Adkins needs perfect November as Shearer linked to Southampton
Published:Southampton’s start to the season as been far from perfect and it is just 3/1 that Alan Shearer is named as the successor to Nigel Adkins.
The 3-0 Capital One Cup defeat at Leeds heaped more pressure on Adkins, who has seen his Saints side take just four points from their opening nine league games.
Chairman Nicola Cortese is certain to be getting twitchy feet and the temptation to replace Adkins must be becoming a greater topic of discussion, despite his successive promotions from League One to the top flight.
Therefore, the next month will be critical to Adkins’ hopes of staying on and he must not suffer the same miserable November as Steve Wigley in 2004, which saw him sacked shortly after in the club’s last Premier League season before the current campaign.
Wigley faced three clubs that were leading relegation rivals in the month, drawing at home to West Brom and Crystal Palace, while suffering defeat at Norwich.
A three-goal Capital One Cup defeat at Championship club Watford also featured, meaning Adkins has already climbed the first rung of the ladder towards a guaranteed sacking.
He should be forgiven slightly for the club’s languishing start, already facing seven of the current Premier League top-nine.
This makes the upcoming few weeks even more of an acid test, with home games beckoning against Swansea, Newcastle and Norwich, alongside a trip to QPR, the only club below them in the standings.
Adkins is 11/8 to be the first Premier League manager to lose his job this season and he arguably has no more than three games to save his bacon.
The first comes away at West Brom next, with Southampton 7/2 for victory.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
