Southampton fans will wave goodbye to Nigel Adkins - the former Scunthorpe United manager - during mass protest against his sacking

“I would think Villa might be a good bet ... at least he'll be familiar with the shirt colours !”

“Or Villa if they don't overturn Bradford.”

“Nige will never look back - he needs to get to Newcastle now and lick them into shape.”

“Cortese is a dictator and has no regard Nigel or for the fans who loved him. A more fitting protest would be empty stands.”

“Well if he wants a team to manage that has little to no chance of sacking him no matter what then come back home to scunny! You will be welcomed with open arms, be a massive boost to the team and perhaps even widen and broaden the supporter base! BL would understand.. must feel weird though thinking of all those years that BL was managing scunny with a physio that, little did he know, would become a manager himself and in a short amount of time outshine almost all english managers still in the profession.”

“Fascinating insight Dobbo, many thanks for that. As far as a I know NA hasn't made any kind of statement about the decision, but what can be guaranteed is that whenever he does re-surface (hopefully NOT as the manager of a Championship club), he'll be true gentleman and consummate professional to the core.

I always got the feeling that NA was a different manager to most and a lot more laid back in his approach (at least externally) because of the slightly unusual route into management he took on. He was our physio for years and there's no mistaking how we were onto a very good thing in the late-Laws era (Sharp and Keogh together for example was as exciting as it gets). Then suddenly the Physio gets a call to the Chairman's office basically saying "We're doing well on the pitch, I don't want to detrimentally affect the status-quo with an external appointment. How do you feel about having another bash at managing for a few games, just to see if it works out?". Adkins' demeanor always suggested "I've been given this chance, I don't have much to lose since if it doesn't work out there was no real pressure and expectation on me personally and I'll have my old job if it does...so I'll really make the most of this and enjoy it however long it lasts".

The rest is history, Adkins took to managing like a duck to water, but never stopped enjoying it. The players played with genuine freedom and almost a youthful naivety at times(in a good way), we moved from 4/5th in the table to top very quickly. A lot of players found something in themselves they didn't have before or come close to finding again under his stewardship (Paul Hayes springs to mind). I think a part of Adkins realised that he always wanted to manage football teams like this, or simply not at all.

However I do worry that this scandalous joke of a sacking might have soured his taste for it and question whether he'll come back at all. Imagine having major success, being loved by almost everyone at two different clubs, having win percentages and promotion track records that better anything in either history, then being told "I've been planning on bringing in someone younger, that can't speak English and with little-to-no pedigree, accepting the fact that he knows little about your team that had lost 2 in 12".

Hopefully this is completely wrong, football needs honest and inspirational leaders like Adkins a lot more than oppressive and dictatorial owners like Cortese, if nothing more than to remind the fans that football is actually meant to be enjoyable.”

“Nigel was incredible for the Saints, the majority of the fans are appauled at the treatment he has received and we all hope it reflects simply on our Chairman as opposed to the fan base and our club as a whole (wishful thinking I fear). We look back at the gentlemanly way that Nigel handled things on his departure from Scunthorpe and we (Saints and Scunny) can only be proud of the man for what he has done for us both. As he would say, 'You can only control the controllables', but we all just wish we had more control. We'll have to draw a line under it after tonights game, but he will go down in our Saints history as a great manager, probably the best, certainly the one who has given us the most joy in modern times.”

“There isn't enough domestic talent in the EPL more down to fashion than capability. He did what Pardew couldn't do at Southampton, maybe he should be tugging his shirt tails in Newcastle. It would be a shame if he is seen as a promotion maker. He deserves to be in the top flight.”

“There were a number of Arsenal (yes, Arsenal) fans yesterday who believe that Adkins would be a better option than Wenger...high praise indeed. Maybe there's a slight hint of 'tongue-and-cheek' in there, but the universal respect he's developed for his achievements (who else in the history of football has a record of six full seasons, four promotions + one club with average gates of around 5,500 surviving in the Championship + one club well on the way to surviving first attempt in the Premiership) is absolutely remarkable.

Ironically his stock has gone through the roof after being ridiculously fired.”

“I will be waving my hankie for him too.

Most unjust and it will come back to haunt them I believe.

Meanwhile Adkins will moveonwards and upwards with any luck.”