IAN ATKINS

[ThrobsBlackHat]

The guy is a Shrewsbury legend

But he was harsh in his comments following his last game


The big question is, do you think he will get lsated when Rovers visit, or receive the "Turner" treatment of long standing love from the riverside?

I actually think he might get slated, because he didn;t show us much respect

[Deleted]

One of my boyhood heroes as a Town player, but I won't be giving him a warm reception. Some of his comments both recently as Rover mgr and in years gone by (when Chester went down for example) were less than respectful.

I hope we stuff em.

[jamojunior]

I'd be more than happy to slate him.
I disagree about bestowing legend status on the bloke. He was a goog player in a very good team nothing more.

[Deleted]

Would hope he gets some respect-I think I was about 2 when he left but my dad though he was a legend. To be fair to Ian when we played them last we DID play for a draw as we did for most Quinn away games this season Can still remember when we sent him & Chester down he found it in his heart to say how happy he was that we had survived!

I'll certainly be giving him some respect

[Wrighty]

F**k him. I have been saddened by the attitude of managers on more than one occasion this year. First Atkins and his ungraciousness and then Tony Adams with more of the same. It is a great shame as in both cases we were if not the better team then certainly on a par with Wycombe and the Gas. So f**k him I say!

[Deleted]

TAFFY said:

Would hope he gets some respect-I think I was about 2 when he left but my dad though he was a legend. To be fair to Ian when we played them last we DID play for a draw as we did for most Quinn away games this season Can still remember when we sent him & Chester down he found it in his heart to say how happy he was that we had survived!

I'll certainly be giving him some respect

I totally endorse that statement, however most people take people as they find them so I think he will get a mixed reception. It is quite understandable that the younger fans will not like him for his recent comments.

[Blue_is_the_colour]

What exactly has he said?

Im sitting on the fence til i get the jist of what he said

[The Shropshire Tenor]

Managers talk all sorts of rubbish, it's expected and comes with the job.

Ian Atkins - 342 games, 73 goals for STFC - that deserves respect.

[Deleted]

SalopSi said:

What exactly has he said?

Im sitting on the fence til i get the jist of what he said

Think he was just a bit disappointed that we turned up at the Memorial Stadium earlier in the season and put 10 men behind the ball and played for a draw for 90 mins-looking back so was I, we could have got a result had we been a bit more attacking, Luke had a penalty shout turned down and we had a few late chances. Still it was a decent point and a good day out!

Not sure about any other comments Atkins has made regarding STFC tho. Despite what he's said the man's one of Towns best

[SeanBroseley]

I don't think Ratters and Atkins saw eye to eye - which explains previous comments.

Atkins has to be remembered for what he did here.

[bristol loggerheads]

He'll get a better reception here than he has had at the Memorial Ground (it's not a stadium!) in recent weeks.

[rob]

he's been back plenty of times beit as manager of Bristol Rovers, Northampton, Chester or Oxford.

I'd have given him some applause, however after his antics in getting Luke Rodgers sent off two seasons ago when Oxford came to tow he can feck himself.

Haven't said that i probably wont boo him either.

[Chris J]

TAFFY said:

Think he was just a bit disappointed that we turned up at the Memorial Stadium earlier in the season and put 10 men behind the ball and played for a draw for 90 mins-looking back so was I

Disagree - I thought we played controlled, contained football, defended when we had to, attacked when we could. What were we supposed to do when they had the ball around our box? Sprint into their half on the off-chance of a misplaced backpass?
Atkins was in the side when I started going regularly and at the time I thought he was the dog's whatsits. From my perspective, he deserves considerable respect as a player, little as a man and less as a manager. He's been effective at times, but hardly gone out of his way to promote the beautiful game at any club he's managed. As Wrighty says, f**k him, he's full of p**s and wind and sour grapes.

[Wrighty]

Completely agree. As a player I thought he was grand but as a manager his football stinks and he is just a bitter and twisted miserable sod . That performance at Bristol to me was one that has kept me filled of hope through some of the recent lean times I thought we controlled the game from start to finish and we should apart from the inept referee had a cast iron penalty.
It was just once more the lack of grace of the guy that thoroughly pi**ed me off plus the fact it is not like his teams play fabulous flowing football like Arsenal is it. More like a John Beck team all huff and puff and long balltastic

[welshshrew5]

This season he has slagged off the majority of teams, his old club, their fans, called players 'cheats'. accused referees of being conned etc. etc.

Great player no doubt - as a manager, not really cutting it, and a disgraceful attitude to boot.

[Worthingshrew]

every week he's quoted as slagging off the opposition (not just Town) as being negative etc. He seems to think every team should lie down and roll over for Rovers. I think he's shot his bolt as a manager, but still a playing hero for me from the 70's.

[ThrobsBlackHat]

Guest-welshshrew5 said:

This season he has slagged off the majority of teams, his old club, their fans, called players 'cheats'. accused referees of being conned etc. etc.

Great player no doubt - as a manager, not really cutting it, and a disgraceful attitude to boot.

is that a boo from you then Gaz?

I am expecting a "ian Atkins, you're a ******" chant myself, and half of the riverside joining in with gusto and the other half feeling decidedly annoyed at such sentiments


The big difference between him and Turner is that Turner still obviously loves our club

[shrewforever]

If you want to be part of something that is rude,abusive and disrespectful to one of our best ex players, who was an integral part of one(if not) the best teams that ever represented our Club, because of a few stupid remarks he has made,then thats fine by me,nothing I can do about it.

Personally if I bump into him I will shake his hand ,welcome him back and thank him for the many memories he gave me,as I did when I met him at the Swansea home game just before our relegation.

To behave in any other way towards an ex player of his status and calibre IMO is nothing other than rude and childish....but as I said you have to be responsible for you're own actions so do as you see fit.

I'll never forget the pride he filled me with for scoring the FA Cup penalty equaliser against the Yam Yams,not to mention his countless other contributions during the greatest period in the Clubs history.

Sorry if anyone reads this as patronising in anyway but I'm disappointed by some of the things written in this thread and somewhat surprised and disappointed that it was even started.

[MartinB]

Personally I would not have a go at Ian Atkins. Lots of great memories as a player. I choose to ignore him as a manager and concentrate on getting behind the Town and cheer them on to victory.

Surely putting our efforts into backing our team are better than slagging off any opposition.

[Richard Bruvoffline]

"Played" against him once. We were having a footy match at the tech when he came on and asked if he could have a game. Skinned the lot of us. On the umpteenth time he came to skin me I took him out with a "professional" foul. He went down hard. He got up, came across to me, I cacked myself. He told me if that had been in a real game he would have broken my legs in the next tackle. Then shook my hand and said "Good on yer!"

Total respect

[Wakeman watcher]

Got to say he was a wonderful player - but I think he is graceless as a manager. The Bristol Rovers stuff was bad enough but his whole attitude during that Oxford game was dreadful. would be unfortunate to be disrespectful to such a memorable Town player but it does work both ways. There are timnes when he is more charmless than most opposition managres.

[Chris J]

shrewforever said:

If you want to be part of something that is rude,abusive and disrespectful to one of our best ex players, who was an integral part of one(if not) the best teams that ever represented our Club, because of a few stupid remarks he has made,then thats fine by me,nothing I can do about it.

Personally if I bump into him I will shake his hand ,welcome him back and thank him for the many memories he gave me,as I did when I met him at the Swansea home game just before our relegation.

To behave in any other way towards an ex player of his status and calibre IMO is nothing other than rude and childish....but as I said you have to be responsible for you're own actions so do as you see fit.

I'll never forget the pride he filled me with for scoring the FA Cup penalty equaliser against the Yam Yams,not to mention his countless other contributions during the greatest period in the Clubs history.

Sorry if anyone reads this as patronising in anyway but I'm disappointed by some of the things written in this thread and somewhat surprised and disappointed that it was even started.

Not patronised, but certainly insulted.
I think Atkins himself has certainly resorted to 'rude and childish behaviour', every time one of his teams doesn't get the victory he feels their long-ball dourness has deserved. I shan't be going out of my way to boo or jeer him, but the leagacy of memories that team left has been partly tarnished by Atkins' boorish arrogance and frankly I resent the implication that unless I cheer him to the echo I'm somehow as bad as he is.

[john]

As long as we win I dont care either way

[Slackbladder]

I too was a bit disappointed about what Atkins said after the away game at Brizzle but managers say all sorts of things post match, especially when they are disappointed. Ian Atkins will always remain one of my all time favourites. He always had time for those of us sad enough to hang around outside the ground after games in the 70s. IMO he kept us up in 81-82 (along with Bob Wardle) and he always played with passion and energy. I think that's enough for him to be treated with a degree of respect.

[ThrobsBlackHat]

I started the thread because this is a subject with a range of divergent opinions and is fairly topical

[shrewforever]

Chris J what the hell are you on about"resent the implication that you should cheer him".

Thats YOUR implication(assumption) mate.........and is not suggested by me in any way whatsoever in my post.

I was simply stating my view of a certain type of behaviour as being "rude and childish" and I am sticking to that.

Read my post again a few times you might notice I say twice you can do exactly what you like and there is nothing I can do about it, and additionally nor would I wish to.


As far as being insulted I am certainly insulted by what you have written for the simple reason that I do not take kindly to people suggesting,even stating in your case,that I said something that I CLEARLY DID NOT.

If you find anywhere in my post me telling you how you should behave please let me know and I'll buy your entry to the Meadow for the rest of the season.

...................................................


No worries Dave re starting the thread,I didnt word that quite as I meant to,I was as I stated,simply more disappointed and saddened by some of the views expressed.

[Carter]

Great Player (almost legend status in my book) and despite what he said before I believe he still has a great affection for this club.

Remember he turned up and played in the Charity game vs Harchester United in May 03, and I recall him talking about his fond memories for the club, and how he hadn't (at the time) ruled himself out for the then vacant managers job pre-quinn.

Give the man the respect he deserves for being part of arguably the best Town side of all time....

[Chris J]

shrewforever said:

Personally if I bump into him I will shake his hand ,welcome him back and thank him for the many memories he gave me,as I did when I met him at the Swansea home game just before our relegation.

To behave in any other way towards an ex player of his status and calibre IMO is nothing other than rude and childish.

So, if I don't want to shake his hand and welcome him, I'm being rude and childish? If that's not what you intended it to mean when you wrote it, fair enough, but it's pretty unambiguous as it stands. There'll be no need to buy me entrance, thanks for the offer, I've got a season ticket.
To be honest mate I don't really want a row about Atkins. I've stated my view which is that the respect he earned as a player has been diminished by his subsequent actions. I never had any intention of booing, jeering or chanting against him, but I shan't make the effort to cheer him either - I too believe we are all responsible for the things we do and say and my usual response to people who are deliberately rude is to ignore them. (And before that starts another argument, I should make it clear I'm talking about Mr Atkins here!)

[Wrighty]

I just don't understand why you can't seperate the two. As a player a Ian Atkins was Shrewsbury great, as a manager a miserable whinging ungracious oik. I quite like Oasis but have absolutely no desire to meet the eyebrow brothers as they seem to be meatheads this is surely the same thing!

[NickO]

I started the thread because this is a subject with a range of divergent opinions and is fairly topical.

And a bl00dy good thread it is too. A few more like this and B&A will be like it was

Ian Atkins great player for Salop, not my personal hero of that era (Take a bow Mr Wardle) An @rse of a manager, but lets remember managers have different set of pressurers than players and thus in the heat of the moment say things that made 'em look stupid.