Russell Martin

[splinterdream]

10 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

Having a philosophy is so last year. I want a manager that's not wedded to a rigid style and fluid enough to change depending on the opposition and state of play, even during the game. Stick his philosophy.

We were better with Enzos system than we were with Coopers or RVNs. Unless you've seen all of Southampton games then you've no idea whether hes adaptable, and if he wasnt, maybe he'll have a different outlook with us, who knows. 

[Winstonthedog]

11 minutes ago, splinterdream said:

We were better with Enzos system than we were with Coopers or RVNs. Unless you've seen all of Southampton games then you've no idea whether hes adaptable, and if he wasnt, maybe he'll have a different outlook with us, who knows. 

Please explain Enzos system 

[adamkhalifa]

4 hours ago, fairbanksh said:

Obsession with Southampton. Pathetic ignorance 

Yeah, I don't understand it. Some sort of Southampton fetish. #sacktheboard

[Chrysalis]

34 minutes ago, splinterdream said:

We were better with Enzos system than we were with Coopers or RVNs. Unless you've seen all of Southampton games then you've no idea whether hes adaptable, and if he wasnt, maybe he'll have a different outlook with us, who knows. 

Of course its easy to say that when we playing cardiff, rotherham and co.

This stupid obsession with slow intricate play is doing my head in at this point.

Edited 26 May 2025 by Chrysalis

[Colinjb]

1 hour ago, Yuki! said:

I a willing to give him a chance after watching his interview with Lineker. I think we will see the very best of Winks again under him, which could be hugely important in getting out of the Championship...

Sorry to return, but that interview betrayed him.

His poor time with us in the Premier League only reinforced his belief in his philosophy.

Allow me to say that again. His continual (and our) humiliation using his predictable and tedious repetition of ongoing errors only convinced him further that he was right. That it wasn't him, it was other factors.

Swansea fans warned us, we warn you guys now. 

[jv1]

11 minutes ago, Colinjb said:

Sorry to return, but that interview betrayed him.

His poor time with us in the Premier League only reinforced his belief in his philosophy.

Allow me to say that again. His continual (and our) humiliation using his predictable and tedious repetition of ongoing errors only convinced him further that he was right. That it wasn't him, it was other factors.

Swansea fans warned us, we warn you guys now. 

You certainly were not any better after you sacked him - I’d say worse 

[STUHILL]

7 minutes ago, Colinjb said:

Sorry to return, but that interview betrayed him.

His poor time with us in the Premier League only reinforced his belief in his philosophy.

Allow me to say that again. His continual (and our) humiliation using his predictable and tedious repetition of ongoing errors only convinced him further that he was right. That it wasn't him, it was other factors.

Swansea fans warned us, we warn you guys now. 

Despite all the negativity, do you think he will get us promoted though? I want out this division first, and he did that only 12 months ago, and I actually thought Leeds were a better squad than yours, along with ours. Ipswich were the slight surprise but fully deserved. Personally, despite his style, I think he will still get the players on board quickly, as they all seemed to like Enzo's approach. I also think many forget how poor the Championship is, and so we will likely still have one of the best starting 11's once we clear out some deadwood and sign a striker and some CBs. I am saying this as it is almost inevitable he is coming, not because I am advocating for it. He must have got some things right to have a 25 game unbeaten streak and get you promoted with the 3rd highest goals scored etc. 

[KFS]

The arrogance to go get a guy who’s probably convinced them that it was Saints’ fault because we’re “better then them”

 

This is going to be horrible, I can feel it 

[Colinjb]

8 minutes ago, STUHILL said:

Despite all the negativity, do you think he will get us promoted though? I want out this division first, and he did that only 12 months ago, and I actually thought Leeds were a better squad than yours, along with ours. Ipswich were the slight surprise but fully deserved. Personally, despite his style, I think he will still get the players on board quickly, as they all seemed to like Enzo's approach. I also think many forget how poor the Championship is, and so we will likely still have one of the best starting 11's once we clear out some deadwood and sign a striker and some CBs. I am saying this as it is almost inevitable he is coming, not because I am advocating for it. He must have got some things right to have a 25 game unbeaten streak and get you promoted with the 3rd highest goals scored etc. 

He saw us finishing 4th in a 3 horse race in 23/24.

He, regardless of his own revision of history did adapt how we played for the play-offs. We went up. But, rather then seeing the correlation and causation of his newfound necessary adaptation............ doubled down. Got more rigid.

If he shows growth, he will get you promoted based on the fundamental relative strength of your players. If he sticks to his dogma, it's painful. You may win a lot of games, but you will be vulnerable and frustrated. And, regardless of how many you may win, he will strike you as the snake oil salesman who doesn't back down. Teams that went toe-to-toe did get torn apart. Teams that sit back and ask as what we have? Did disproportionately well. And, if there are teams with better players, you are done regardless. They will pick you apart for the naive fools your tactics suggest.

Look at how horribly Maresca exposed him.  

Edited 27 May 2025 by Colinjb

[Dan]

I think it's quite clear reading between the lines it's going to be him.

 

There is just no respite whatsoever here is there? We just lurch from one depressing situation to another nowadays. You can barely believe what's playing out when you really lay things bare.

 

They serve up the biggest **** you to the fans in a season they could've possibly served up and their response is going to be to appoint another extremely unpopular manager with the fanbase for the second year running. A manager who is not popular nor that likely to be a success.

 

It's just utterly preposterous. Insulting. You couldn't really make a case for why he'd be doing this but it's so bad that it feels almost deliberate.

[StonyFox]

We've had two managers perform badly in the prem this season and we got relegated. But we're going to appoint a manager who was even worse! 

 

Do the board just go on an interview, or do they actually look at how the candidate performed doing the job!?

[Dan]

Mike Williamson for **** sake  

 

He's like the League Two Martin. It really is as if it's deliberate.

[The Horse's Mouth]

4 minutes ago, Dan said:

Mike Williamson for **** sake  

 

He's like the League Two Martin. It really is as if it's deliberate.

Makes you wonder who’s radicalising all these brexit centre backs 

[lcfcbluearmy]

Have we ever reached 100 pages on a manager before they are even appointed before? 
 

can we do it with RM?

[Vindaloo FOX]

Old but a good read 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/aug/16/russell-martin-southampton-premier-league

[teblin]

5 hours ago, Colinjb said:

Sorry to return, but that interview betrayed him.

His poor time with us in the Premier League only reinforced his belief in his philosophy.

Allow me to say that again. His continual (and our) humiliation using his predictable and tedious repetition of ongoing errors only convinced him further that he was right. That it wasn't him, it was other factors.

Swansea fans warned us, we warn you guys now. 

Thanks for your insight. It’s every thing I’m worried about. 
 

Interviews need to be taken with a pinch of salt as Ruud gave a brilliant interview with G Nev before he took our job.

 

Im just hoping he has shown some growth or ability to adapt.

[ian__marshall]

I'm struggling to understand all the hate. I'm in no way a Russell Martin fan but without doubt we'll absolutely be challenging for promotion next season if he is appointed. The gulf between the divisions is humongous. We might be rubbish at this level but the Championship is very poor both technically and tactically. 

 

No one in there right mind would have taken Scott Parker when we appointed Enzo, yet he's just breezed this league. There's far worse manager's out there than RM, and plenty who are unproven. 

 

I hear what the Saints fan is saying re: ignoring flair player's, but looking at our potential squad next season I don't think that will be possible as we'll have an abundance at that level in the forward positions next season. 

 

Let's at least try to give him some slack and not write him off the second he walks through the door. If he has genuinely gone away, reflected, and is willing to change he could be a good appointment. 

 

Edited 27 May 2025 by ian__marshall

[Trav Le Bleu]

BRACE! BRACE! BRACE!

[TommyK]

1 hour ago, Vindaloo FOX said:

Old but a good read 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/aug/16/russell-martin-southampton-premier-league

"Of course, results keep me in a job but I’ve been happier with a performance when losing than I have sometimes when we have won, playing really poorly, and I always make that really clear to the players. Winning ugly every now and then is fine, but you don’t get away with it for long.”

[Sooper Steve's shin]

We didn’t have a clue how Enzo would do when he joined as a relative nobody with no real managerial experience to speak of. He didn’t do too badly in getting us promoted as Champions (and I’m not having that was a PL squad after the sales and departures over that summer). Objectively, you have to say it was a fairly bold decision by the Club that paid off. 
 

Quite a few were concerned about how that style of play would hold up in the PL. We can’t answer that now as Enzo left and didn’t have the chance to shape the squad and work on us more over a summer. You can’t argue that he’s made the style work at Chelsea again though. 
 

We then had a dilemma of needing to find a manager compounded by PSR worries and a points deduction threat. The Club took what they probably reasonably thought was the lesser gamble - appointing a PL coach who’d kept a team in the division rather than taking a punt on somebody unproven to keep the style going. Maybe there just wasn’t the right man available at the time and we were forced to do it, but there was some thinking behind it. 
 

Then came Cooper’s sacking - a surprise from the outside, but we were (or were about to be) released from the points deduction threat and in a better position to get back to a more sophisticated football style. Cooper wasn’t helping himself and so I think that sacking him was the right decision. 
 

Ruud’s appointment was a sign we wanted to go in a different direction, back to a young and progressive manager with good coaching credentials. Again, not necessarily the worst idea (compared to the alternatives of trying to stick in another firefighter to keep us up). His failings were partly down to the inherited squad, partly to key injuries (esp. Hermansen and Fatawu), but probably mostly down to inexperience and learning on the job in one of the strongest leagues in the world. Ultimately, he was out of his depth and for someone with a known moody character, he probably felt aggrieved and ended up making a point with team selections rather than trying to change our fortunes. 
 

So, we face a new season in the Championship with a few priorities (assuming Ruud is a dead duck, which I think we can take as read):

- get a new manager in quickly to stabilise, get his message across, support recruitment and sales;

- get back to the possession style (whatever we think of it, that is the direction the Board want to go and, in their favour, it was largely successful with two of the last four managers winning trophies);

- get promoted (key factors are style and manager - you only have to look at the last few seasons to see that possession-based play is successful at that level (particularly for teams with a sprinkling of more technical PL level players) and Martin obviously comes into play as someone who knows how to get out of the league). 
 

Based on this, an out-of-work Russell Martin who plays close to the style the Club want, is free to start immediately, won’t require a compensation payout and has credentials of promotion looks like the most obvious of slam dunks. If we went for someone less proven (Rohl) or left field, the Board would be open to massive criticism if it went wrong and we’d be back to square one (or worse). 
 

Assuming that he does come in, the true test for both Club and manager will be whether they can break the mould and not only achieve promotion but sustain something by staying up. With the widening PL gap and the bottom half of PL clubs now benefitting from the massive advantage of sustained periods in the top league, it will be a challenge for any manager or style of play to do that. 

[Winstonthedog]

If ... possession style football wanted at least ensure you have the players to be able to carry it out .... looking at our squad I don't really see anyone that comfortable with the ball ... when they have it and are put under pressure they make unessesary mistakes as proven countless times ... and how many of us actually enjoy watching it ? finally and most importantly how many times when we have kept possession and got into the final third of the pitch have we capitalised on it .... a MINUS 47 goals difference should give you a clue 

[teblin]

3 minutes ago, Winstonthedog said:

If ... possession style football wanted at least ensure you have the players to be able to carry it out .... looking at our squad I don't really see anyone that comfortable with the ball ... when they have it and are put under pressure they make unessesary mistakes as proven countless times ... and how many of us actually enjoy watching it ? finally and most importantly how many times when we have kept possession and got into the final third of the pitch have we capitalised on it .... a MINUS 47 goals difference should give you a clue 

I agree to some extent, however the majority of the team that played possession football under Enzo are still around. Playing possession football in the Prem is different to playing in the Championship. 

 

I think if its Martin you may see Winks back in the fold(assuming the bridges aren't completely burnt),Maybe even Vestergaard, who were key in the promotion season. 

 

The big issue between the coming season and the Enzo season we had KDH, not sure who will be that player next year. Also despite his faults, Wilf was so key in the promotions season.

 

I'm resigned to it being RM, not happy, just resigned to the fact it seems to be happening.

[CockneyFox]

32 minutes ago, Sooper Steve's shin said:

We didn’t have a clue how Enzo would do when he joined as a relative nobody with no real managerial experience to speak of. He didn’t do too badly in getting us promoted as Champions (and I’m not having that was a PL squad after the sales and departures over that summer). Objectively, you have to say it was a fairly bold decision by the Club that paid off. 
 

Quite a few were concerned about how that style of play would hold up in the PL. We can’t answer that now as Enzo left and didn’t have the chance to shape the squad and work on us more over a summer. You can’t argue that he’s made the style work at Chelsea again though. 
 

We then had a dilemma of needing to find a manager compounded by PSR worries and a points deduction threat. The Club took what they probably reasonably thought was the lesser gamble - appointing a PL coach who’d kept a team in the division rather than taking a punt on somebody unproven to keep the style going. Maybe there just wasn’t the right man available at the time and we were forced to do it, but there was some thinking behind it. 
 

Then came Cooper’s sacking - a surprise from the outside, but we were (or were about to be) released from the points deduction threat and in a better position to get back to a more sophisticated football style. Cooper wasn’t helping himself and so I think that sacking him was the right decision. 
 

Ruud’s appointment was a sign we wanted to go in a different direction, back to a young and progressive manager with good coaching credentials. Again, not necessarily the worst idea (compared to the alternatives of trying to stick in another firefighter to keep us up). His failings were partly down to the inherited squad, partly to key injuries (esp. Hermansen and Fatawu), but probably mostly down to inexperience and learning on the job in one of the strongest leagues in the world. Ultimately, he was out of his depth and for someone with a known moody character, he probably felt aggrieved and ended up making a point with team selections rather than trying to change our fortunes. 
 

So, we face a new season in the Championship with a few priorities (assuming Ruud is a dead duck, which I think we can take as read):

- get a new manager in quickly to stabilise, get his message across, support recruitment and sales;

- get back to the possession style (whatever we think of it, that is the direction the Board want to go and, in their favour, it was largely successful with two of the last four managers winning trophies);

- get promoted (key factors are style and manager - you only have to look at the last few seasons to see that possession-based play is successful at that level (particularly for teams with a sprinkling of more technical PL level players) and Martin obviously comes into play as someone who knows how to get out of the league). 
 

Based on this, an out-of-work Russell Martin who plays close to the style the Club want, is free to start immediately, won’t require a compensation payout and has credentials of promotion looks like the most obvious of slam dunks. If we went for someone less proven (Rohl) or left field, the Board would be open to massive criticism if it went wrong and we’d be back to square one (or worse). 
 

Assuming that he does come in, the true test for both Club and manager will be whether they can break the mould and not only achieve promotion but sustain something by staying up. With the widening PL gap and the bottom half of PL clubs now benefitting from the massive advantage of sustained periods in the top league, it will be a challenge for any manager or style of play to do that. 

One of the most balanced and rational posts I’ve read on here in a long time 👍🏻

 

The Club and Board have fallen (well) short on many things in the past few years, but there is a lot of logic behind going for RM in our position.

[MrLuke]

If it is Martin, I can't say I'm utterly convinced by the appointment. There have been other people mentioned that I'd have preferred (Rohl, for example), but I'll be behind him if he is appointed.

 

Two things I'd be interested to hear from Saints/Swans fans - how was the fitness of the players and did there appear to be a good bond between him and the squad? Did they buy into his ideas or were they like us when Potter came in? Having a team with strong mentality and sense of togetherness is something I feel like we have lacked for years.

[MGLCFC]

8 minutes ago, Winstonthedog said:

looking at our squad I don't really see anyone that comfortable with the ball

Based on our last time in the Championship and the current squad, I'd say Winks, Vestergaard and Ricardo are all comfortable on the ball at this level, probably Skipp and BEK too