Nigel Adkins remains a big favourite amongst Saints supporters after taking us to back to back promotions, since he left Southampton he has had mixed fortunes, so we will all be pleased to hear that after a two year hiatus he is back in the game.

Charlton Athletic have appointed ex Saints manager Nigel Adkins as their new manager, the 56-year-old has agreed a two-and-half-year contract and succeeds Lee Bowyer, who left earlier this week to become Birmingham City's head coach.

Adkins has been out of work since leaving Hull City at the end of his contract in the summer of 2019.

He takes over a Charlton side who are in the final play off spot in League One, 10 points off the automatic promotion places and more importantly for Saints supporters 3 points above Portsmouth languishing in 10th position after a poor run.

It will be a tough task for Adkins to keep the Blue Few at bay, they have two games in hand and indeed having played 36 games the South London club have played more than all of their rivals.

"I believe Nigel is the perfect personality, with the perfect background and the perfect experience to get us to where we want to be," Charlton owner Thomas Sandgaard told the club website.

"Both Nigel and I want us to playing football in the Premier League and I can't wait to see us there."

"It's a really exciting opportunity for me - something that has happened very quickly," Adkins said.

"I'm really pleased to be here and am looking forward to meeting the players and getting started.

"I had a conversation with Thomas and he highlighted where he wants this club to go.

"It's an exciting and long-term vision. Getting to the Premier League is something that we all want and something that I have done before. I want to achieve that again.

"The team got a great result on Tuesday night and now we need to keep driving on together, because we have got a chance of winning promotion this season."

If Nigel Adkins takes the club to the Play offs Saints fans will be delighted as it will more than likely mean that Pompey will miss out and be condemned to a tenth consecutive season in the basement of the Football League.

Photo: Action Images

Colburn added 12:48 - Mar 18 Good to see Nigel back in management, may he have much fortune, he deserves it.
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HythePeer added 13:01 - Mar 18 One in one out! https://www.nhl.com/news/buffalo-fires-ralph-krueger/c-322605486
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ChristchurchSaint added 14:13 - Mar 18 Well done Nigel! Best bit of news today! Always had a soft spot for “Our Nige”, deserves to get more success. Even better news about Krueger!
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IanRC added 15:55 - Mar 18 A true gent, very best wishes to him in his new role.
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AirFlorida added 12:16 - Mar 19 Great manager. Unlike Ralph he was able to motivate players effectively. He was just finding his feet in the Prem with us after a bad start and I was shocked to see him go, especially after a brilliant 2-2 draw away to Mourinho's mighty blues. Good luck Nigel! I'll be cheering on the Charlton.
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underweststand added 10:06 - Mar 20 Few would deny at Pochettino is a good manager, but it's a shame that Nigel Adkins was sacrificed in order to bring him in. Adkins got us back to the Prem. working on very limited budgets and made it work. Many thought it was a good move to bring in Poch. but Nicola Cortese went out and borrowed enormous sums of money in order to buy Gaston Ramirez and Dani Osvaldo. Deals that put the club in debt for years afterwards. Adkins ? ..a thoroughly nice, honest guy up front, but he needs players with some talent who will buy into his philosophy. I hope he succeeds. Maybe he had no real future as Prem. manager but he deserves all praise for his years at the helm. IMHO ....He certainly rates as one of the better managers in our history, even though it was at the lower level.

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KriSaint added 09:19 - Mar 21 I have been waiting for news like this as Nige continuously comes back to my mind. I was that fond of him. (Only I didn't particularly like that Nigel never let a player like Dean Hammond get a chance in our side in the PL.
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