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.

When we went 1-0 up I was concerned that scratching a win against the bottom side would be Martin’s excuse to say the system he and his clown show are forcing on the team is working. But the opposite is true. How much longer has this car crash of a coaching crew got to go on? There are plenty of managers with top level experience not currently in work, British and European. SR need to recognise failure when it’s staring them in the face while there is still time to put things right.

Just watched the Martin interview. Blaming everyone, players and fans but taking no responsibility himself. Even the players who have left were blamed because of relegation. The squad has some very good players but Martin doesn’t allow them to play their natural game. He always knows better. Sports Republic need to recognise the serious mistake they made.

I’m so sick of Martin I didn’t think it could get worse but his press conference was awful. Talking about the ‘negative energy’ in the stadium while pretending he wasn’t blaming the fans when he was absolutely doing that. Also still harking back to Swansea, where he didn’t actually achieve anything. As far as I’m concerned, I wish they could take him back. Adam Blackmore asked a good question which Martin refused to answer. It was ‘How much longer?’

Please, please, stop allowing an incompetent manager ruin our club. Get rid asap to give a real manager time to repair the damage. Apart from a poor track record of mid table performance, the warning was there when he insisted on having his mates here as staff. Made sure there was no one to challenge his useless decisions. Maybe the result against Ipswich, who were two levels below us last year, will be enough for SR to take the obvious decision to sack Martin and his cronies.

Very pleased to see this thread. Serious error appointing Martin. Evidence for SR is so obvious. A couple of results scraped from last minute goals; incompetent defence shipping massively. Even against Gillingham FGS. This CAN’T go on. A manager who wants his mates working with him is one not prepared to risk being challenged. Waiting for another month before showing him the door will only make the job harder for his replacement. Not sure RH would come back but I’d snatch his hand off.

Try to understand the words “long term” before getting so excited.

Brilliant game at Lewes in late summer sunshine, in front of 1,000 fans. The Dripping Pan a wonderful ground in the heart of the South Downs. When The Rooks went one up, it was game on. Fabulous result for Saints to win 4-1. The team looks extremely well organised. Big game at St Mary’s next week against Blackburn. The only other side to get a win yesterday.

Others will disagree, but it's long been my opinion that Che is not as good as he thinks he is. That's not to say he's a poor player but I've never rated him as outstanding. We already have Dom Ballard as a long term replacement, and I would say, an upgrade, while in the short term there is the possibility the club could bring in Ross Stewart to boost the promotion push.

Not going to rush to judgement on Russell until he's been here a bit longer. A pal of mine suggested he's trying to get promotion for his old club by signing all their players. I pointed out that he's not in charge of recruitment and that one of our best additions looks like being Shea Charles from Man City. I was a little worried about how how he praised Adam Armstrong's excellent performance against Plymouth but appeared to take the credit for it himself. But I do approve of his possession game. Logic says the other team can't score if they don't have the ball but we have to score goals while we have it. We scored 4 against Norwich so we can do it. It's also true that not all of our players have been available. If we dominate against QPR and win by two clear goals or more, I will start to believe.