Due to his natural pace, Adams started his playing career as a left-winger before manager Keith Peacock converted him into a left-back after he was found to lack the technical skill necessary to beat opponents.

[14] Adams played the first seven matches of the 1989–90 season before losing his place through injury to Francis Benali, who then began to form a useful full-back partnership with Jason Dodd.

[16] Once he had overcome the niggling injuries of his first two seasons at The Dell, Adams' consistency began to ensure that the left-back position was more or less his own, with his energetic forays along the touchline helping to give the side an extra cutting edge.

[18] During the inaugural season of the Premier League, Adams missed only four games, making 38 appearances with four goals, with his right-wing partner now being Jeff Kenna, with manager Ian Branfoot playing Dodd and Benali further forward.

[28] Following Mohamed Al-Fayed's takeover of Fulham, Adams was dismissed as manager in September 1997 in favour of the higher profile combination of Kevin Keegan (director of football) and Ray Wilkins (head coach).

[38] His first full season as manager was a matter of consolidation as the club finished a respectable 11th, whilst Adams signed talent such as star striker Bobby Zamora.

[53] Despite Leicester going into receivership with debts of £30 million and being banned from the transfer market until a takeover was completed,[36] Adams was able to guide them to promotion back to the Premiership at the first attempt—they ended the 2002–03 season as Division One runners-up behind champions Portsmouth.

[58] Adams was resentful of lucrative long-term contracts dealt out to his less talented players by previous managers, which restricted his ability to bring in fresh faces to boost their campaign.

[63] The club had already been rocked by various incidents on overseas tours over years, with Stan Collymore arrested for setting off a fire extinguisher in 2000, and Dennis Wise breaking Callum Davidson's jaw in a row over a card game in 2002.

[71] Adams had previously stated his concern that they would be unable to regain their top tier status before he resigned as Leicester manager in October 2004,[72] after a poor start to the Championship campaign dashed the club's hopes of an instant return to the Premiership.

"[79] "We are committed to our three-year quest to get Coventry City back into the Premiership and believe that tough decisions like this will sometimes be needed to fulfil that aim, as is sadly the case today.In July 2007, Adams was appointed by Colchester United as assistant manager to Geraint Williams,[81] replacing Mick Harford who had left the previous month.

[85][86] On 2 February 2009, he spent £150,000 on defender Jimmy McNulty and signed striker Craig Davies for an undisclosed fee;[87] However, 19 days later, Adams left the club by "mutual consent" (although he had stated he wished to stay) due to poor team performances.

[92] Chairman Bill Bratt stated that Adams' first goal would be to stabilise the club,[93] following the "Valiants" fall from the second tier to near the bottom of the English Football League within ten years.

[97] However, following a period of three defeats in seven days, Adams decided to place his whole squad on the transfer list, saying of his team's performance: "We looked like a woman who had a big fur coat on but underneath she's got no knickers on.

[109] The season began similarly to the previous campaign, with a 3–1 win at Championship side Queens Park Rangers in the League Cup First Round, new signing Richards scoring twice.

[112] He was also handed the award for November after his team advanced into the Third round of the FA Cup and rose to the top of the League Two table on the back of five clean sheets in seven games.

[3] He announced his three aims as manager would be to firstly avoid relegation, to then challenge for promotion, and finally "to develop a structure that will build us a reputation for homegrown talent that fans can be proud of in their team".

[123] He followed this by tying Gary Roberts to the club for another season, and signing Walsall centre-half Clayton McDonald, left-back Mike Green, and Sheffield United teenagers Kingsley James and Phil Roe.

[126] After his team started the campaign with a glut of goals – both scoring and conceding – Adams decided to give his players "a kick up the backside" by signing experienced defenders Liam Chilvers (on loan) and Rob Kozluk.

[139] However, he lost four of his best players in Lee Collins, Anthony Griffith, Sean Rigg, and captain and top-scorer Marc Richards; all of whom signed big money contracts elsewhere, leaving Adams needing to rebuild the team largely from scratch.

[140] He duly signed midfielder Darren Murphy and winger Jennison Myrie-Williams from Stevenage, Colchester United attacker Ashley Vincent, Shrewsbury Town goalkeeper Chris Neal, Crewe Alexandra centre-back David Artell, and former Wales international Richard Duffy.

[142] New owners took the club out of administration and allowed Adams to strengthen his squad in January by signing four experienced players: striker Lee Hughes, midfielder Chris Birchall, and centre-back Darren Purse.

[144] However, Vale slipped to five defeats in seven games, and Adams claimed that "idiots" in a "certain section of the crowd" were giving him "personal" abuse following the run of bad results and his decision to drop fan favourite Ryan Burge for disciplinary reasons.

[145] Vale managed to turn their form around and secure automatic promotion, finishing as the division's top-scorers as wingers Jennison Myrie-Williams and Ashley Vincent provided quality service to prolific striker Tom Pope throughout the campaign.

[148] On 22 September, Rob Page was put in temporary charge of first-team affairs at Vale Park after Adams took the decision to take time off work to have hip replacement surgery.

[152] After eleven players left the club in 2014, Adams rebuilt for the 2014–15 campaign by signing left-sided player Colin Daniel, Northern Ireland internationals Ryan McGivern and Michael O'Connor, pacey winger Mark Marshall, Crewe Alexandra attacker Byron Moore, veteran midfielder Michael Brown, and midfielder Steve Jennings, and also took in three loanees in Swiss full-back Frédéric Veseli, highly rated striker Jordan Slew and French target man Achille Campion.

[153][154][155][156][157][158][159][160] Defeat to local rivals Crewe Alexandra marked the club's fifth consecutive loss, and after the game Adams accepted that his position would be under threat if results did not turn around quickly.

[164] After overseeing an upturn of results that saw the club move eight points above bottom-place Hartlepool United he was nominated for the League Two Manager of the Month award in December, with the judges saying that he "has instilled a calm belief at Prenton Park that has won over players, supporters and directors alike".

[171] Adams was seen as an 'old-school' manager due to his emphasis on fitness – particularly gruelling pre-season running sessions – and straightforward tactics, expecting his players to outrun and out-battle the opposition.

[173] Adams made an appearance on BBC Radio Leicester's version of Desert Island Discs in August 2004, and chose songs from Nat King Cole ("Love Letters"), Billy Joel ("Scenes from an Italian Restaurant"), The Style Council ("Shout to the Top!