ADAMS SAYS HE WILL DO IT HIS WAY
(Friday 2nd January 2004)
Tony AdamsTony Adams has endured a bumpy ride in his first two months in charge at Wycombe. His arrival on 5th November along with John Gorman as coach was hailed as 'The Dream Team' by Wycombe officials but Gorman was gone within ten days, results on the pitch have not gone well and his criticism of certain squad members has appeared to split the opinion of Wycombe followers.
Some of those critics are even calling for a return of caretaker boss John Gorman but any such move can be ruled out as Adams has regularly insisted he must do it his way. Here, Chairboys on the Net, takes a look at the significant quotes made by Adams and Gorman, beginning with an interview by Anthony Clavane with Adams published in the Sunday Mirror on 14th December 2003. The article pitched around how Adams didn't want to make the same mistakes as Glenn Hoddle, who he believed progressed too far, too young, Adams commenting "I'm glad I haven't gone in at the top. There would have been more pressure, more responsibilty. I would have had to learn instantly. I think Glenn is a very good coach but I think he was too young and that he didn't have enough experience."
However, it was his comments about his relationship with his squad at Wycombe and the departure of John Gorman that will be of most interest to Wycombe fans. He admits he is no Arsene Wenger, either in attitude or the approach he is able to take at Wycombe. "I can't do what Arsene does because I haven't got the resources. I can't give them massages or bring them in for a jacuzzi because we ain't got a jucuzzi. So, instead, I'll give them a day off and they'll go and eat fish and chips down the road and go bowling"
In another interview in the Guardian published on 16 Decemeber 2003 Adams criticised a player for eating an apple before a game. "I let it go. If I started talking about the physiology of eating an apple, what it does to the digestive system just before you play football, I'd be confusing the hell out of them. They just can't take a huge amount of information on board." So the attitude of his former boss at Arsenal is also ruled out. "I'm not Arsene. If I see something wrong I say something. And I do raise my voice. The other night my right winger hadn't put a cross in for 45 minutes and I told him he'd be off after 15 minutes if that happened in the second-half." But, Adams who claims to be more of George Graham character than a Wenger, admitted that approach didn't work, adding "He turned into a frightened rabbit. He kept looking over his shoulder at me"
Adams goes to admit he's made other mistakes in his short time at Wycombe, citing the league meeting with Brentford on 15th November as the catalyst which broke up the Adams/Gorman Dream Team. Adams recalls "Against Brentford, who are very physical, I couldn't decide whether to bring on a centre-half. Then they get a set-play and score. Mind you I had John Gorman in may ear and someone else in my other ear - but I ended up doing nothing."
The partnership, talked up to the extreme by Wycombe officials, quickly became "awkward" according to Adams. "We'd come to the same conclusion, John more than me. He felt he was getting in my way, and I felt it. There was the possibilty of Glenn getting something and John joining him but there were no rows"
John Gorman himself confirmed that line of thought during an interview with the Club's Wanderers World service on the day of his departure on 17th November 2003, commenting "Tony needs to find his own way and he will. He's got great ideas and he'll bring a lot to this Club. I just want everybody to get right behind him now and help Tony." However, Gorman, who applied for the Managers' job but was overlooked by the Wanderers Board, was also honest in admitting that he had made a mistake in returning to a coaching role, adding "When you've been a caretaker manager and then step back down again, selfishly, you feel that I enjoyed being the manager. So rather than let that go on and on, it would have been wrong and that's why everybody now must look ahead and be positive that Tony Adams is the manager now and whatever decisions he makes everybody should get right behind him and I'm sure he'll do a great job."
Meanwhile, Adams is determined to go about things in his own way, concluding in the interview in the Sunday Mirror "I have to live or die by own decisions. I have to be myself. I'd rather die on my feet than survive on my knees."

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