Nigel Adkins

Nigel Howard Adkins (born 11 March 1965) is an English professional football manager and former player and physiotherapist.

He is currently the manager and technical director at Tranmere Rovers.

Adkins played as a goalkeeper for Tranmere Rovers and Wigan Athletic.

He finished his playing career and began his managerial career at Welsh club Bangor City before spells at Scunthorpe United (where he had previously been the club physiotherapist) and Southampton, where he led both clubs to promotion.

His tenure with the latter was noted for taking the Saints from League One to the Premier League in successive seasons.

Adkins began his career at Liverpool, but was released without playing a first team game.

Under the guidance of Adkins, the Saints achieved a club record of clean sheets in one season, beating the previous record of 19 set by Peter Shilton in the early 1980s.

In 1983, he joined Tranmere Rovers and made 86 league appearances in three years.

In 1986, he transferred to Wigan Athletic, the club where he spent the majority of his career, playing 155 league games between 1986 and 1993.

He suffered a double spinal fracture at age 23, which curtailed his career.

This was the sixth home win in a row, the best home form for the football club since 1992.

Adkins joined Bangor City as player-manager in 1993, making 95 league appearances and guiding them to consecutive championships before leaving the club in 1996.

Adkins subsequently retired from playing at age 31, having made 336 league appearances in a 13-year career.

Following his retirement from playing, Adkins graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in physiotherapy and joined the physiotherapy department at Scunthorpe United.

Adkins began his managerial career in 1993 as the player-manager of Bangor City in the League of Wales where he won the championship in the 1993–94 and 1994–95 seasons, before departing in February 1996.

Adkins was appointed caretaker manager by Scunthorpe United chairman Steve Wharton in November 2006, following the departure of the previous manager, Brian Laws.

After his spell as caretaker, he was appointed as permanent manager on 7 December 2006.

As Adkins had been promoted to the manager's seat from the role of club physiotherapist, Scunthorpe supporters chanted, "Who needs Mourinho, we've got our physio!"

on the terraces of Glanford Park in his honour.

Adkins guided Scunthorpe to promotion from League One to the Championship with three matches to spare on 14 April 2007, and they went on to seal the divisional title to end an absence of more than 40 years from the league's second tier.

Scunthorpe were relegated from the Championship the following season, but returned via the League One play-offs in May 2009, playing at Wembley Stadium in consecutive months, having played Luton Town in the final of the Football League Trophy on 5 April.

They struggled once again in the higher division, but this time avoided relegation by finishing 20th and being five points clear of Sheffield Wednesday – the last relegated club.

Adkins joined Southampton on 12 September 2010, after the Saints and Scunthorpe United agreed a compensation package.

Adkins signed a three-year contract and was joined there by his former assistant at Scunthorpe, Andy Crosby.

He gained his first victory in charge in his third game winning 1–0 at Sheffield Wednesday, with Lee Barnard scoring the only goal.

The good start to his tenure continued and he guided Southampton into the play-off part of the table for the first time in League One on 2 November 2010 after a 4–0 win over Dagenham & Redbridge.

After this result, the club joined the League One promotion rush, which was expected of them at the start of the campaign, and before the slow start.

Adkins guided his team into the top two for the first time since being relegated, after a 4–0 win over Exeter City on New Year's Day 2011 and managed a victory against Premier League opposition in Blackpool just one week later, taking his side into the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Three days later he led his side to a 6–0 win away to Oldham Athletic and in the process recorded their fifth-straight victory.

During Adkins' first transfer window at the club, he secured the contract of winger Adam Lallana for a new four-and-a-half-year contract.

He signed winger Dany N'Guessan on loan from Leicester City, and signed Jonathan Forte on a three-and-a-half-year contract from Adkins' former club Scunthorpe United.

Adkins guided his side to promotion into the Championship after a 3–1 home win against Walsall on 7 May 2011, earning his third League One promotion in his managerial career behind champions Brighton and Hove Albion.

He won the League One Manager of the Month for April 2011 after winning seven of the eight games that month and putting Southampton on the brink of promotion.

He then broke a 12-year hoodoo of not winning on the opening day of the league season by beating Leeds United at St Mary's Stadium 3–1 and send them straight into second in the Championship.

In the process, he also broke a record by leading Southampton to seven consecutive league wins for the first time in their history.

Two subsequent away wins – against Barnsley (1–0) and Ipswich Town (5–2) – kept Southampton top of the Championship.

The club record of consecutive league victories extended to ten after a 1–0 win at home to Millwall.

They suffered a minor blip in their next game, a 3–2 defeat at Leicester, but bounced back winning 3–1 in the second round of the League Cup at Swindon Town.

Adkins then guided the Saints to two successive home wins in a week; 3–2 over Nottingham Forest and 4–1 against Birmingham City.

In the club's 125th anniversary match, Adkins saw his side beat Peterborough United 4–1.