hear him moan. simple answer NO

pompeyyong

Certainly there's no point getting rid of TA before the window is closed as it would make us an even more unattractive employer (PFC can't be that attractive a location at the moment for anyone apart from a lower league player at the beginning or end of their career, in all honesty) BUT the moment the window is closed, the clock will be ticking for Young Tone.

hammersmithblue

Why the Hell has nobody appointed him an Assistant Manager? He has no experience and yet is expected to soldier on regardless. Unless of course it is his choice to go it alone as such?! If it is his choice then more bloody fool him, Pride before a fall and all that!

pentonpompey

I've got just about one or two more 'TONY ADAMS BLUE AND WHITE ARMY CHANTS Left in me ... I'll not use one against Liverpool as a loss should be expected .. but Stoke is a 6 pointer as is Man City.... get us five points from the next three games then he can stay.. anything less he goes... That means he has to beat Stoke after we lose to Liverpool ... He has my backing (Christ knows why when I didn't want him in the first place) but if determination and hard work can keep us up .. He will do it..

Chix

maybe he can do well now, i agree chix. he doesn't have long before evryone turns against him.

MFFP

Yep, I'd say that would be about right Chix. But meanwhile, get him an Assistant manager - would Avram Grant do it?

Gandor1

gandor, maybe grant should be the manager, and adams the assistant. maybe we would get better reactiuons from the players

MFFP

Chix, every game since November has been a six pointer, and we keep getting let down by bad tactics and poor performances. No ,atter how you look at the way we play, we are pretty at times, but never deliver the final blow. The rot needs to be stopped now, it needed to happen many games ago, but this is the critical time.

Owenspompey

A loss to Stoke must mean the loss of his job, surely!?

nodster

this is quite interesting, makes a few good points http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11674_4881512,00.html

nodster

Yaeh Nods I say that report too and to be honest part of me agrees that a change would do no go at all... But then Owens does make a really valid point .. we have been saying.. just one more game for a few games now.. so when is the right time ? I don't think a No2 being force on him would be acceptable .. It has been his decision not to appoint one (Ok he found it difficult to find one) but for one to be appointed would just undermine hs authority and i we have learnt anything about Adams it is that that he is a man of honour and pride.. He'd walk in that sitution I am sure.. I think I'll stick with my original thoughts ..five points from the next three games then he can stay.. anything less he goes

Chix

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