Russell Martin

[Miltonaggro]

5 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

Our style of play is fucking ridiculous.  We are far too slow, predictable and easy to play against.  It is also boring as shit too watch.

To stick with it is absolute madness.  To want to stick with it is a point of view that I just can’t comprehend.  

Think that the only people who want to stick with it are Russell Martin and Lucy, the Sport Republic brains trust, and the half dozen fluffers they've planted on here.

Edited 23 November, 2024 by Miltonaggro

[Disco Stu]

18 minutes ago, bugenhagen said:

I'll have a go here and claim that I am in my right mind 😉

I actually think Martin wants better tempo and quicker transition, but the problem is a combination of the players we have not being good enough and fit enough, and Martin not being up to the task to coach it in to them at this level.

So my answer is yes, I think Martin wants to do that, but no, I don't think he will be able to achieve it.

It must go beyond an incapability to coach in that case. The players must be totally ignoring his instructions, given how much we ponderously pass the ball around our defense.

[Turkish]

Anyone see spurs second goal? Pep’s teams concede goals like we do. Russball is getting it right. We are very much like city 

[Saint_clark]

Just now, Turkish said:

Anyone see spurs second goal? Pep’s teams concede goals like we do. Russball is getting it right. We are very much like city 

All set for Russell to replace him when we get promoted through the playoffs again next season. 

[Turkish]

3 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

All set for Russell to replace him when we get promoted through the playoffs again next season. 

It’s the perfect fit. 

[Lord Duckhunter]

I cast my mind back to Peligrino, he was capable of pulling results out the bag when it looked like one more defeat and he’d be gone. Same with Ralph when he was struggling & under pressure, he’d pull off a good result & run of form. Not this chump, without a doubt we’ll get beat tomorrow , no bother. We’ll also get beat in the exact same way we’ve got beat all season. It’s ridiculous, you don’t need to be mystic Meg to see what’s coming….

[Dark Munster]

6 hours ago, saints-til-i-die said:

Sport Republic (Dragon) has invested a lot. If it wasn’t for him, I dread to think how much worse things could be. He deserves respect. The other people running the show… jury’s out 

Not really. The jury returned sometime ago to give their verdict: Rasmus and his motley crew of SR muppets are guilty on all counts of the crimes of being frauds who know the square root of f*ck all about running a football club (yet alone three, FFS), and of squandering hundreds of millions of Dragan's money.

[aintforever]

1 hour ago, badgerx16 said:

IMO we will not, and I have outlined my reasons before on the forum. We will go down as the worst of the three relegated sides, by quite a stretch,  even more so than we were 2 seasons ago, and the other 2 that come down with us will be short odds favourites for the top 2 spots, disregarding other 'big' sides who also have PL ambitions - Leeds, Middleborough, Norwish, etc, ( depending on who makes it up this season ), who we will be competing with for the playoffs. I think we will have more or less a re-run of 2 seasons ago, but will this time fall short. Whilst I was delighted that we won at Wembley, I think overall Leeds were a little unlucky.

If Russ remains at Saints then this scenario only becomes all the more likely.

I disagree, I think we may be better placed this time. We have a large squad and probably only Ramsdale, Dibly, THB and Fernandes would be wanted by a Prem club. The club have shown they have the resources to invest, there is no reason why, with the right manager, we can’t bounce straight back up.

[Lord Duckhunter]

2 minutes ago, aintforever said:

 We have a large squad and probably only Ramsdale, Dibly, THB and Fernandes would be wanted by a Prem club. 

No premier league would want KWP 😂😂

[aintforever]

9 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

No premier league would want KWP 😂😂

Yeah he would go, forgot about him. Hilarious.

[Midfield_General]

New piece from Jonathan Wilson in the Guardian: 

Southampton are doomed but it’s clear why Russell Martin will not change

’Few managers are idealists but the truth for the man in charge at St Mary’s is that his players aren’t good enough to stay up.’ 

‘The routine has become familiar. Southampton play their goal-kicks short. They pass the ball neatly. They have a lot of possession; 56.6% – only three teams in the Premier League are averaging more. They don’t take their chances – no side have hit a lower percentage of shots on target this season. Somebody makes a mistake – perhaps one of their players, perhaps the referee – they concede and the game is lost. Their manager, Russell Martin, looking ruggedly masculine but in touch with his feelings, then speaks sadly and patiently about his belief in playing football the right way. Then everybody else weighs in.’

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2024/nov/23/southampton-are-doomed-but-its-clear-why-russell-martin-will-not-change

Edited 23 November, 2024 by Midfield_General

[Mr X]

Sports republic are very naive if they think their grande plan with Russell Martin is going to end well 

[Turkish]

19 minutes ago, Mr X said:

Sports republic are very naive if they think their grande plan with Russell Martin is going to end well 

Why? Their grand plan is to be a player trading company. If we make a significant profit on Fernandes, THB and Dibling (which will be pure profit) this summer they’ve succeeded. You’re probably looking at £100-£120m in sales there and c£50-70m profit.  Get our Crown Jewels doing well in a style of a top team then sell them, bollocks to how the actual team does, that’s pretty irrelevant

Edited 23 November, 2024 by Turkish

[SWLondon Saint]

18 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Why? Their grand plan is to be a player trading company. If we make a significant profit on Fernandes, THB and Dibling (which will be pure profit) this summer they’ve succeeded. You’re probably looking at £100-£120m in sales there and c£50-70m profit.  Get our Crown Jewels doing well in a style of a top team then sell them, bollocks to how the actual team does, that’s pretty irrelevant.

Well that could be the idea but... The cost of relegation in terms of TV revenue is around £50 million in the first year with parachute payments so that wipes out all the money you made. Doesn't make sense at all. Much more sensible to be a stable  mid table Prem club and do the same player trading thing. ie Brighton here, or the RB clubs in Europe.

[Turkish]

9 minutes ago, SWLondon Saint said:

Well that could be the idea but... The cost of relegation in terms of TV revenue is around £50 million in the first year with parachute payments so that wipes out all the money you made. Doesn't make sense at all. Much more sensible to be a stable  mid table Prem club and do the same player trading thing. ie Brighton here, or the RB clubs in Europe.

They’ve said it themselves, we are a player trading club. Obviously relegation doesn’t make sense financially for any club but nether does spending 100s of millions to go between finishing 17th or 11th, the financial impact is not that significant but the cost is considerably higher. I’d suggest the aim is as I say, try and stay on the league h but also make big profits on player sales

[Saint Fan CaM]

3 hours ago, Turkish said:

Anyone see spurs second goal? Pep’s teams concede goals like we do. Russball is getting it right. We are very much like city 

Not sure if you’re saying that entirely in jest. As I watched the game I’m thinking - the betters teams have worked out how to beat City and City are making more mistakes trying to play out from the back. Saints may be trying to be City lite, but City are showing that the system…Russball if you like…can be beaten even when you’ve got the BEST players in the league.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

1 hour ago, Midfield_General said:

New piece from Jonathan Wilson in the Guardian: 

Southampton are doomed but it’s clear why Russell Martin will not change

’Few managers are idealists but the truth for the man in charge at St Mary’s is that his players aren’t good enough to stay up.’ 

‘The routine has become familiar. Southampton play their goal-kicks short. They pass the ball neatly. They have a lot of possession; 56.6% – only three teams in the Premier League are averaging more. They don’t take their chances – no side have hit a lower percentage of shots on target this season. Somebody makes a mistake – perhaps one of their players, perhaps the referee – they concede and the game is lost. Their manager, Russell Martin, looking ruggedly masculine but in touch with his feelings, then speaks sadly and patiently about his belief in playing football the right way. Then everybody else weighs in.’

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2024/nov/23/southampton-are-doomed-but-its-clear-why-russell-martin-will-not-change

Main Martin objective achieved then. 🙂

[Whitey Grandad]

15 minutes ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

Not sure if you’re saying that entirely in jest. As I watched the game I’m thinking - the betters teams have worked out how to beat City and City are making more mistakes trying to play out from the back. Saints may be trying to be City lite, but City are showing that the system…Russball if you like…can be beaten even when you’ve got the BEST players in the league.

Yeah. It’s a crap system.

[badgerx16]

3 hours ago, aintforever said:

I disagree, I think we may be better placed this time. We have a large squad and probably only Ramsdale, Dibly, THB and Fernandes would be wanted by a Prem club. The club have shown they have the resources to invest, there is no reason why, with the right manager, we can’t bounce straight back up.

Will our squad be stronger than the other 2 relegated sides ? We will at best be the third best playing group, and probably not much better than, for instance, the three unsuccessful sides that reach this season's playoffs.

Of the last 30 teams relegated from the Premier League to the Championship, only 11 have gone straight back up, and only 2 of those that finiahed bottom of the PL. History and statistics say we will not get back up at the first opportunity.

[Turkish]

55 minutes ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

Not sure if you’re saying that entirely in jest. As I watched the game I’m thinking - the betters teams have worked out how to beat City and City are making more mistakes trying to play out from the back. Saints may be trying to be City lite, but City are showing that the system…Russball if you like…can be beaten even when you’ve got the BEST players in the league.

City have played like it for years it’s not like the penny had just dropped that suddenly this is how to beat them. They’re doing it badly at the moment but have done it brilliantly For five years with some of the best players in the world and the worlds best coach. We’re doing it badly with a bloke whose biggest achievement before coming here was 10th the championship with Swansea 

[Saint Fan CaM]

35 minutes ago, Turkish said:

City have played like it for years it’s not like the penny had just dropped that suddenly this is how to beat them. They’re doing it badly at the moment but have done it brilliantly For five years with some of the best players in the world and the worlds best coach. We’re doing it badly with a bloke whose biggest achievement before coming here was 10th the championship with Swansea 

Well that’s the point - City have some great players who know the system better most. It’s the (better) opposing teams who are able to influence City to make those mistakes. It’s no coincidence that the mistakes look so much like the type our players make, even on a good day!

[benjii]

4 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Yeah. It’s a crap system.

Yeah, City will never win anything playing like that!

[Greenridge]

3 hours ago, benjii said:

Yeah, City will never win anything playing like that!

Just waiting for the first SS reporter to ask Pep if he believes he still has the support of the owners and whether he should resign. 

[CB Fry]

Who's looking forward to next season on here, where a two nil win at home to Coventry in September will be taken as proof that Russell Martin's methods are totally correct and here he is proving all the doubters wrong.

Edited 24 November, 2024 by CB Fry

[Whitey Grandad]

4 hours ago, benjii said:

Yeah, City will never win anything playing like that!

They have been winning despite it.

[AlexLaw76]

If Martin stays, I predict that there will be that much scar tissue, he will do well to keep us above 16th for the first 3 months....

And many saints fans will still suggest he is working with nothing

[Toussaint]

1 hour ago, Greenridge said:

Just waiting for the first SS reporter to ask Pep if he believes he still has the support of the owners and whether he should resign. 

He’ll probably get the flick before Martin does.

[Whitey Grandad]

4 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

If Martin stays, I predict that there will be that much scar tissue, he will do well to keep us above 16th for the first 3 months....

And many saints fans will still suggest he is working with nothing

It’s a depressing thought that Martin might still be in charge next season in the Championship.

"If I hadn't seen such riches, I could live with being poor"

[Whitey Grandad]

Just now, Toussaint said:

He’ll probably get the flick before Martin does.

CHDAJFU ?

[Toussaint]

All those above and beyond who are talking about Martin managing us in the championship. I am 100% that he will drop us like a hot potato when we get relegated. His entire mission is “brand” Russell Martin, he will think he is destined for much better things.

as for the Guadian, report, 

 Russell Martin, looking ruggedly masculine but in touch with his feelings, then speaks sadly and patiently about his belief in playing football the right way. 

he is pretty much calling him out as a phoney. 

[Toussaint]

4 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

CHDAJFU ?

Well the meetings with Rasmus would be very entertaining!

[CB Fry]

2 minutes ago, Toussaint said:

I am 100% that he will drop us like a hot potato when we get relegated. 

To do what or go where?

In your reply please do not mention Vincent Kompany.

[Toussaint]

6 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

To do what or go where?

In your reply please do not mention Vincent Kompany.

There are plenty more Rasmus’s around and about in these days.

[InvictaSaint]

10 minutes ago, Toussaint said:

All those above and beyond who are talking about Martin managing us in the championship. I am 100% that he will drop us like a hot potato when we get relegated. His entire mission is “brand” Russell Martin, he will think he is destined for much better things.

as for the Guadian, report, 

 Russell Martin, looking ruggedly masculine but in touch with his feelings, then speaks sadly and patiently about his belief in playing football the right way. 

he is pretty much calling him out as a phoney. 

He really isn’t. You need to read the whole article a little more closely and carefully. Not saying I agree with RM being what we need. But to suggest that Wilson is calling him out as a phoney is simply not true. 

[obelisk]

11 hours ago, Midfield_General said:

New piece from Jonathan Wilson in the Guardian: 

Southampton are doomed but it’s clear why Russell Martin will not change

’Few managers are idealists but the truth for the man in charge at St Mary’s is that his players aren’t good enough to stay up.’ 

‘The routine has become familiar. Southampton play their goal-kicks short. They pass the ball neatly. They have a lot of possession; 56.6% – only three teams in the Premier League are averaging more. They don’t take their chances – no side have hit a lower percentage of shots on target this season. Somebody makes a mistake – perhaps one of their players, perhaps the referee – they concede and the game is lost. Their manager, Russell Martin, looking ruggedly masculine but in touch with his feelings, then speaks sadly and patiently about his belief in playing football the right way. Then everybody else weighs in.’

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2024/nov/23/southampton-are-doomed-but-its-clear-why-russell-martin-will-not-change

The Russell ego will be delighted to be the subject of so many articles.

[CB Fry]

8 minutes ago, Toussaint said:

There are plenty more Rasmus’s around and about in these days.

Which one is going to offer Russell Martin a significantly better profile and better salary than he is getting from us?

[trousers]

16 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

he’ll get deservedly hounded out. If it wasn’t for our high % of nods we’d be at that stage already

If only all those that are good at 'hounding him out' from behind their keyboards also gave it a try at the stadium...

Edited 24 November, 2024 by trousers

[Gloucester Saint]

26 minutes ago, trousers said:

If only all those that are good at 'hounding him out' from behind their keyboards also gave it a try at the stadium...

Fair point Trousers, but those of us that tried with Pellegrino got tumbleweed. Our fanbase is totally different to the Branfoot and Lowe years. Very obedient, and those who once had a bit of go and ambition in them have had it knocked out by two successive record low PL points totals and gutless displays. Hardly surprising the fans are lacking in any backbone to show Martin, Rasmus and SR the door like we did with Branfoot and later on Rupert.

Yet the football itself is worse now than it was under Branfoot and Nathan Jones. There was a bit more hostility towards Jones like the old days but for whatever reason, the fans don’t have the bottle to challenge Martin in sufficient numbers, so he can pick off individual fans as hecklers. Not just Martin though, go for SR’s throat. Albania flags on the Northam Wall, banners about Rasmus. Stuff that will get into the mainstream media and disrupt Russell and Rasmus’s vanity project. Drive a wedge within SR itself as well.

They won’t do any of that though, and most are just understandably too tired fighting an arrogant, inept institution they used to revere and find other ways to enjoy their weekends as I have.

Edited 24 November, 2024 by Gloucester Saint

[Midfield_General]

1 hour ago, CB Fry said:

To do what or go where?

In your reply please do not mention Vincent Kompany.

It’s an interesting question. 

Putting aside the idea of him being in a position to drop us because he got a better offer (which seems extremely unlikely), if we sacked him tomorrow, what would his next job be? I can’t see any other Prem club who had just sacked a manager thinking he’s the answer.

It would be back to a Championship club with promotion aspirations, surely? Maybe one with a currently decent manager at that level who might get poached and need replacing. A Middlesbrough, West Brom or Blackburn. 

Basically where he was when he left Swansea, with an additional positive on his CV of having achieved a promotion to the PL, but that being counteracted by an additional negative of having been shown to be completely out of his depth when he got there. 

Edited 24 November, 2024 by Midfield_General

[Toussaint]

6 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

It’s an interesting question. 

Putting aside the idea of him being in a position to drop us because he got a better offer (which seems extremely unlikely), if we sacked him tomorrow, what would his next job be? I can’t see any other Prem club who had just sacked a manager thinking he’s the answer.

It would be back to a Championship club with promotion aspirations, surely? Maybe one with a currently decent manager at that level who might get poached and need replacing. A Middlesbrough, West Brom or Blackburn. 

Basically where he was when he left Swansea, with an additional positive on CV of having achieved a promotion to the PL, but that being cancelled out by an additional negative of being completely out of his depth when he got there. 

Unless, as seemingly quite a popularly held view, the quality of the players are the issue, not Martin, and with greater resources he could do well?
 

Ps not my view. 

[Gloucester Saint]

15 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

It’s an interesting question. 

Putting aside the idea of him being in a position to drop us because he got a better offer (which seems extremely unlikely), if we sacked him tomorrow, what would his next job be? I can’t see any other Prem club who had just sacked a manager thinking he’s the answer.

It would be back to a Championship club with promotion aspirations, surely? Maybe one with a currently decent manager at that level who might get poached and need replacing. A Middlesbrough, West Brom or Blackburn. 

Basically where he was when he left Swansea, with an additional positive on his CV of having achieved a promotion to the PL, but that being counteracted by an additional negative of having been shown to be completely out of his depth when he got there. 

He could be hired with a large bonus for promotion and then bin him off if you do get up. He’s only got one promotion though, it hardly makes him on a par with Warnock, McCarthy, Big Sam, Pulis Mowbray etc. He’s miles off the level they were.

Edited 24 November, 2024 by Gloucester Saint

[Oldandtired]

43 minutes ago, trousers said:

If only all those that are good at 'hounding him out' from behind their keyboards also gave it a try at the stadium...

At the very worst we’d only have 4 less points…

[Lord Duckhunter]

12 hours ago, Midfield_General said:

New piece from Jonathan Wilson in the Guardian: 

Southampton are doomed but it’s clear why Russell Martin will not change

’Few managers are idealists but the truth for the man in charge at St Mary’s is that his players aren’t good enough to stay up.’ 

‘The routine has become familiar. Southampton play their goal-kicks short. They pass the ball neatly. They have a lot of possession; 56.6% – only three teams in the Premier League are averaging more. They don’t take their chances – no side have hit a lower percentage of shots on target this season. Somebody makes a mistake – perhaps one of their players, perhaps the referee – they concede and the game is lost. Their manager, Russell Martin, looking ruggedly masculine but in touch with his feelings, then speaks sadly and patiently about his belief in playing football the right way. Then everybody else weighs in.’

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2024/nov/23/southampton-are-doomed-but-its-clear-why-russell-martin-will-not-change

Souness in the Mail 

 

It's fine to talk about playing football 'the right way', but the right way to play football is to get a result. Sometimes you have to be a completely different team in the second half to what you were in the first.

 

Now, from the first whistle to the last, you see teams such as Southampton rolling it out inside their own box. If they don't change, they'll be relegated. If you're so predictable, everyone knows what to do when they play you. If Martin phones up Arne Slot ahead of Sunday's game against Liverpool and says, 'How would you like me to play, Arne?' I guarantee you he would say, 'Well, why don't you roll the ball out from the back? Because we're really good at pressing, we'll nick it off you in and around your 18-yard box and score a goal'. It's madness!

I remember last season, when Manchester City were playing Real Madrid in the Champions League at the Etihad. In the second half, Carlo Ancelotti realised they could not deal with City's press and he told his goalkeeper to start launching it. This is Real Madrid, with the most successful club manager there's ever been, making a change to dig out a result. 

 

 

[Fabrice29]

32 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Fair point Trousers, but those of us that tried with Pellegrino got tumbleweed. Our fanbase is totally different to the Branfoot and Lowe years. Very obedient, and those who once had a bit of go and ambition in them have had it knocked out by two successive record low PL points totals and gutless displays. Hardly surprising the fans are lacking in any backbone to show Martin, Rasmus and SR the door like we did with Branfoot and later on Rupert.

Yet the football itself is worse now than it was under Branfoot and Nathan Jones. There was a bit more hostility towards Jones like the old days but for whatever reason, the fans don’t have the bottle to challenge Martin in sufficient numbers, so he can pick off individual fans as hecklers. Not just Martin though, go for SR’s throat. Albania flags on the Northam Wall, banners about Rasmus. Stuff that will get into the mainstream media and disrupt Russell and Rasmus’s vanity project. Drive a wedge within SR itself as well.

They won’t do any of that though, and most are just understandably too tired fighting an arrogant, inept institution they used to revere and find other ways to enjoy their weekends as I have.

Essentially that’s a very long way of saying majority of people that go to games so far don’t agree with you. As for ‘for whatever reason the fans won’t challenge Martin’ maybe it’s because they remember the promotion last season and have some empathy with the challenge for him and the team this season?

As for the bolded bit above, you sound utterly unhinged.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

35 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Fair point Trousers, but those of us that tried with Pellegrino got tumbleweed. Our fanbase is totally different to the Branfoot and Lowe years. Very obedient, and those who once had a bit of go and ambition in them have had it knocked out by two successive record low PL points totals and gutless displays. Hardly surprising the fans are lacking in any backbone to show Martin, Rasmus and SR the door like we did with Branfoot and later on Rupert.

Yet the football itself is worse now than it was under Branfoot and Nathan Jones. There was a bit more hostility towards Jones like the old days but for whatever reason, the fans don’t have the bottle to challenge Martin in sufficient numbers, so he can pick off individual fans as hecklers. Not just Martin though, go for SR’s throat. Albania flags on the Northam Wall, banners about Rasmus. Stuff that will get into the mainstream media and disrupt Russell and Rasmus’s vanity project. Drive a wedge within SR itself as well.

They won’t do any of that though, and most are just understandably too tired fighting an arrogant, inept institution they used to revere and find other ways to enjoy their weekends as I have.

I think times have massively changed from the early 90's to now. If you so much as swear at St Marys these days you get the wrath of the over zealous stewards telling you to be quiet or you'll get kicked out. Rightly or wrongly, footballl as a spectator sport has been so diluted down over the last 35 years, its no longer a game I readily recognise. 

[Fabrice29]

3 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

I think times have massively changed from the early 90's to now. If you so much as swear at St Marys these days you get the wrath of the over zealous stewards telling you to be quiet or you'll get kicked out. Rightly or wrongly, footballl as a spectator sport has been so diluted down over the last 35 years, its no longer a game I readily recognise. 

That’s not true or even close to being true.

[Oldandtired]

2 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

its no longer a game I readily recognise. 

Because it’s not a game anymore at professional level, it’s big business. 

[Fitzhugh Fella]

12 hours ago, Turkish said:

Why? Their grand plan is to be a player trading company. If we make a significant profit on Fernandes, THB and Dibling (which will be pure profit) this summer they’ve succeeded. You’re probably looking at £100-£120m in sales there and c£50-70m profit.  Get our Crown Jewels doing well in a style of a top team then sell them, bollocks to how the actual team does, that’s pretty irrelevant

I fear Turkish to be very near the mark especially his "their grand plan to be a player trading company" liner. There's a lot of money to be made in football which is why the Yanks are getting involved and, of course, the other "win" for owners is sports washing, which is why the PL is basically there for the likes of venture capitalists and rogue states with deplorable human rights records. Depressing.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

1 minute ago, Oldandtired said:

Because it’s not a game anymore at professional level, it’s big business. 

Possibly, but the point that I was getting at was that any kind of dissent is frowned upon in the ground. Gloucester is right in that as a fan base we are very accepting of our fate. 

[Fabrice29]

1 minute ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Possibly, but the point that I was getting at was that any kind of dissent is frowned upon in the ground. Gloucester is right in that as a fan base we are very accepting of our fate. 

We’ve just been promoted via the play offs after being relegated the year before in 20th position. The idea that everyone should be pissed off because we’re struggling is insane.