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Well well well… Mr Tony Adams, Slagging off Swindon Town in the local rag today


Some of Tony’s quotes today “Not even Alex Ferguson could work miracles with Swindon Town as no one can make gold from wood”
“Swindon Town have no financial backing so they are faced with league One mediocrity for along time so Swindon Town fans should be realistic”

“I have aspirations to be Arsenal manager and England manager One Day”

Who needs to get realistic now?? He will never get a top flight job again, Wycombe SHIT, Portsmouth SHIT

Remembering the chants at wycombe away a few seasons back are we Mr Adams!?

What bought this on then?

 Surely what he says about us though is something that a lot of fans think, so it's not bullshit.

I don't think anybody takes what he says too seriously, he seems to have opinions on the strangest of subjects at the moment if only to be seen as "keeping his name in the frame".

The way he put himself forward for the Celtic job was laughable, nobody had even mentioned his name with that job until he piped up and declared he was interested.

Tony Adams - The reformed alcoholic, then gets shacked up with a girl from the Teachers whisky empire.

You couldn't make it up !!!

Erm, that would be no financial backing except for the multi-millionaires who are our backers then? Certainly our backers look like a much better bet than Portsmouth's atm and he seemed happy enough there (until they sacked him)

I could happily happily kick tony adams head in.

Shows what little knowledge, and ignorance he has towards the lower leages, Probably explains why he was crap at Wycombe.

I'll second that..... I'd gladly que for the chance!!!

In fairness, he's probably only just woken up from a 2-year bender and thinks he's still in 2007. Where are these quotes taken from Gaz?

What local rag is it in ?

tony adams is right about stfc,
and is showing ambition as a manager.
how dare he!!!!

Arsenal fans are always so defensive.

Adams is a still a drunken donkey.

In todays Adver..

He lives in Cirencester innit.

i'm not an arsenal fan.i support swindon town only.
apart from not rating the guy as a manager,i dont see what is wrong with what gazza quoted him saying.

He's right about STFC two years ago, not STFC today.

Hes most definately wrong about Swindon now, like PD says 2 years ago he would have been right but hes not now.

But he's not right though is he? Quite the opposite in fact.

It all seems very bitter to me.

Very bitter indeed.

What a twat ! Perhaps he's delerious from a new strain of Donkey Flu ?

Also did the adver actually seek his opinion ?.......sums them up too if so ?

maybe saying "no financial backing" isn't strictly accurate.but the gist of it is perfectly reasonable.i haven't read the whole interview,only what gazza quoted

I'd agree with that, we've sufficient financial backing to achieve mid table mediocrity with a bit of a struggle, but not enough to take us any further. Personally I'm happy enough with that....there's a few our size cluttering up the Conference, and we could easily have gone that way as well.

Well if you ignore the fact that the fundamental premise on which his argument rests is bollocks, then, erm, yes.

I suppose insufficient financial backing would have been more accurate...but arriba's argument is sound.

If that is arriba's argument, maybe. But it wasn't Adams'. And if the argument is supposed to be that spending=success that is just fatuous. You only have to look at Adams' last club, Pompey, to see that. They spent massively under him and 'Arry and look at the shit that's got them in, it may have brought some immediate short-term progress, but long-term it's not sustainable and has proper dropped them in the shit

I feel a chorus of 'Tony Adams is a wanker' coming on for saturday.

THE EXACT QUOTES ARE...

"Swindon are not a producing club.

"a lot of lower league clubs used to be producing but all the academies have put pay to that. So there's no way you can grow your way out of trouble anymore. Theo (Walcott) for instances was a Swindon bouy who was snapped up young by a bigger side."

"I think yo've got to be realistic about the situation. I don’t think Swindon has got a great level of support financially off the pitch"

"If you look at League One I wouldn’t imagine Swindon would be in the top half in terms of salaries paid. So you pretty much year in and year out go where your wage bill is"

"whether its Danny Wilson, Stevie Coppell or Alex Ferguson, it's irrelevant who's in charge of Swindon Football club - you're going to get the same result. No manager and no coach in the world can make gold out of wood its just impossible to do"

Which is even more bullshit - one of the areas that we've been best at in recent years is developing players, whether from our own youth setup (Jukebox, Morrisson) or bought in and sold on having greatly increased their value (Cox). And one of the areas we've specifically invested in is precisely bringing in such players (the two kids signed from Muff this summer).

His overall point may apply in a general sense, but STFC is a bad example of it. You can see he's trying to make a general point but just ends up displaying his ignorance of Swindon

So know you quote the whole article it makes more sense. FFS Gazza do you work for News oif the Screws or something?

Nope and the whole article isn't quoted.

OK, but when you see what the article is about it puts "Not even Alex Ferguson could work miracles with Swindon Town as no one can make gold from wood”" into context.

Anyway, I couldn't give a fuck about Tony Adams or the Adver.

He's only bitter because we turned him down twice when he applied to be manager here  :D

Perhaps but still says we are prone to failure and have no money, showing sheer ignorance really. It wil take a while I guess to shake this whole "skint club" image off, probably part of the reason we cannot sign players.

True...but it does raise the valid point as to whether the level of investment at which we currently operate, can do any more than maintain L1 mid table, or whether a manager of abilty can take us further...

He’s turning into an odd lost soul is Adams.

The Celtic job was uncomfortably cringe worthy and while  few comments grate in today’s piece a few of his sound bites over the past 6 months have made him sound a cross between Faith healing Hoddle at his lowest ebb and an attention seeking toddler with delusions of grandeur.

I can’t see him working in football at any management level ever again and I think he’ll end up being one of these lost odd jobs that the hacks will occasionally go to for a quote in a piece or article thinking that good old Tony will feed us something to agitate the oiks.

TBH the club is still recording loses on a month to month basis and until the board can find ways to bring extra revenue into the club to stabilise it we will be nothing more than a League One Club for a while.

A lot of the clubs future i fear may all hinge on the redevelopment of the club.  If that goes ahead i think things will look a little rosier for us and then maybe we can look at the bigger picture.

I believe Fitton was a little Naive with his 3 year plan to get us into the Chamionship.

I went to a new years eve party years ago, and tony adams and ray parlour tried to put a chicken leg in a light fitting.

What a waste of a chicken leg!

I saw him outside WHSmiths in Cirencester a fair few months ago, his wife/girlfriend/mistress/whatever was wearing a Wycombe training sweatshirt?!?!? Odd don't you think?

I think it says that Adams was at an event for Nationwide and he obviously got questioned about Swindon, Nationwide seem to get ex england players in now and again as they sponsor england.

Maybe the guys on here that work for N/Wide can enlighten us to how the conversation went as I assume this was a staff thing that the press were invited to (so only the local hacks turn up) ?

Have the board ever shown any real intention, spending 'big' (relatively) money on a genuinely good L1/Championship style player, or dug deep to get us a class manager? Or have they taken the least costly avenue more often than not?

Adams is right, it's about time Fitton and co used this so called mega millions. I'm not saying go nuts, but otherwise what's the point in having it anyway?

you're deluded DMR, we have no mega millions. That's the whole point.

...the fact we havent even signed a bloody striker yet shows Adams is at least partly right!!!

Are you genuinely this miserable DV, or is it a bit of an act?

how was that miserable.

Adams said we dont have money to spend, we dont.

how the hell would he know anything about swindon im sure he has trouble finding his own door step the big nosed twat

why not just put what he actually said from the start gazza?

Oh yes we do. If it's the right player the board will shell out. They've said it AND done it.

i also see adams had this to say about us selling cox


http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/sport/4415237.Arsenal_legend_warns_against_Cox_sale/

what a jackass why does he even comment on swindon he has nothing to do with us.

I knew it - it's bloody Ralphy's fault!

Surely the question should be  "why does the Adver ask him for comments ?.....etc"

again his comments were perfectly reasonable.time will tell regarding those comments on cox

What like Douglas, Lucas, Greer, Cox, O'Brien etc......

part of the reason we cannot sign players - honestly what a stupid comment !

I don't really care if he's right or wrong. I don't think anyone would take much notice other than Swindon fans - quite clearly he's out of his depth when it comes to football management matters.

My mumblings about Fitton requiring more haste to get a manager on the radio probably made more sense than a Tony Adams interview.

Right so in one interview he says we don't have the finances to go anywhere, in another he says we shouldn't sell a player who has clearly set his heart on a move for £1m+. I'd be more inclined to take advice on the proper budget setup to run a football club on from a bloke who wasn't No 2 to 'Arry while he broke Portsmouth with his usual "wheeler, dealer" spending spree which was always going to be unsustainable.

I think the most telling thing in that piece is the bit where he says he gets all his info on Town from his postman.

THEY SAID HE COULDN'T DO IT! THEY SAID IT COULDN'T HAPPEN, BUT IT DIIIID.

Well done PaulD, a whole post without an "erm" in it. :D

pauld.you are taking parts of his points to pick holes in.there is more to both his interviews than you are having a pop at.
i dont even like the bloke much but christ, gazza altering what he aqctually said,and you picking holes in miniscule detail is daft.

He's just spouting random bollocks though arriba. Some of it may apply as "general platitudes about football in the lower leagues usually" but he's talking like he has some special insight into the situation at Swindon and he doesn't, in fact the general platitudes he's trying to espouse are usually ones we're specifically not examples of.

My fucking postman knows more than him, maybe he should swop his postman with mine?

Gazza putting a quick rough estimate as was working, and then posted what he actually said at lunch, was not much difference in what was said to be honest.

Or possibly Gazza posting a 'knee jerk' type thing to start with then backing down when challenged ?

Or just Gazza posting complete bollocks ?

Yeah, one too many disco biscuits ;)

i don't see where the issue is with any of that.
we've not had an amazing ratio of local lads to first teamers. amusing the bouy bit though.

fitton etc have not thrown money at the club where we can see but i think that's a good thing, infrastructure over rapid growth any day of the week.

we've not paid mega bucks in wages (probably after being burnt a few times in the past)

i think he's effectively saying we'll end up mid table which given we're not going for boom/bust football is a good assessment

I've not read the article, only the comments made on here but I have to say that for many years Swindon have not been a producing club.  The youth system has been a major disappointment for many years, not having the structure or resources put in to make it succesful. We've got by with journeymen players, experienced pro's whose careers are on the decline & free transfers generally.
However one of the factors that make me encouraged by the Fitton takeover is that we now appear to be placing an increased importance on producing first teamers from within. More resources & support are available to this area of the club's business.If some of them really make it & show they are the business then they will move on to clubs in the Premiership or Championship, maybe even to European sides.  That is how Swindon Town will survive & may even flourish.
If Tony Adams pronouncements are his view of the club then he doesn't know what the situation was like in the Fifties.  Swindon Town really were a club bumping along in third division.  Bert Head was appointed & realised that Swindon had to embark on a youth policy. Over a period of 2 to 3 years he transformed the side & showed that Swindon was (and still is) a football town.  Given time it will happen again but Andrew Fitton isn't going to come in & throw money at improving the side with rash purchases.  He's made that plain although the side will be strengthened as & when necessary by sensible purchases.  The signing of Cox, Cuthbert, Douglas, McNamee, Greer & others demonstrate this. The current team has more ability than for several years.
The club is in transition. We have tried living beyond our means & now, given the current economic climate as it affects the game, the club is being run on a sensible & more businesslike basis. We will become a producing club again as we once were. It won't happen overnight & it will take time but I hope to live long enough to see the next generation of Ernie Hunts, Mike Summerbees or God be praised, another Don Rogers running out onto the County Ground pitch in front of packed stands.

Good post Professor, I liked that.

yeah good post prof.
i cannot see us sorting the youth out(the c of e)unless major changes are made unfortunately.
it needs major restructuring imo.
adams was spot on about the academys.we lose lads to chelsea,southampton and reading regularly.
our set up requires money to compete with them.

we are brining in youth players from other clubs, but are failing the local youngsters currently.

I may take more notice of this interview if it came from a ex footballer i respected,rather than someone who spent large parts of a carer drunk and had no success at all in any of his management jobs.
As for the sober Mr Adams most of the rubbish hes been comming out with makes me wonder if being on the wagon is realy worth it.

For what its worth I dont think their is much wrong at Swindon apart from being a few players short of a good side.
I remember when Colin Todd took over and we signed fucking loads of players all in a few weeks.Most turned out to be panic buys,on big wages and were shit.So take your time DW.

Just remember the young bull and the old bull on the top of the hill.

Thanks for the compliments.  I don't think the youth structure at Swindon is yet the finished article & I'm sure the number & proficiency of the coaching set up will improve.  However I'm not sure that if I were young enough or talented enough to be considered suitable for joining a club I'd join a Premiership set-up. Personally I reckon I'd get more chance of making it with a League 1 or 2 club with a reputable set-up. So many good young English lads join Chelsea, Man Utd & never make the break through. Perhaps if they joined their local league club they'd progress further and earlier.  That young Chelsea lad Mancienne looks very good & he's gone out on loan to Wolves (I think) - difficult to see him becoming a first team regular for Chelsea for a while.

WHO'S THAT SNIFFING ON THE TOUCHLINE?
WHO'S THAT SLOSHING AT THE BAR?
ITS TONY ADAMS AND HIS MATE
HE LOOKS A FUCKIN STATE
AND HES NOT ALLOWED TO DRIVE A MOTOR CAR





genius.

that was the one that was sung over and over and over when we were away to wycombe and he was boss

i aint read the whole thread but i think i got the gist (sp) from the title and i seem to remember him giving us shit a few years ago again in an adver interview via nwide....anyone else remember that?

depends what you mean by making it.
many at prem clubs wont make it in the prem,but will slip down the leagues to establish themselves as pro footballers. their chances of becoming pros are better than kids in centre of exellences

I think that it's one you could argue either way. How often do schoolboy internationals never reach the top in the Premiership or go on to achieve success at full international level & other kids who come through from lower league sides do?  I remember reading that Alan Ball never played for his school team - he wasn't good enough. Seems incredible yet at 21 he was playing in the World Cup Final.
I guess the truth is that it is difficult, not to say impossible to predict how far a 15 year old will go in the game at that age.  All you can do is coach them in the basics, encourage them to practise their ball skills & increase their tactical awareness.  The rest is pot luck

Paul Rideout is a case in point, looked like he was gonna be a megastar when he was scoring for fun in that schoolboy international at Wembley against the Jocks.

Looked a class act when he was smacking them in for Town, but he never looked like he was going to trouble the England team as he got older, he just had a good and long career with some decent clubs.

Quality fucking day that was. One of my all time favourite away days was Wycombe that season.

I didn't read this thread because I thought that the statement included in the subject line in an undisputed fact

*BUMP*

http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sport/swindontown/news/4587380.Adams__Swindon_will_always_be_tapped/

See the opinionated cunt is at it again.

I dont know who I am more pissed off with ;

Adams for sprouting shit about a club and players he knows fuck all about

OR

The Adver for seeking out his "valuable opinion" on a club and players he knows fuck all about

He really does think he is more important than he really is doesn't he?

what's wrong with what he says?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

It's really a slow news day for the Adver have to ring Adams.

Right or wrong I really don't care what Adams has to say on things, but for some reason it annoys me that his opinion is sought on a club he isn't in any way associated with. And it doesn't help he is talking about the negative side of things.

Adams is being used as a Patsy by the Adver.  You can see the cogs turning at Adver Towers.  Right we have this piece on tapping up youngsters who do we get to throw us a few controversial comments to liven the piece up?

Glitter?

Not that sort of kid tapping….

Adams?

Perfect our very own god bothering glove-puppet guaranteed to give the most blinkered view on any subject we steer him towards.

Perfect, and I have Glitter’s number just in case.  He’s working as a scout at Weston.

read my post

Most definitely the latter, IMO.

Tony Adams is free to express an opinion - we live in a society where 'free speech' isstill a right. Whether I choose to listen to his opinion is another matter entirely. Lets face it, anybody could have said what he did. But he is still a wanker regardless.

I'll be phoning A&S Police with Dazzza's rumour that Glitter is scouting at Weston.......expect a call Sir.....

i have.he's been asked questions and given his opinions.
i can't see alot wrong with it in all honesty.

The Article actually says "Speaking at Nationwide HQ ahead of England v Croatia" so it is not the adver calling him for an opinion but the adver sending a reporter and probably to Nationwide and him asking the question

He is giving opinions on a club and its young players without even knowing the internal workings of the club.

I know for a fact that Fitton has already sat down with the lad and his parents and persuaded him to continue his learning at STFC.

Now, I am prepared to stand corrected if I am wrong, but the last time I looked at the structure of the club, it did not involve Mr Adams one iota.

In my opinion that does not give him the right to comment on individuals and the internal workings that he clearly knows fuck all about

he says nothing about henshall,or his situation.his comments are general ones.

"While the club have denied that Henshall could be on his way, Adams believes Town will be powerless to stop this and any future departure of young talent."

“If these lads want to go, they’ll go, it’s as simple as that."


Simple as that is it ?

 

yeah it is,if another club wants them and the player wants to go there.
swindon have lost a few like that,but as henshall is seen as something special he's made the local rag.

I think the Adver have probably quoted Adams out of context, I doubt he was talking specifically about Hensall, moreso that fact that Swindon will always be a selling club.

Maybe a couple of years ago arriba when the old board would have sold its Granny for a quid.

Things have changed now and the young talent and their families are being managed as a unit far more professionally.

This is a fact that Mr Adams and Mr Smith appear to be blissfully unaware of

credit is due to fitton for trying to hold on to talent.but if a player wants to leave for a bigger club,he will.
what is better now, is that fitton might be able to offer more incentive to an individual to pursuade him to stay.
as henshall is knocking on the youth team door at 15, he has a tough decision.
if i was his dad i wouldn't know what to do or advise.

When he is 16 though the club will offer him a scholar contract and if he refuses then he is free to join another with swindon receiving compensation I beleive

It's a very tricky situation, but I'd look at Lukas, Leigh Mills, Ben Tozer and countless examples from other clubs. The big clubs don't need players to come through the ranks so very few do. It's only rare examples like Villa and Boro where a number of youths get into the first team, and for that reason I think the argument for staying with a lower-league side is a strong one.

As for the Adams article, most of he said was simply speaking generally. I don't know whether he was pushed into it or not by the interviewer, but his comments on STFC are a bit pointless since he knows nothing about the club.

Tony Adams is a bit pointless.

One of the biggest battles that lower league clubs face is with the media hype that surrounds
the Premier League.If you were to believe it,you would think that the whole football world revolves
around it and with this constant barrage, it isn't surprising that firstly young players and their
parents heads are turned.Secondly,we all know of the financial inducements that are involved
and how the big clubs get around the travelling to training rules;they simply move the families.
Unfortunately,the bright lights and glamour of the Premiership are very enticing,but the reality is
that very few youngsters will make the grade.

John Still (Daggers Boss) was interviewed on Five Live on monday night and said how difficult it
was in dealing with young players when they have been cast aside by the big clubs.The youngsters
had a mentality that they were,or had been Premiership players,so you were then trying to deal
with that mentality.Boothroyd was also interviewed, where he said how he had sent 3 young
Watford players,including Theo Robinson, on loan to Wealdstone,to show and educate them in life
at the bottom of the rung.

There was an article in one of the Sunday papers about Chelski, and the players they have bought for the academy over the last few years.

Not one has made it as a regular in the first team, with most left to join other clubs, or left football altogether.

In fact Chelski have not bought a player through to the first team since John Terry 12 years ago, despite throwing millions at it.

It's better for players to come through the ranks in a lower divisions and play actual first team games, and go up the ladder that way.

And yes, Adams is a wanker !!

I think Adams has been misquoted in the article. What he actually said was
And the Adver have just tidied it up into being a quote about Henshall