Few Iron fans even considered him as a managerial candidate when Brian Laws left for Sheffield Wednesday in November 2006, but he has led the team to success not seen since the 1960s. That should not be underestimated.
His first season brought us the League One title, the first time we had finished top of a division since we won Division Three (North), we were relegated but not without a fight, then promotion back via the League One play-offs and stayed in the Championship last season with a bit of breathing space.
That is a tremendous record, and Adkins has had the chance to leave Glanford Park before.
Only last month Swansea City were interested in him, with their chairman suggesting his loyalty to the Iron meant he had turned them down. Perhaps there was just too much potential at Southampton.
They have a large stadium, more supporters and Adkins will not have his hands tied like at Glanford Park. There is more of a feeling of loss now than when Laws went, an indication of how much Iron supporters have bought into Adkins' philosophy.
Occasionally it grated when a heavy away defeat was followed by him telling us what a nice stadium we'd just paid £30 each to watch a defeat in, but we understood it was all part of his plan. We knew it was about maintaining a belief in his players, which was ultimately rewarded with survival in the Championship last season and six points from our first four outings this term.
It is because we believed in Adkins that his potential move was harder, but we should be thankful he has resisted riches elsewhere for so long. We had hoped he would move to a substantially bigger club when he finally went, but we should not begrudge him agreeing the move. We have grown as a club under Adkins.
He has built a strong scouting structure that continues to dig out excellent strikers from the lower division, ticket problems for big cup games such as those seen when Leeds United came in the FA Cup are unheard of, and we have a lifelong Iron fan running the club as general manager.
There is some uncertainty, but Scunthorpe United are still a club on the up. We will continue to defy the odds under our next manager, we thank Adkins for his efforts for us - he has changed the mindset of our club for the better, and for that we are grateful.