Russell Martin - Confirmed as First Team Manager

[Chelmofox]

1 hour ago, CrazyKopCorner said:

Cullen, Burns and McCarthy - These 3 and McCarthy have been chronic 

 

They do feel like jobs for the boys - One last pay day when they should retire 

Cullen and Burns have been benched, and in Cullen's case dropped. He then scored on his return.  I dont feel there is favouritism there at all. Both are players that have not been with us a long time and are getting up to speed. I've criticised Burns, but i do expect his output to improve and that not going to happen if he doesnt play at all.

 

There is no alternative to McCarthy. Our no 2(or 3?) couldn't make the Blackpool Squad. 

Edited Tuesday at 10:51 by Chelmofox

[Happy Fox]

Not convinced by him in all honesty, we need to go on a significant winning run, lose or draw on Saturday and he is on thin ice.

[dmayne7]

1 hour ago, AKCJ said:

Can hardly call him responsible for giving Vestergaard a 3 year deal given he wasn't our manager at the time

 

All he's responsible for with regards to Vestergaard was that he made him look like a very competent centre back. Something no other Leicester manager managed to do.

 

I don't think he can be blamed for the bad culture in terms of leadership here either. There's clearly a very poor structure in terms of captaincy here and that stems from the top IMO. Ultimately he was paid to win games for us. If he thought that Hamza being captain meant that was more likely then who are we to judge. The team he manages has just spent £120m on a racist. Does it make him morally right? Probably not. Does it make him a bad manager? Probably not.

 

 

I seriously disagree that managing Leicester City is an easy job. Every manager since Rogers has proven that it clearly isn't.

If you're being ultra simplistic re Vestergaard, then you're correct. If you're applying a little more thinking to it, he was 100% responsible. That's been confirmed multiple times since.

 

He did some good stuff culturally but other things were poor; just look at how some of his signings (because they were his) behaved when he left. Comparing the Hamza scenario to Enzo is nonsensical. Man City have a structure that manager's work to, so his input will be limited until he's earned the right to have more control ala Pep. I think anyone with a moral compass/decent standards has the right to judge him for giving Hamza the armband the very next game. It's not like he did that 6 months down the line, it was literally the next match. Rodgers was a spineless little toad but even he binned off the players for the COVID party, at a time when we needed them more than ever. The fact he did that for a player who was very replaceable is embarrassing and reflects badly on him.

 

The squad is completely different from the one he had, and despite selling players, he still got £50m to spend and the largest wage bill that league has ever seen. So yes, it was an easy job. It doesn't mean he didn't do a good job but it's farcical to suggest it wasn't easy. If you compare it in relative terms, it dwarfed what Man City or Arsenal have compared to other rivals.

 

I think he's a good manager, but some people make out as though he's on the level of Pep or Klopp. Long way to go for that.

[moore_94]

1 hour ago, BrilliantFox said:

None of that will translate because Southampton didn't have war criminal Luke Thomas starting for them 

They did have Bazunu though who is genuinely Danny Ward levels haha

[AKCJ]

1 hour ago, dmayne7 said:

If you're being ultra simplistic re Vestergaard, then you're correct. If you're applying a little more thinking to it, he was 100% responsible. That's been confirmed multiple times since.

 

He did some good stuff culturally but other things were poor; just look at how some of his signings (because they were his) behaved when he left. Comparing the Hamza scenario to Enzo is nonsensical. Man City have a structure that manager's work to, so his input will be limited until he's earned the right to have more control ala Pep. I think anyone with a moral compass/decent standards has the right to judge him for giving Hamza the armband the very next game. It's not like he did that 6 months down the line, it was literally the next match. Rodgers was a spineless little toad but even he binned off the players for the COVID party, at a time when we needed them more than ever. The fact he did that for a player who was very replaceable is embarrassing and reflects badly on him.

 

The squad is completely different from the one he had, and despite selling players, he still got £50m to spend and the largest wage bill that league has ever seen. So yes, it was an easy job. It doesn't mean he didn't do a good job but it's farcical to suggest it wasn't easy. If you compare it in relative terms, it dwarfed what Man City or Arsenal have compared to other rivals.

 

I think he's a good manager, but some people make out as though he's on the level of Pep or Klopp. Long way to go for that.

I think you're being seriously naive in terms of the decision making structure at Leicester. Everything goes past the little man and if it doesn't then it's because Rudkin has approved it. Vestergaard was given his improved deal because of his performances under Enzo in the Championship. Enzo has little to no say in that. If it was an Enzo back decision then obviously it wouldn't have happened because he was off to Chelsea, unless you believe that happened overnight?

 

 

It's farcical to suggest that winning the title under Aiyawatt and Rudkin is an easy job. Sorry but it's just not. Plenty of good teams have come down and failed to get back up. I'd argue the Leeds team was far better and they finished way behind us and Farke didn't have the shambles going on behind the scenes that Enzo had to contend with.

 

 

Nobody is putting him on the level of Pep or Klopp btw. No reason he can't get there though.

Edited Tuesday at 12:14 by AKCJ

[Big_Nige]

2 hours ago, moore_94 said:

Not sure whether he actually tweaked anything or whether everything was just working so well but the defensive record over that 25 game unbeaten run in that season was very good

 

25 games

56 goals scored

17 goals conceded

11 clean sheets

Looks like Taylor Harwood-Bellis arrived. He made his debut against us and got hammered. Followed by a couple of narrow defeats against Ipswich and Middlesbrough before the 25 game unbeaten run. 
 

Perhaps there were tactical tweaks too, but on the face of it he got a player who suits Martin’s way of playing. Perhaps O’Horo and Kangasniemi will do the same of us, but for me we don’t defend well as a team. 

We can all talk about Luke Thomas and his defensive deficiencies all day long, but when you re-watch that Stockport first goal he’s isolated within two passes. We don’t defend as a unit, that ball should not get to their winger that easily. Page and Braybrooke are both beyond the ball when we’re battling for a 50/50 from a Souttar long ball. Lundstrom is on his own with half a pitch around him. I’m not criticising Page or Braybrooke there but tactically playing with 2 very high 8’s is risky unless we have complete control of the football. Souttar, Thomas and some of the other cloggers we’ve seen this season like Okoli and Skipp are not good enough on the ball to be able to take that risk. You lose the ball cheaply, you can’t get back in shape, you get punished. Even at this poxy level
 

That’s where Martin is too inflexible for me. There’s nothing wrong about having a preferred way of playing, but, you need to adapt depending on the players you have available. 

[moore_94]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2026/09/17/leicester-city-promotion-roadmap-90-points-russell-martin/
 

Leicester are convinced they are heading in the right direction after two consecutive relegations, and are convinced that Martin is the manager to lead that revival.

 

Individuals who have been a problem for some time have left. A family barbecue was held at Leicester’s training base last Sunday and there is a sense of togetherness that will not fit the outside perception of a club in chaos.

 

Leicester are fully supportive of Martin and were always expecting lots of noise after his excruciating 17-game tenure with Rangers. None would pretend that was a happy period, but for the profile of manager the club felt they needed – playing style and experience – Martin was a very good fit.

 

Promotion and a points target of 90 are the goals that have been set, and there is a clear roadmap in place to achieve it.

[Ryy]

For those that wanna read it https://archive.is/20260917070554/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2026/09/17/leicester-city-promotion-roadmap-90-points-russell-martin/

[winteriscoming]

There is zero chance of getting 90 points with him in charge. 
We will continue to concede too many goals. 
I’d be surprised if we got to 80 points with him. 
 

[AjcW]

2.25 points a game to achieve that target  “convinced” 

[AjcW]

Sit down chat with Tony basically. Shows they’re annoyed by all the noise from talk sport etc. 

[teblin]

We are on course for 61 points at the minute i think. They a clinging to the hope that he has a Southampton style run, like they did in the Championship.

 

I don't want him to fail, it would be best for everyone if he turns into a success here.

Edited yesterday at 07:35 by teblin

[Tommy G]

19 minutes ago, Ryy said:

For those that wanna read it https://archive.is/20260917070554/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2026/09/17/leicester-city-promotion-roadmap-90-points-russell-martin/

A much more balanced article and a decent read.

[Sol thewall Bamba]

Client journalism for Anthony.

[Pliskin]

90 points would be a failure in my opinion…. Anything under 100 in my opinion would be unacceptable. 

[Happy Fox]

1 hour ago, Pliskin said:

90 points would be a failure in my opinion…. Anything under 100 in my opinion would be unacceptable. 

We won’t get automatic promotion with 90 points are they f**king daft? The answer to that is yes they are! 
 

 

[AKCJ]

Not convinced he's the right man at all but my eyebrows were raised that we didn't defend in a 4-2-3-1 last weekend.

 

Having a philosophy of wanting to retain possession, build from the back and control the tempo of games doesn't mean we just play the same way each week.

 

If he can show that he's willing to adapt his tactics to suit his philosophy then i'm much more comfortable in him staying because he didn't show that at Ranger or Southampton. Enzo would make constant tweaks to his team but ultimately played with the same idea. Hoping Martin can prove he's willing to do the same.

[LCFCCKEANO]

Not necessarily a phone of his stubborn tactics but having said that thought we adjusted for Saturday and it was a very different set up. Also do think that the players seem fitter and more willing to scrap, which I think is more than can be said for anything bar Enzo since the FA Cup. 
 

Wouldn’t lose sleep if we sacked him but there are some signs of continued improvement if you remove the Oxford shambles. Just whether Oxford was the outlier or that will become a pattern of inconsistency, think Barnsley this weekend tells us a lot

[Iwebema]

Its a well balanced article. I think theres elements to it which are essentially calling for calm considering the overhaul. For what its worth I have heard from people who work at Seagrave that Martin has done alot of good work on the culture.

But ultimately it doesnt matter if the results and performances dont improve and become consistent, considering he has actually been allowed to build a team and 90% of the bad eggs are gone, he needs to get it right quickly.

[FrankieADZ]

5 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

Not convinced he's the right man at all but my eyebrows were raised that we didn't defend in a 4-2-3-1 last weekend.

 

Having a philosophy of wanting to retain possession, build from the back and control the tempo of games doesn't mean we just play the same way each week.

 

If he can show that he's willing to adapt his tactics to suit his philosophy then i'm much more comfortable in him staying because he didn't show that at Ranger or Southampton. Enzo would make constant tweaks to his team but ultimately played with the same idea. Hoping Martin can prove he's willing to do the same.

tbf we've been playing more of a 4-1-4-1 formation with RM

and against Stockport, when defending it looks to me anyway we was more of a back 5(alves then going to a left wing back sort of thing)

im with you tho, if hes willing to adapt things when they are needed then he will actually get somewhere

[AKCJ]

3 minutes ago, LCFCCKEANO said:

Not necessarily a phone of his stubborn tactics but having said that thought we adjusted for Saturday and it was a very different set up. Also do think that the players seem fitter and more willing to scrap, which I think is more than can be said for anything bar Enzo since the FA Cup. 
 

Wouldn’t lose sleep if we sacked him but there are some signs of continued improvement if you remove the Oxford shambles. Just whether Oxford was the outlier or that will become a pattern of inconsistency, think Barnsley this weekend tells us a lot

We haven't played well over 90 minutes and comfortably won a game yet. He'll need to do that before we get too far ahead of ourselves.

 

Said the same things with Cifuentes before we realised just how crap he actually was and that we'd wasted 20 games or whatever it was.

 

Martin needs to have a comfortable win in the next two league games before we start to get anywhere IMO.

[coolhandfox]

1 hour ago, AKCJ said:

We haven't played well over 90 minutes and comfortably won a game yet. He'll need to do that before we get too far ahead of ourselves.

 

Said the same things with Cifuentes before we realised just how crap he actually was and that we'd wasted 20 games or whatever it was.

 

Martin needs to have a comfortable win in the next two league games before we start to get anywhere IMO.

But still better than Rowett, like Cooper was better than RVN.

 

Can't help but think flipping managers change little until the ownership changes.

[AKCJ]

9 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

But still better than Rowett, like Cooper was better than RVN.

 

Can't help but think flipping managers change little until the ownership changes.

I know, i'm just saying that while Cifuentes actually had a philosophy (unlike Ruud, Cooper and Rowett), he never changed his tactics which either made us easy to play against full stop or easy to mitigate against mid-game which meant we never got a 90 minute performance from him.

[StinckleyFox]

2 hours ago, Happy Fox said:

We won’t get automatic promotion with 90 points are they f**king daft? The answer to that is yes they are! 
 

 

Last 3 seasons only 2 teams each season reached 90 points and in every season both were promoted automatically. 
 

It might be you that’s daft?

[HankMarvin]

2 hours ago, Iwebema said:

For what its worth I have heard from people who work at Seagrave that Martin has done alot of good work on the culture.

It’s also easier to do with a younger squad and having 18 new faces.