Micky Adams' Dramatic Tenure In Charge At Leicester City

[Paninistickers]

42 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

Dave Bassett was still at the club, so hoe do you know MA was responsible for the signings that summer?

 

He even took over management responsibilities as caretaker when Micky left...

Good point, well made 

[enmac]

2 hours ago, Corky said:

We should've stayed up that season. We weren't a great side by any stretch but we had enough good leads in matches, late leads, to see out and make sure we survived. Southampton, Wolves (that game), Middlesbrough (3-1 up in injury times and failed to win!), Newcastle, Tottenham at home. 3 home wins all season was pathetic.

 

He's a good bloke but I think the troubles in his first season cloud the fact we threw away a great chance to stay up and his signing policy before he left (dragging in any over-35 player available) left the club with an aging, past-it squad full of has-beens with serious egos.

 

For all the good work he did, it seemed fitting he started by losing a 2-0 lead to Everton and pretty much his last game was throwing away a 2-0 lead to QPR. Summed up his reign of lots of promise but ultimately not doing enough.

Old players were probably all we could afford. Age factor must have been a lot to with our frequent 2nd half collapses. 

[Dan LCFC]

2 hours ago, bovril said:

I vaguely remember a quote from one of the players that Adams always stressed they should try and get a 3rd goal when 2-0 up, because of the dangers of that scoreline. Which summed up how fragile we were at that time. We didn't seem to know how to hold onto any kind of lead, even 3-1 up at Boro coming into injury time. It was quite baffling. 

I'm convinced his era has made us forever cynical. We don't throw many leads away at all really yet if we do it's "typical Leicester".

[bovril]

1 hour ago, Strokes said:

We gave away points for fun that season. It wasn’t always just the leads that we gave away, we missed a fair few chances to put games to bed late on too.

Thinking about some of those games - the infamous two matches in particular - still makes me feel sick. 

[stripeyfox]

That first season was great. The new stadium, some great games. the City/Fosse vote. Winning on a lake at Fratton Park. Millwall at home where we stuck it to Wise and McGhee. Tommy Wright's winner against Forest. Nalis goal v Leeds.

 

Some great memories

 

[Mike the Metal Ed]

1 hour ago, The People's Hero said:

I'll always remember the first time he doubled our efforts on the training ground. You can only 'double' them once; then its all about 're-doubling'; a seemingly exponential increased in training intensity. No wonder they always looked tired.

That was Rob Kelly  Easy mistake to make though.

 

My favourite defeated Micky Adams line is after we drew with Charlton after a dodgy Di Canio penalty and the interviewer asked Micky where we go from here and he just said "...I dunno."

[bovril]

1 minute ago, Mike the Metal Ed said:

That was Rob Kelly  Easy mistake to make though.

 

My favourite defeated Micky Adams line is after we drew with Charlton after a dodgy Di Canio penalty and the interviewer asked Micky where we go from here and he just said "...I dunno."

Is there any footage of the Bolton match in 2002 with Basset and Adams in charge, when Basset was mic'd up? I'd love to watch that again, in a masochistic way.

[Guest StevieLynex]

In an odd sort of way, the Premier League campaign with Adams in charge was perhaps one of the most exciting I have ever seen. Obviously, it was disappointing to go down, but the entertainment dished up was amazing: 3-3 vs Middlesborough, Tottenham 4-4 (on the brink of victory, despite being down to 10 men), 4-0 vs Leeds..La Manga

[Mike the Metal Ed]

8 minutes ago, bovril said:

Is there any footage of the Bolton match in 2002 with Basset and Adams in charge, when Basset was mic'd up? I'd love to watch that again, in a masochistic way.

I wish I'd seen that.

 

I was on my way back from Florida that day.We usually struggled against Bolton so I was joking with my family, with no way of checking the score "We'll be 4-0 down by now". Got to Birmingham Airport and checked the results in the morning paper, and my jaw hit the floor.

[Guest StevieLynex]

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/inside-story-leicester-citys-la-11183461

[Fox92]

1 hour ago, Corky said:

Not that season, the year after (summer 2004). Dublin, Keown, Pressman, Gemmill, Wilcox, Blake- all past it.

 

Surely the lower leagues had up and coming players who were relatively cheap?

Tbf Connolly was a great signing. 500k wasn't he? Williams was rated too so at the time not a bad signing. The biggest misses were clearly Izzet and Dickov though.

[Analysethis]

If Pep was in charge and Klopp was his assistant, we still get relegated with these!!!

 

I'm still in recovery from leading Wolves 3-0 at HT in the prem season and got done 4-3.

 

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Ian Walker 2 DF  ENG Andrew Impey 3 DF  JAM Frank Sinclair[2] 5 MF  ENG Craig Hignett 6 MF  TUR Muzzy Izzet[3] 7 MF  NIR Keith Gillespie 8 MF  FRA Lilian Nalis 9 FW  ENG Les Ferdinand 10 FW  ENG James Scowcroft 11 MF  ENG Jordan Stewart 12 MF  ENG Paul Brooker 13 MF  GER Steffen Freund (on loan from 1. FC Kaiserslautern) 14 DF  SCO Callum Davidson 15 DF  ENG Alan Rogers

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 GK  WAL Danny Coyne 18 DF  SCO Matt Elliott[4] 20 FW  JAM Trevor Benjamin[5] 21 DF  ENG Riccardo Scimeca 22 FW  SCO Paul Dickov 25 DF  ENG Matt Heath 27 MF  ENG Steve Guppy 28 MF  SCO Peter Canero 32 MF  SCO Billy McKinlay 33 DF  WAL Ben Thatcher[6] 34 DF  FRA Nicolas Priet 38 FW  ENG Marcus Bent (on loan from Ipswich Town) 44 DF  GRE Nikos Dabizas

[ian__marshall]

Hugely underrated as a City manager in my opinion. The job he pulled off to get us promoted was nothing short of miraculous. Honestly I dread to think what would have happened to the club had we not gone up that season. He had a thread bare squad made up of  the magic of Muzzy, a load of player's who Taylor had signed that were barely Championship level and a few lads who played half a season for nothing other than the love of the game and an opportunity to try and earn a contract.

 

With the backdrop of administration the magnitude of what he achieved given the pressure everyone was under is up there with some of our best achievements as a football club in my view. 

 

The following season he was really unlucky. I think La Manga finished him in the end. Looked like a broken man after that and simply couldn't recover. 

[Mike the Metal Ed]

29 minutes ago, ian__marshall said:

Hugely underrated as a City manager in my opinion. The job he pulled off to get us promoted was nothing short of miraculous. Honestly I dread to think what would have happened to the club had we not gone up that season. He had a thread bare squad made up of  the magic of Muzzy, a load of player's who Taylor had signed that were barely Championship level and a few lads who played half a season for nothing other than the love of the game and an opportunity to try and earn a contract.

 

With the backdrop of administration the magnitude of what he achieved given the pressure everyone was under is up there with some of our best achievements as a football club in my view. 

 

The following season he was really unlucky. I think La Manga finished him in the end. Looked like a broken man after that and simply couldn't recover. 

I was thinking that reading the Mirror article. Team was already demoralised, get indicted in a scandal having done nothing wrong, family life potentially in tatters. According to the article, any of the players behind bars didn't even get fed. How can a Premier League team thrive after experiencing that?

[Strokes]

3 hours ago, bovril said:

Thinking about some of those games - the infamous two matches in particular - still makes me feel sick. 

You could feel it crumbling away couldn’t you?  You just knew we were (as a club) staring into the abyss and if we went down again, it was a long way back this time.

[UpTheLeagueFox]

7 hours ago, Izzy said:

I'll always have a soft spot for Micky Adams. Thought he was an honest bloke.

 

6 hours ago, SemperEadem said:

Did well for us in really tough times.

 

6 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

That promotion in the administration season was essential for the club.  We should have given him more time in the end I think, although I probably said the opposite at the time.   

 

6 hours ago, Fox92 said:

Absolute hero. I'll not have a bad word said about Micky.

 

5 hours ago, coolhandfox said:

Let be honest we did a lot worse once he left...........

 

5 hours ago, Dan LCFC said:

Too young to really appreciate the ins and outs but I think really when you look back you've got to say he did a good job in horrendous circumstances.

 

4 hours ago, norwichfox said:

Performed a miracle for us...

 

4 hours ago, Jaspa said:

You've gotta say he did a decent firefighting job, the club post Taylor was ablaze and while he didn't leave us in the best state it could've been alot worse. Getting us back up straight away was a great achievement.

 

2 hours ago, ian__marshall said:

Hugely underrated as a City manager in my opinion. The job he pulled off to get us promoted was nothing short of miraculous. Honestly I dread to think what would have happened to the club had we not gone up that season. With the backdrop of administration the magnitude of what he achieved given the pressure everyone was under is up there with some of our best achievements as a football club in my view. 

Form a personal and professional point of view he was excellent to deal with, especially given the had of cards he was dealt. See him from time to time around press boxes ( he's a referee assessor believe it or not - I don't think even he can believe he does it  ) and he's still a top bloke.

 

Probably told the story before but once in a pre match interview late season I brought up the subject of surrendering leads and he went off on a furious expletive-filled rant which obviously we couldn't use on radio. Later that day my phone rang, a number I didn't know flashed up, and it was Micky. He'd obviously got it via the press office and he was full of apologies for letting things get to him and stressed it was nothing personal. Not many managers, especially those under pressure who'd gone through administration, La Manga and a tough relegation battle, would have the class to do that.

[Steve Earle]

Sometimes wonder how much the profile of players that Adams (or his regime) signed has contributed to the development of the profile we look at now?

 

Then: experienced, financially secure, knackered by 80 minutes, no resale value. 

 

Now: talented, hungry, full of energy, saleable 

[5waller5]

2 hours ago, Analysethis said:

If Pep was in charge and Klopp was his assistant, we still get relegated with these!!!

 

I'm still in recovery from leading Wolves 3-0 at HT in the prem season and got done 4-3.

 

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Ian Walker 2 DF  ENG Andrew Impey 3 DF  JAM Frank Sinclair[2] 5 MF  ENG Craig Hignett 6 MF  TUR Muzzy Izzet[3] 7 MF  NIR Keith Gillespie 8 MF  FRA Lilian Nalis 9 FW  ENG Les Ferdinand 10 FW  ENG James Scowcroft 11 MF  ENG Jordan Stewart 12 MF  ENG Paul Brooker 13 MF  GER Steffen Freund (on loan from 1. FC Kaiserslautern) 14 DF  SCO Callum Davidson 15 DF  ENG Alan Rogers

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 GK  WAL Danny Coyne 18 DF  SCO Matt Elliott[4] 20 FW  JAM Trevor Benjamin[5] 21 DF  ENG Riccardo Scimeca 22 FW  SCO Paul Dickov 25 DF  ENG Matt Heath 27 MF  ENG Steve Guppy 28 MF  SCO Peter Canero 32 MF  SCO Billy McKinlay 33 DF  WAL Ben Thatcher[6] 34 DF  FRA Nicolas Priet 38 FW  ENG Marcus Bent (on loan from Ipswich Town) 44 DF  GRE Nikos Dabizas

to be fair, apart from “The Tank” there were some decent footballers in the side.

 

Sir Les Ferdinand still one of my favourite players to pull on a Leicester shirt!

[Heathrow fox]

1 hour ago, 5waller5 said:

to be fair, apart from “The Tank” there were some decent footballers in the side.

 

Sir Les Ferdinand still one of my favourite players to pull on a Leicester shirt!

Sir Les was brilliant.Tbf Bent,Sir Les and Dickov were more than decent that season.

[bovril]

5 hours ago, Mike the Metal Ed said:

I wish I'd seen that.

 

I was on my way back from Florida that day.We usually struggled against Bolton so I was joking with my family, with no way of checking the score "We'll be 4-0 down by now". Got to Birmingham Airport and checked the results in the morning paper, and my jaw hit the floor.

That was under Taylor.

 

The game I'm thinking of was when we surrendered a 2-0 lead against 9 men. I think Basset was mic'd up for some programme about managers' heart rates. I remember some great quotes - "what do we do now?", "where's Jonsey?". But I've never seen it again and sometimes wonder if I imagined it... 

[Gamble92]

8 hours ago, Corky said:

We should've stayed up that season. We weren't a great side by any stretch but we had enough good leads in matches, late leads, to see out and make sure we survived. Southampton, Wolves (that game), Middlesbrough (3-1 up in injury times and failed to win!), Newcastle, Tottenham at home. 3 home wins all season was pathetic.

 

He's a good bloke but I think the troubles in his first season cloud the fact we threw away a great chance to stay up and his signing policy before he left (dragging in any over-35 player available) left the club with an aging, past-it squad full of has-beens with serious egos.

 

For all the good work he did, it seemed fitting he started by losing a 2-0 lead to Everton and pretty much his last game was throwing away a 2-0 lead to QPR. Summed up his reign of lots of promise but ultimately not doing enough.

I still remember every single one of them throw away leads. One of my first seasons supporting us and it was a good taste of what I had to come. I'll always remember  the Middlesbrough game with my Grandad sat in his chair saying nothing to worry about now son 3-1 90 minutes are up, even you lot won't throw this away. 

 

We were just as bad for throwing away leads 2 seasons before. If not worse. It seemed to be a running joke. Mucky Adams definitely didn't take enough responsibility for that seasons results because we genuinely did have a good enough team. 

 

As incredible as he did in 02/03, the lack of spending in the Premier League seemed to give him the get out of jail free card for every comical loss.

 

Love the bloke for what he did but some of that goodwill was lost when he signed Dennis Wise for Coventry.

[davieG]

7 hours ago, bovril said:

That was under Taylor.

 

The game I'm thinking of was when we surrendered a 2-0 lead against 9 men. I think Basset was mic'd up for some programme about managers' heart rates. I remember some great quotes - "what do we do now?", "where's Jonsey?". But I've never seen it again and sometimes wonder if I imagined it... 

You certainly didn't imagine it, MA immediately took over the situation and I sat there wondering how  Bassett ever got the job.

[Fox92]

8 hours ago, Heathrow fox said:

Sir Les was brilliant.Tbf Bent,Sir Les and Dickov were more than decent that season.

Bent was surprisingly decent and probably ended up with double figures.

 

As I recall he ended up going to Everton after.

 

Sir Les scored some great goals. Remember when he just used to hit free kicks with pure power  

 

Dickov, no explanation needed, just a pest and a good goalscorer for us.

[Footballwipe]

Those two seasons were so important and part of me formative years for LCFC. I was 12-14 during that period and it was the first time I got to go regularly to games.

 

Obviously 02/03 was amazing pretty much every game we went to, though I did bin off a couple of games for Championship Manager (to my shame and my Dad's disappointment.) Holding up the sign to keep the name City, going to the Portsmouth home game and it feeling like the biggest game ever. I even joined the official LCFC forum and the web chat quiz night that some forum members started. Great days.

 

The summer of 03 though was just amazing. It felt like we were signing a new player every single day. Ferdinand, Nalis, Thatcher. The seering hot evening to watch us play Barcelona, the equally seering hot day against Southampton on the opening day. Even being at school when we heard about the arrests in La Manga.

 

Even the bad days have such misty memories for me. Villa at home, fan on the pitch and Nuts magazines raining from the stands. Walker's comical catch outside the area against Birmingham. God, that game against Man City when Birch dressed as Churchill. Another opportunity missed as we guffed a penalty that day? Obviously there was something severely lacking to be that fragile, but we were so unfortunate not to stay up.

 

I'll always appreciate the rollercoaster I got to enjoy, especially as the four years after that were god awful, but Adams helped my full match attending experience as a Leicester fan and I loved it.

[eblair]

17 hours ago, TK95 said:

There are clubs that would have 27 managers in a decade these days

thought we did in 2008 alone tbf