Nigel Adkins has always been pragmatic about the perils of management. When Southampton were anchored to the foot of the table at the start of November, after West Bromwich Albion condemned them to an eighth defeat in 10 games, Adkins admitted that anyone in charge of the bottom team deserved to be favourite to be sacked. If that seemed like an honest and rational view to hold, there was nothing that made any sense about Southampton's bizarre decision to tell Adkins to clear his desk on Friday.

Less than 48 hours earlier Southampton had extended their impressive run to only two defeats in 12 matches, by coming back from two goals down at Stamford Bridge to draw 2-2 with Chelsea. Adkins could never have guessed it would be his last game. The word harsh barely does it justice. He picked Southampton up off the floor in League One, winning back-to-back promotions to secure the club's return to the Premier League for the first time in seven years. The fans loved him and it was easy to see why.

Adkins believed in playing open, attacking football, which delivered plenty of goals. There were times, particularly in the early stages of the current campaign, when that approach looked a little naive. Southampton conceded 28 in the opening 10 matches but Adkins recognised and addressed the problem. In the next 12 fixtures Southampton conceded only a goal a game and picked up 18 points. They were 15th, three points clear of the bottom three, after Wednesday night's memorable result against the European Champions.

Adkins' name was chanted by the travelling supporters at Stamford Bridge, including when Southampton were 2-0 down, which provides a measure of how highly he was regarded. It has since transpired, however, that there were rumours within the club before the Chelsea game that Adkins could be sacked before this weekend. If that seemed hard to believe after a decent 1-0 victory at Aston Villa last Saturday, it felt preposterous in the wake of the Chelsea result.

Nicola Cortese, Southampton's executive chairman, had no qualms, though, about making a decision that was met with disbelief within the club and widely condemned by those on the outside. "It's a strange time of the season, they've lost two of the last 12 games and came from 2-0 down to draw at Chelsea," Matt Le Tissier, the former Southampton captain, said. "[But] it seems to be the way the club's being run under the chairman.Nothing's surprising and it's a bit of a laughing stock."

Adkins was well liked within the club. He is a man without an ego and he made it his business to know everyone's name, whether that be the tea lady or the young scholars. Those that worked with him talk about the positivity he exuded and how that translated to the players on the pitch. He had no reservations about giving youngsters a chance, which was evident in his decision to put his faith in Luke Shaw, a 17-year-old left back who has flourished since making his Premier League debut a couple of months ago.

A former schoolboy at Liverpool who went on to become Tranmere's youngest goalkeeper when he made his debut at 17 before injuries cut short his playing career, Adkins put his heart and soul into management. He got his break the hard way, managing in the League of Wales before taking over at Scunthorpe, where he had previously worked as the physio. The Southampton opportunity came about in September 2010, after Alan Pardew was surprisingly sacked by Cortese, and Adkins became an instant success.

He received significant financial backing in the summer, as Southampton outlined their ambitions to become an established Premier League club with a spending spree of more than £30m. One possible theory for his dismissal is that Cortese felt Adkins had not done enough to integrate some of those new signings into the side. Another is that Cortese sets the bar unrealistically high in terms of his expectations. Whatever the reasoning, the fact of the matter is that Southampton's league position was moving in the right direction and Adkins had the best win percentage of any Saints manager since the 19th century, which makes the decision to replace him with Mauricio Pochettino feel ridiculous.

"I am shocked," said Lawrie McMenemy, a former Southampton manager and vice-president of the League Managers' Association. "I said right from the start that to finish fourth bottom in the first season in the Premier League is success. The ambition this year is to stay in the Premier League and they look set for that, not many teams will go to Chelsea and get a draw. With due respect to Pochettino, what does he know about our game? Everybody will be feeling sorry for Nigel Adkins."