NIGEL ADKINS is certainly one to do his homework early. But the Sheffield United manager could not have known it would be three years before he could take advantage of his only recce to Old Trafford.
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| Nigel Adkins will enjoy his first visit to the dugouts at Old Trafford this weekend |
Saturday evening's FA Cup third-round clash at Manchester United will be the first time Adkins has managed a team at the Theatre of Dreams. But when he was in charge at Southampton, he had no reason to doubt that an Old Trafford debut was only days away.
"I took my wife Angie to watch a game there," Adkins recalled. "I was interested to see what the dugout was like, would I be able to get my message across from there. You have to do a bit of a recce beforehand."
However, five unbeaten Premier League matches later - including draws against Chelsea and Arsenal and a win at Villa in a relegation six-pointer - Adkins was sacked, 12 days before Southampton's trip to Old Trafford. He could not bear even to watch on the telly.
"I think I had gone away," he said. "I had lost my job and I didn't want to lose my job. But you have got to get on with it.
"You can sit and whinge about it or be pro-active and do something. You have got to keep working hard and striving to keep up with whatever is new in the game.
"I spent a week at Hamburg with access-all-areas. Then Reading phoned me up."
Soon after failing to keep the Royals in the Premier League, he was again out of work and on his travels - although this time it took a handful of phone calls before he was persuaded to unpack his suitcase.
"I went to America to look at basketball and American football, then to New England, where Paul Mariner looked after me for a little bit over there," he said. "That was great.
"I spent some time with the England rugby team and when they are about to play France in the Six Nations, I am sat in the dressing room with all the players. It is just chatting about things and sharing knowledge.
"Then Sheffield United rang out of the blue. It was chief executive Mal Branagan who rang me up and to be honest I didn't know who Mal was.
"I said, 'Who are you? You could be a crank. How have you got hold of my number?'"
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| Adkins could not prevent Reading from dropping out of the Premier League in 2013 |
After such an ignominious start it is former Scunthorpe physio Adkins who is once again making a name for himself, picking up the League One manager of the month award for December.
But while it has been something of a rollercoaster for Adkins, his proteges have been on the up-and-up since crossing paths with the enthusiastic Scouser - one of whom he hopes to renew acquaintances with this afternoon.
"We knew what a gifted player Morgan Schneiderlin was, but when he first came in he was like this petulant young French kid," said Adkins.
"He'd be throwing his arms in the air in training, wanting a free-kick every time he felt the slightest nudge. He would stop playing for five minutes, and we would all be shouting to get on with the game.
"He obviously had ability but we questioned his work-rate and his strength. You have a word with him. You can say, 'This is how we conduct ourselves; now get on with it'.
"To be fair he knuckled down, and now he's a French international playing for Manchester United. You are as proud as punch to feel that maybe you had a small part to play in his development."
Schneiderlin got the message, but what about Adkins' homework? Will his players be able to hear him this evening? Adkins intends to rely on body language.
"The manager can stand there with his hands behind his back and everything is okay, no problem," he explained. "He crosses his arms and things are not quite right; you have got to start pulling your finger out.
"When he goes down on one knee with his chin resting on his hand it's, 'We've got a problem here, but I am with you and we will work it out together'. Then he starts waving his arms and kicking water bottles."
In his enthusiasm, the mug of tea in front of him slops all over the desk. "There," he quipped, quick as a flash. "Cup upsets happen all the time!"
Perhaps it was an omen. Louis van Gaal should be aware that Adkins and his Sheffield United team are certainly no mugs.
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