Any old iron

I have deliberately not posted on the Saints and the sacking of Alan Pardew, as I was unsure of exactly how I felt. The timing was so odd that I was pretty sure that it was not a football related decision and the fact that Pardew has remained firmly tight lipped since he was sacked only adds logic to that thought process.

He took the team (and me) to Wembley and won a trophy so I will always have good memories about his time at the club and he has my sincere thanks for that. Last season we got closer to the playoffs than a team starting with a 10 point deduction had a right to expect to be, so he finished last season poised to take the club back top the Championship this season. This season has not started well and clearly something was not right. Whether it would have been easily corrected we'll never know now.

So now we have a new manager in Nigel Adkins. He has done very well at Scunthorpe, winning two promotions to the Championship so he certainly has the pedigree to achieve this season what the fans expect. His first interview says all the right things and if he delivers then this will be a great season. He also has lots of qualifications and he seems to have the modern "scientific" approach to management which should improve the players overall fitness.

The club say they had lots of applications and they have picked Adkins as the very best manager available. Lets hope they have got it right this time!