Dippy

We (MK) won’t play that negatively again in many other games. It felt like we settled for a draw from the first minute knowing that you didn’t have much to worry us in attack. If we started our sub RWB who can actually cross a ball then half time is a much different story too. A poor day at the office from both sides I would say, though I was very pleased with our goalkeeper and largely pleased with the defence, while you can be pleased with the level of control.

Yeah I was surprised at this. We’ve been pressing pretty nicely so far this season but there wasn’t enough there today, especially second half.

You guys were a lot better than I expected. Still a very typical Martin performance, and but for a fantastic performance from Craig in net and the defence for the most part, for all the ball it only got worrying towards the very end of the game. You won’t like it, but based on what I saw they are some very encouraging signs.

It was good at the time. He was a really important player for us in getting promoted in 18/19 and he replaced Paul Tisdale and changed us from a more direct style to his style very quickly, until by the end of the Behind Closed Doors season we were feeling really positive about how another summer could improve us and we were thinking of a promotion push. We then had a league cup game on a Saturday away at Bournemouth, and in the week leading up to that rumours started flowing about Swansea, and he came out and said to the fans that we needed to ignore the noise, that he didn’t want to leave us until we were established in the second tier, and that we were all looking forward to a really good season. That Bournemouth game was our first back with fans for over a year so we sold well and were all excited… until on the train down we heard that he was talking and a deal was close. That was one of the most toxic games I’ve ever been a part of really, and he was gone the next day. Our hatred really stems from betrayal. We still had a good year after he left but there will always be a sense of he abandoned us at the eleventh hour after selling us the dream.

The team themselves are saying that they are. Personally I think just shy of the play offs is probably more realistic, but the owners are ambitious and put their money where their mouth is and based on budgets we should be up there, I think we had a top 10 League 1 budget last season while in League 2.

The only one within close range isn't a pub for football fans (they don't tend to like the crowd) and also doesn't open until 12, so for large away attendances and early kick offs you're out of luck. The city centre has a Wetherspoons near the train station and you can get the 5 or 6 Arriva bus to get close to the stadium after that. There's also a Wetherspoons in Bletchley which could help but none within a ten minute walk. I'm not as well versed in Fenny Stratford either, but that is walkable.

Franco got cult hero status at MK for managing to keep a clean sheet against inevitable relegation fodder in AFC Wimbledon after we sold our first choice keeper, but I’m not surprised to see that Blackpool opinion. We quickly replaced him with Jamie Cumming that season.

This may well bite me in the backside but I’m excited for your visit this weekend. Our style now is more akin to every team in league one that ever gave us a lot of trouble when Russ was our gaffer, and having a look at some of the goals Leicester have conceded, I’d put money on Sam Nombe to have a great game in the press. But we also historically haven’t done overly well when the away side bring 5k+ so honestly, I’m hoping that form holds out and you are all more interested in Russell Martin than getting behind the team.

Martin won't change his style. Given time he'll recruit to fit it, but he won't change it. His issue with Southampton was that promotion was too big a step and his players aren't good enough to do it when they are among the worst team in the league. With us at MK he had 4 transfer windows and we steadily improved after each... though he didn't actually see it through after the 4th one with his squad and a few changes to the style we came 3rd in League 1. But, and rightfully so, you guys don't have the patience required to allow him to work, and he'll just do his reputation even more damage to your detriment. That's something that given how much I detest him for his actions at the end of his spell here, I am very excited to see (sorry guys!)

For your sake I hope not. Castore were so awful MK forced our way out of our contract with them a year early.

Baring in mind I've not really seen a great amount of his football since he left MK in July 2021, but based on the fact that he doesn't seem to have changed at all since then, here are my positives for you guys: He brought in a really good squad for the level. They may have flourished under another manager but losing his signings in the summer of 2022 to higher levels is a big reason as to why we got relegated the season after finishing third. Scott Twine, Matt O'Riley and Harry Darling especially were superb signings, and even the year before he brought in quality like Scott Fraser and managed to convince Cameron Jerome to return to England at a lesser level. He'll probably get you believing again if you can set aside a lot of the negatives. He's a good talker is Rus and despite inevitable mistakes in defence, he'll have you believing that it's all for the greater good of the team. When it works, it's great football. The game has changed since 2019-2021 when he was here but I distinctly remember feeling extremely positive about a Russell Martin team going into the 21/22 season... then of course he left on the opening weekend of the season but it's probably harder to do that to Leicester than it was MK at the time. Bragging Rights: Who doesn't enjoy saying that they had more possession than PSG, Man City and everybody else in Europe. He clearly worked well enough at Southampton with a team that's too good for the level, and that should be the case with you guys. When you get back up again the story may be different, but focus on that if/when it comes.

You'll probably be fine so long as you either have centre backs very comfortable on the ball, or the money to bring in those centre backs (if Harry Darling will drop down to L1 then that would probably be a signing you'd make) If not... then I wish you all good luck in 44 of your games because you'll likely need it.

Personal opinion is that the mistakes at the back that come with his style would probably have pushed us down the table, but the talent was enough that it would likely have been a play off challence so 5th-9th rather than fighting for the top 2.

Yeah that's the point. He assembled the squad, left just as the season was starting and so the replacement manager Liam Manning just tweaked things slightly to make us a little more forwards than sideways, and we finished third after being in a promotion battle until the very last day.

That’s one thing I will give him for his time here, he created a really exciting team that almost managed to go up when you added in just a bit more attacking will. A lot of our ire at MK comes from his abandonment of the team basically on the day of our first competitive game of the season, a cup game against Bournemouth, leaving us in limbo after we’d all been pretty excited to come back and challenge at the top. That being said, there was still a lot of frustration over his style and his tactics so it’s not all pure bitterness.