Professor

Do we think it's true that Russell Martin would have been sacked if we had lost Everton? With Everton having a shot that hit the bar in the final minutes as well as having a goal ruled out by VAR in that narrow offside decision, the win was largely down to luck. Ta takes nothing away from Arma's brilliant strike but even with that, we could easily have lost by 2 goals to 1. For us to get the 3 points with a slice of luck is one thing. Luck plays a part in many games. But for Martin to keep his job due to luck is quite different. If they were going to sack him for a defeat, I can't really see why a lucky win should save his job. With a run of matches against top half teams coming up we're going to be well off the pace before Christmas unless SR appoint a manager with the relevant experience for the Premier League. Martin's CV isn't for this level f football.

I suspect that Dean Thornton (the goalkeeping Coach) will already have had some serious discussions with AM about Saturday's error. Immediately looking for a replacement GK would be a knee-jerk reaction, although having said that, if Lis has gone back on loan, it seems unlikely we will go into the season with just two first team keepers .

Agree. Also enjoyed seeing George Kirby remembered. One of my early heroes for Saints as they rapidly climbed from Div 3 through to Div 1.

just because the rules allow managers to substitute half the team doesn't mean they should. There seems to be an obsession with making second half changes, as if to justify the manager's job. Unless there is a good reason to make a change, such as a player is affected by an injury or is performing below expectations, there's a strong case for leaving an unchanged team on the pitch for the whole game.

In his post match comments, Martin said we should have won 3-0. That's not really honest, as it ignores the fact that 'Boro were unlucky not to score earlier in the second half with a shot that hit the post. Their equaliser was a well worked goal with the ball lofted over the defenders in the box to an unmarked player on the far side of the penalty area. I'd prefer the manager to be honest with us fans instead of making comments that just like excuses. On paper, we have a strong group of players for this division, which does look likely to have us in the Play-offs, even if we drop more points in the tough games ahead. I'm not sure we're ready for promotion.

Jo Tessem is excellent as far as I’m concerned. In my opinion, he and Adam make a good partnership.

Agree no fault of the players who are following Martin’s self-serving instructions. He’s more interested in a reputation for possession football than allowing his players the freedom to show their technical quality. Too often playing back into their own half to keep the ball instead of playing forward to the strikers.

It's tempting to hope for a Leicester win so that we stay in second place but it would be a precarious position with 18 games still to play. A win for Ipswich, cancelling out our result at Swansea, would be disappointing but in my opinion, a draw would suit us best because both clubs would lose 2 points.

The Championship is more like proper footbal. The prize on winning should be the right to refuse promotion. Ii#s ironic, watching players of the team that wins the Play-off Final celebrate at the end of the match yet only a few of them are likely to play for the club in the followimg season.

Disappointed to see that support for Martin is still higher than I would expect and higher, IMO, than he deserves. Russball proved to be futile at his previous club but SR are allowing Martin’s coaching style to waste our best chance of quick promotion pass us by. The way Martin speaks collectively about the staff he brought with him from Swansea shows there is no space for internal criticism of his methods. He has a squad full of quality players but refuses to allow them to play to the best of their ability. There is still time to bring in a proper manager. Maybe it will take two more bad results. Last thing I want to see, but if that’s what it takes for SR to see the error they have made, it could be the saving of the season.

I'd go further and say we DO have enough to get into the play-offs BUT not playing the way Martin is imposing on the team. We have quality players who know how to play at this level and above. Two or three may well be snapped up by Premier League clubs in January. A home draw with the second to bottom team should be a wake-up call for Jason. The owners now have a two-week break in which to rescue our club from joining Rotherham in a relegation struggle. Think I'm joking? 7 points from the last 21 says otherwise.

If, if, if……

When Swansea get above us in the table will it dawn on anyone that we’ve got the wrong end of a bad deal?

Oddly, the win over Stoke has reduced my confidence in RM. The team, plus subs, that he praised did enough to earn a 0-0 away draw. Not promotion form. The win was down to a moment of skill by Stu Armstrong, not due to the team, the tactics, bravery or any of RM’s word salads. We have a squad packed with talented players who are easily capable of winning games in this league. All RM needs to do is pick the best eleven available

The achievement was the clean sheet, at long last. Using five substitutions to do this was OK given the short time since the previous match on Saturday. But because the result was entirely down to Stu Armstrong’s exceptional free kick, the team as a whole can’t take credit for the win and neither can the manager. They did enough for an away draw, nothing more. No credit for Martin’s “system”, whatever that is. It was Armstrong’s win. We desperately needed a second goal after the halftime break but never really looked like getting one. For Martin to make 5 substitutions but not bring on our international striker was against common sense.