Russell Martin - Confirmed as First Team Manager

[GrobyLCFC31]

58 minutes ago, Chelmofox said:

Yeah, but as much as i dont have any complaints today i dont believe this at all. If he had the option to bring in 11 experienced players who would have more of a chance of getting promoted, he would take it. If the squad he had today was mid table by christmas, he wouldnt be 'relishing' improving them, he wouldbe demanding resources. Take it all with a pinch of salt.

Agreed re experience we need to bring in 2-3 experienced heads to guide them 

 

I’ll be really surprised if Aluko, Alves, Braybrooke and Page don’t get good minutes this season 

[Claudio Fannieri]

8 minutes ago, GrobyLCFC31 said:

Agreed re experience we need to bring in 2-3 experienced heads to guide them 

 

I’ll be really surprised if Aluko, Alves, Braybrooke and Page don’t get good minutes this season 

If the younger players are good enough they will earn their chance I have no doubt, if Martin has done any amount of due diligence he will know that many of the senior players we have relied on over the last 2 seasons have been absolute charlatans. He seems to have developed a decent rapport with the younger group and it seems they are enjoying working for him so will no doubt be more prepared to take on board his messaging and be prepared to run through a brick wall for him. 
 

What he needs to do is identify 3 or 4 senior players existing or new that he can trust and are fully invested to supplement the energy and talent of the academy lads plus a couple of 23-26 year old stand out players and he could get this club flying again. 

[Izzy]

1 hour ago, GrobyLCFC31 said:

Loved the bit in his interview where he spoke about the quality of the young players in his interview saying something along the lines of ‘because of where we find ourselves as a club they’ve all got a fantastic opportunity to work hard and get lots of games with us this season’ 

All I heard was behaviours, habits, process, behaviours, habits, process and I got distracted with him putting his hand through his hair 27 times.

[GrobyLCFC31]

2 minutes ago, Izzy said:

All I heard was behaviours, habits, process, behaviours, habits, process and I got distracted with him putting his hand through his hair 27 times.

I noticed that too!
 

Will he be strong enough to put his hand through his hair and hold the L1 and Vertu trophies at the same time in May? 🤔🦊 

[FoxTimmy2]

3 hours ago, Dan said:

If we sign Bazunu we won't make the top 6. He's abysmal. Like Ward bad.

If you look up his stats its shockingly bad, mindblowing stuff. Worst shot-stopper on record in the PL (xG-prevented), worst shot-stopper in every league he's played in, yep worse than Ward.

If Russell tries to bring him here there needs to be worse repercussions than when he got hounded out of Glasgow.

[Tommy Fresh]

31 minutes ago, GrobyLCFC31 said:

Marti didn’t have a track record of working with younger/academy players, RM does 

Regardless he still went on about it, I'm not saying he won't by the way, just lets see when the season starts. Hopefully he does

[Mike1983]

5 hours ago, Saints Fan In Peace said:

Bazunu converted from an outfield player to become a keeper quite late in his professional development, and it shows. He just doesn't move or hold himself like a proper goalkeeper does. Consistently out of position, very slow reactions and can't judge the flight of a ball to save his life. Fortunately, since we signed Peretz (who is exceptional for Championship level), it looks like his time with us is finally coming to an end. Given how many former Saints players seem to end up with you, and how much Martin seemed to like him, there was a lot of initial speculation that Martin might come in for him, but I wouldn't wish that on you. Derby were sniffing around a week or so ago so hopefully they take him, maybe in a two for the price of one deal with Brereton Diaz because he's shocking as well. 

 

That's interesting. I always saw him as an outfield player stuck in goal. Didn't he get injured before you lot got promoted to the Premier League? I vaguely remember that because I was gutted we didn't get to play you with Bazunu in goal.

 

Of all the ex-Saints rubbish we've signed, the prospect of Martin bringing Bazunu here is what frightens me the most, and we've had Danny f**king Ward.

[GrobyLCFC31]

11 minutes ago, Tommy Fresh said:

Regardless he still went on about it, I'm not saying he won't by the way, just lets see when the season starts. Hopefully he does

Yeah I don’t want a team of 11 academy lads, some aren’t ready for League 1 mens football 

But those that are shouldn’t be getting paths blocked by bang average checked out ‘pros’ like they were last season for the most part

 

Nelson blocked by Okoli/Vestegaard/Faes - Aluko blocked by VK for example 

[kingfox]

Just listened to his post match interview, glad he was questioned about the young talent in the group, and it was one of the more exciting reasons as to why he joined the club.

 

We’ve known for years about the talent coming through, they just need to be utilised in the right manner. Some may end up going out on loan for the season, Briggs has already been one, but if we can have a solid core of young talent, which is probably the most positive thing about the club atm, sign the right quality and leadership to help them, then the overall picture of the club might look a bit brighter.

 

Going to be an important few weeks, getting rid of the bad in Winks, Kristiansen, Okoli, Faes and Vestergaard especially, then hopefully we can look forward with a bit of positivity.

[Saints Fan In Peace]

1 hour ago, Mike1983 said:

Didn't he get injured before you lot got promoted to the Premier League? I vaguely remember that because I was gutted we didn't get to play you with Bazunu in goal.

Yeah he did. He got injured just before the play-offs and a lot of people still say that’s why we got promoted. 
 

Not just because the keeper who came in (McCarthy) was a far better shot stopper (which he was, despite having been third choice all season), but also because McCarthy was actually a lot *worse* with his feet than Bazunu, which meant we had no choice but to ditch the suicidal tippy tappy crap in our own box which had cost us so many soft goals all season, and instead just started clearing the lines and going more direct, something which Martin had previously refused ever to do. 

 

After it was forced on him we became much more defensively secure,  ended up grinding out a 1-0 victory in the play off final, and got promoted. 

Edited yesterday at 20:37 by Saints Fan In Peace

[LFC bear]

3 hours ago, GrobyLCFC31 said:

Loved the bit in his interview where he spoke about the quality of the young players in his interview saying something along the lines of ‘because of where we find ourselves as a club they’ve all got a fantastic opportunity to work hard and get lots of games with us this season’ 

 

That was one of the only things I had as a real positive of him coming in so hopefully the likes of Alves, Braybrooke, Page,Aluko, Otchere, Evans, Hutchinson, Wilson-Brown etc. all get good minutes and as a fan we can sit there and recognise our Leicester City team again! 

He's lying to you 

 

Russell Martin minutes given to academy players at Rangers:

Findlay Curtis: 228 minutes out of a possible 1620

Bailey Rice: 45 minutes out of a possible 1620

The rest: 0

[Ric Flair]

12 hours ago, GrobyLCFC31 said:

Marti didn’t have a track record of working with younger/academy players, RM does 

That's not true at all, Cifuentes had a very good record at Hammarby and to an extent at QPR of blooding academy players and young players in general.

[Rubbersoul]

Talk is cheap I know and I’m not expecting a full academy side but I did like his comments about the youngsters 

[DezFox]

On 08/07/2026 at 16:53, Corky said:

Their crap football philosophy and lazy approach has led to poor choices but, notwithstanding that, it also it allows the players to continually act unprofessionally without real consequence. It has to change at some point.

Unfortunately it’s going to get a lot worse before it changes. 

[dayday]

12 hours ago, Izzy said:

All I heard was behaviours, habits, process, behaviours, habits, process and I got distracted with him putting his hand through his hair 27 times.

Practicing for his up and coming head and shoulders advert 

[cityfanlee23]

So far i've seen some positive steps being taken under RM albeit there is not a lot to go on, he spoke well of the young players and made it clear they will be given opportunities if they want it enough, and his emphasis on the fact he has given them a "really tough 2 weeks, a lot of running, a lot of work and a lot of detail", it's been a while since we've had a squad I felt was physically fit enough to compete over 90, so hearing these sort of back to basics approaches of just getting us fit as a first pillar of squad building is good to hear. 
The talk about habits, intention, behaviours etc is obviously very cliché, but it's something we haven't had for multiple years now, when was the last time we had a group of players who had discipline, intention and worked hard for the badge? 
IF Russell Martin can deliver that sort of attitude then I'm fully behind that aspect of his management here. 

If rumours are true, the fact Southampton players asked for Russell Martin to return after Will Still was sacked it speaks volumes about the bond he built with the players, and in the absence of the club itself creating an environment that makes players want to run through brick walls, if RM can garner the same sort of respect we might just be able to turn a corner with or without the clown show upstairs. 

Edit: Don't get me wrong, every manager often rolls out the same cliches, however from what I've seen and heard, RM does demand standards, so I'm inclined to believe him a bit more, however it might just be desperation from me as it's been a while since we had a squad we actually liked, so the idea of us building a squad of players who are young, love the club and are willing to fight sounds like a dream and I want to believe it.

Edited 7 hours ago by cityfanlee23

[Reynaldo]

I’ve decided this season I’m not going to watch one single minute of manager interviews.  Interviews are bullshit and prove nothing.  If we’ve learned anything in the past 5 years is that’s it’s all bluster.  All I’m interested in is what happens on the pitch. 

[cropstonfox]

1 hour ago, Reynaldo said:

I’ve decided this season I’m not going to watch one single minute of manager interviews.  Interviews are bullshit and prove nothing.  If we’ve learned anything in the past 5 years is that’s it’s all bluster.  All I’m interested in is what happens on the pitch. 

Yes he's full of bullshit and bluster. 

If we are not in the top two or three by Christmas then he's a complete wander 

Andl we might as well appointed Andy King.

[Tommy G]

1 hour ago, Reynaldo said:

I’ve decided this season I’m not going to watch one single minute of manager interviews.  Interviews are bullshit and prove nothing.  If we’ve learned anything in the past 5 years is that’s it’s all bluster.  All I’m interested in is what happens on the pitch. 

That’ll show em 

[boosmanana]

2 minutes ago, cropstonfox said:

Yes he's full of bullshit and bluster. 

If we are not in the top two or three by Christmas then he's a complete wander 

Andl we might as well appointed Andy King.

You had a pleasant weekend?

[Dan]

1 hour ago, Reynaldo said:

I’ve decided this season I’m not going to watch one single minute of manager interviews.  Interviews are bullshit and prove nothing.  If we’ve learned anything in the past 5 years is that’s it’s all bluster.  All I’m interested in is what happens on the pitch. 

It's true. I do remember this sort of thing about Cifuentes as well and it turned out a load of rubbish.