Russell Martin

[OldNick]

10 hours ago, Farmer Saint said:

I'm waiting to hear. Not decided if I'll share or not considering the constant shit I get on here tbh. People will find out soon enough so not really sure what advantage it gives. I'll sleep on it and let you know in the morning (if I'm told). We previously did enquire about Moyes and Potter, but were roundly turned down.

I was told last night that Moyes is buying a house in Winchester, but that could be for a London job due to the easy travel

[Gloucester Saint]

17 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

It’ll be fascinating to see where he ends up next.

Will it be PSG, or will it be Crawley Town? 🤷🏻‍♂️

Not our issue thankfully. If he could knock the aimless passing around at the back on the head, I could see him being a good Academy Director at the one of the ECL clubs, as long as other more specialist coaches are setting down basic organisation and shape.

If not, then lower Champ/League one and bigger League two outfits are probably his future if he wants to carry on trying first team management roles. Not sure he’s suited to them though.

Edited 16 December, 2024 by Gloucester Saint

[OldNick]

10 hours ago, BotleySaint said:

Great news. But makes you wonder why they've hung on so long. He should have gone weeks ago and now we are surely too far adrift.

Perhaps they thought to get the tough 5 games we have had would not be easy for a new manager, especially if he would not be a most popular/sexy choice

[LeBizzier69]

5 minutes ago, ant said:

I took up that seat in 2010-11, actually.

And I wouldn't say my chanting last night was incongruous.

Ok timing is out. The rest isn’t. It’s shit for us all, but it’s also worth bearing in mind that other people have to listen to it. 

[skintsaint]

[ant]

Just now, LeBizzier69 said:

Ok timing is out. The rest isn’t. It’s shit for us all, but it’s also worth bearing in mind that other people have to listen to it. 

Again, I wasn't chanting anything those around us weren't. You're pally enough with the group behind and they were the same. 

Martin was perfectly happy to make snide, barbed remarks about the fanbase. Did he really not expect to get anything back?

[OldNick]

9 hours ago, danjosaint said:

I wonder how many players are quite happy he's gone, I know they came out saying how great he was but as a pro you can't play to a system you know doesn't work. Also be interesting to see I'd we see ABK and TP a bit more 

Kameldeen , Charley Taylor, and ABK im sure, Tall Paul as well. Not playing Tall Paul last night after his return from injury was madness, especially as he did so well against Liverpool. Spurs defence had it so easy against Arma who has no pace, cant win a header and cant beat a player

[Francis1947]

Not sure I need to add to the many excellent posts from fellow fans who love our club and have been in utter despair at the stuff we have seen since the start of the season.

But this is my two pennies worth all the same ! 

The general consensus I think is that Martin was totally out of his depth regarding strategy,tactics and team selection. A marvellous example of number 3 was the decision to include Sulemana in the team on Sunday and then to withdraw him after 15 minutes. 

Add in what to me was his arrogance and his ego and the thought of many of us was the way he continually set us up to play was more to do with his future career prospects and reputation andwith little thought about the future of our club once he buggered off.

Two questions obviously remain now. Who next and what if we really can get out of this mire.

My thoughts on the first one is that I haven't alot of confidence in who this lot get in now. There are still 66 points to play for. An old boy can but dream eh !

And on the second point. I'm a Saints fan of over 65 years. Been through thick and thin. Mostly thin I think. But if we could make the right short term appointment..and my preference is Moyes.

And his pragmatism and nouse could somehow manage let's say a win and a draw in his first 5 matches and Ipswich and Wolves and Leicester haven't fully got away, we have a tiny miniscule chance.

I do want our club to stay in the Prem. It's the place to be despite all it's inconsistenies in how the bigger clubs are treated and the ridiculous Sky induced kick off times. But it's still better than going down and having to endure playing the Blue Few again next year.

[St Louis]

12 minutes ago, Zorba said:

 

 

  

IT'S ON!!!! ..COYS

Is Tyler attempting to escape relegation or just escape the club? 

[hypochondriac]

40 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

A good window for me would be selling five players and bringing in nobody. That way we'd at least set ourselves up for next season, with a few off the wage bill and a bit of money stashed away or used to pay off debt. KWP can be one of them, sell him cheap now rather than let him go free in summer. It's not like he's done much.

Selling:

Kwp 

Onuachu 

ABK - Tiny fee with big sell on 

Bin off Cornet 

Maybe give the new manager a look but otherwise sell BBD 

Maybe get a striker in to bed in for next year. 

That would be the perfect window for me. 

 

 

[Dman]

2 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Selling:

Kwp 

Onuachu 

ABK - Tiny fee with big sell on 

Bin off Cornet 

Maybe give the new manager a look but otherwise sell BBD 

Maybe get a striker in to bed in for next year. 

That would be the perfect window for me. 

 

 

If (not that I think we will) got Rohl, is there a chance ABK could stay? Would have known him from the Germany World Cup squad...

[saintant]

45 minutes ago, BarryVenisonsHair said:

Breaking: Beard Oil sales in the city have dropped by 99%

And snakeskin oil sales have dropped by 100%.

[saintant]

34 minutes ago, LeBizzier69 said:

I get his time was up. I get it hasn’t worked this season. I get the fanbase wanting more.

I just don’t get the personal hatred towards RM. 
 

The bloke who sits two seats down from me, and no doubt is on here, got his season ticket (near me at least) about 5 years ago ish. When he moved there he spent his whole time singing loudly on his own and slagging off anyone who shouted any criticism of the side. “Support your fuckimg club, what’s wrong with you” etc.

last night he tried to stop the banner in the Northam going to the back (from halfway up) and then spouted hatred from then on.

Completely unnecessary. Fickle as fuck.

Always a tough ask, and yes the inability to have a plan b has cost us. But the abuse is bellendery at its finest.

It's not hatred for the vast majority. Like others you confuse criticism with hatred.

[Dman]

Russell Martin is an incredibly limited manager who relied on us having better players than all but 2 other sides last season.

The warning signs were there from September last year. Tactically outclassed by Mowbray and Marseca and generally speaking and other than Leeds, we crumbled every time we came up against a decent side. That Leciester home game will haunt me forever. 

I don't see where he goes from here if i'm honest - It would be an incredible risk for someone in the PL to take a punt. Perhaps someone like Leeds?

Anyhow.. Good riddance. 

[Francis1947]

Not sure I need to add to the many excellent posts from fellow fans who love our club and have been in utter despair at the stuff we have seen since the start of the season.

But this is my two pennies worth all the same ! 

The general consensus I think is that Martin was totally out of his depth regarding strategy,tactics and team selection. A marvellous example of number 3 was the decision to include Sulemana in the team on Sunday and then to withdraw him after 15 minutes. 

Add in what to me was his arrogance and his ego and the thought of many of us was the way he continually set us up to play was more to do with his future career prospects and reputation andwith little thought about the future of our club once he buggered off.

Two questions obviously remain now. Who next and what if we really can get out of this mire.

My thoughts on the first one is that I haven't alot of confidence in who this lot get in now. There are still 66 points to play for. An old boy can but dream eh !

And on the second point. I'm a Saints fan of over 65 years. Been through thick and thin. Mostly thin I think. But if we could make the right short term appointment..and my preference is Moyes.

And his pragmatism and nouse could somehow manage let's say a win and a draw in his first 5 matches and Ipswich and Wolves and Leicester haven't fully got away, we have a tiny miniscule chance.

I do want our club to stay in the Prem. It's the place to be despite all it's inconsistenies in how the bigger clubs are treated and the ridiculous Sky induced kick off times. But it's still better than going down and having to endure playing the Blue Few again next year.

[saintant]

23 minutes ago, OldNick said:

I was told last night that Moyes is buying a house in Winchester, but that could be for a London job due to the easy travel

Moyes last managed West Ham which was presumably close to their ground/training facilities so why would he buy a house in Winchester now for easy travel to London? Unless he just fancies moving.

[ErwinK1961]

35 minutes ago, OldNick said:

I was told last night that Moyes is buying a house in Winchester, but that could be for a London job due to the easy travel

Not this again… is he time sharing with Martin O’Neill?

[LeBizzier69]

30 minutes ago, ant said:

Again, I wasn't chanting anything those around us weren't. You're pally enough with the group behind and they were the same. 

Martin was perfectly happy to make snide, barbed remarks about the fanbase. Did he really not expect to get anything back?

Fair enough. Next time, just leave the banner alone eh?

[LeBizzier69]

22 minutes ago, saintant said:

It's not hatred for the vast majority. Like others you confuse criticism with hatred.

Much of what I’ve heard and read isn’t criticising him professionally. 
 

[CB Fry]

58 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

It’ll be fascinating to see where he ends up next.

Will it be PSG, or will it be Crawley Town? 🤷🏻‍♂️

Remember according to the experts on here he's loads better than Mark Hughes so Russell Martin has a glittering career ahead of him.

Four different clubs into the Premier League top 10 - 6th, 8th, 7th, 9th all with different clubs - season after season in the top 10 and often the European spots.

But Russell Martin is better so sit back and watch his career go go go.

Edited 16 December, 2024 by CB Fry

[saintant]

Just now, LeBizzier69 said:

Much of what I’ve heard and read isn’t criticising him professionally. 
 

Fair enough.

[St Louis]

33 minutes ago, Dman said:

If (not that I think we will) got Rohl, is there a chance ABK could stay? Would have known him from the Germany World Cup squad...

Doubt it. I know from first team coaches mouths, that he stinks the place out, and has done since the last relegation season. The club are desperate to be shot and he's desperate to leave.

[Rebel]

I was never a big Martin fan. Yes he gave us a big day out at Wembley in the play-off final, but we were lucky we were playing Leeds and we shouldn't forget it was only because we failed to get automatic promotion.   

The losses against Ipswich, Leicester and Sunderland should have been massive warning signs.

With the team we had last season we should have finished in the top two and gone up automatically last season.  But we didn't we conceded 60 goals playing out from the back which is why we didn't.   How he or anyone thought playing the same way with the same players in the premier league was going to work is beyond me.

He was the wrong man from the start.  We should have gone for Carlos Corberan instead at the time.  

But Martin is not the only one responsible for where we are right now. Sports Republic and the board have to take a lot of the responsibility, including Jason Wilcox.  

The summer transfer window was a disaster.  The lack of a Director of Football made things worse than they needed to be. 

We have 6 strikers on our books and not one of them is good enough for the premier league. We have a lightweight midfield with only one holding midfielder in Downes who is not up to playing as a single pivot at this level (forget Ugochukwu).  We don't have any wingers good  enough for the premier league (except Dibling and SAA who are too young to be relied on).

And in Tall Paul, ABK, KWP and Sulemana we have load of players who don't want to be here and should have been sold in the summer.

SR have made a series of bad decision. I just hope they have learnt from their many mistakes and bad decisions.

Why did they give Bednarek and Armstrong new deals and contracts at £60K a week when they are not good enough for the Premier League and it makes them unsaleable to a Championship club?  

I just want a manager now - for the rest of this season - that can grind out draws and a few wins and stops us going down with the new record for the lowest points total ever. We have already lost 9-0 twice - we don't need that record as well.

I'd take Moyes for that right now.

 

[ChristopheVAFC]

My friends, I sincerely hope you find a new manager who will be capable of doing great things for the rest of the season.

[LaptopSaint]

11 hours ago, Oldandtired said:

So you would have stuck with him?
 

Seriously?

Actually, yes. If we’re going down anyway (as all the experts on here tell me is a 100% guarantee), I’d have rather given a new guy a fresh start, untainted by failure, in the summer. 

The real culprits are Sports Republic. Four years of abysmal recruitment, no centre forward worth the name, big outgoing transfer fees wasted on players who can’t get a game. Martin was just doing what Jason Wilcox (remember him?) asked him to do. I was at SMS and it wasn’t Martin’s fault that they scored right in front of me after 37 seconds with no challenge of any kind. 

Remember the brief surge of hope when Selles came in last time we got relegated? Lasted about two games, and by the end he was broken and in no fit state to plan a promotion campaign. 

Apologies for not following the herd. And I hope I’m wrong. 

[S-Clarke]

1 hour ago, musesaint said:

I have never been a fan of Martin and I honestly believe that Saints were promoted last season despite him and not because of him - primarily as a result of Saints having one of the best squads in the Championship. The best managers are those who can adapt a team’s style of play to get the best out of the players they have. They also need to be the type of person who shows some humility and accountability when they’ve made mistakes. Look at Gaurdiola yesterday!  

 

Martin had one plan dominated by an increasingly irrational obsession with possession football at all costs. Part of me feels sorry that it has come to this - but then I think about some of Martin’s arrogant and self righteous interviews this season and I rapidly get over it.  Doubtless he can console himself with the £5m+ he walks away with. 
 

 

My view is very close to yours on this one. I've never been a fan. 

I see lots of comments today about how everyone is grateful for last season etc, but for me I can't help but remember last season as a bit of a chore. It wasn't as enjoyable as some make out. Look at how we ended the season, horrendous.  Salvaged it by a 1-0 win in a one off game, but prior to that we had been 2007-2008 Wotte levels of shit. 

The unbeaten run was a puff piece really. Littered with multiple draws and really shocking results against the likes of Huddersfield and Rotherham.

I was never convinced by the appointment and felt it was a gamble, in a way the gamble paid off slightly, but I sit here today and wonder what on earth the point of promotion actually was? Money for a new bar and hospitality lounges?

Edited 16 December, 2024 by S-Clarke

[Lighthouse]

33 minutes ago, saintant said:

It's not hatred for the vast majority. Like others you confuse criticism with hatred.

There's a solid page on the St Mary's expansion thread of you arguing with MLG and trying to make the whole discussion about how terrible Martin is. It's quite clearly hatred, or at the very least an intense and irrational dislike, for a fair number of fans. Some of the insults and nastiness on this thread go well beyond what is a reasonable way to talk about the manager of a football team, who in spite of everything actually wanted to be here and wanted to succeed. Compare that to someone like ABK, who people are clamouring to be in the team despite apparently being an absolute helmet with no desire to play for us at all.

[Football Special]

39 minutes ago, saintant said:

It's not hatred for the vast majority. Like others you confuse criticism with hatred.

I don't think anyone could genuinely hate him, they could hate his tactics, results etc but it's not like they know Martin personally. 

He came across as arrogant in interviews but when I met him in person in the summer he was really sound, chatted to one of my kids about football and Saints and couldn't have been nicer , shame it had to end the way it did but was inevitable, I wouldn't be surprised if Martin was pleased go get the push and walkaway with the payoff. 

[OldNick]

27 minutes ago, ErwinK1961 said:

Not this again… is he time sharing with Martin O’Neill?

I agree but just sharing what I heard from someone who could well know. No problem not accepting it,

[trousers]

16 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

My view is very close to yours on this one. I've never been a fan. 

I see lots of comments today about how everyone is grateful for last season etc, but for me I can't help but remember last season as a bit of a chore. It wasn't as enjoyable as some make out. Look at how we ended the season, horrendous.  Salvaged it by a 1-0 win in a one off game, but prior to that we had been 2007-2008 Wotte levels of shit. 

The unbeaten run was a puff piece really. Littered with multiple draws and really shocking results against the likes of Huddersfield and Rotherham.

 

Yep, this echos my thoughts on last season. I don't get to many games these days but I remember one match I went to last season (Rotherham at home I think) where we scored early on and the rest of the game was the usual 80% possession but doing nothing with it... and then Rotherham scored towards the end to gain a draw. I remember turning to my son at one point part way through the game and saying that I'd spent the last 20 minutes staring into space because nothing of note was happening on the field. As you say, it was hard work watching the game, rather than being enjoyable. That experience summed up "Russball" to me. Yes, we'd added to the fabled "undefeated run" stats, but at what cost...? Turgid football and throwing away 2 points, that's what...

Edited 16 December, 2024 by trousers

[danjosaint]

23 minutes ago, LaptopSaint said:

I was at SMS and it wasn’t Martin’s fault that they scored right in front of me after 37 seconds with no challenge 

But the structure and shape are all wrong , you can't have a single cdm/pivot go charging upto there 18yrd box leaving 30yrds of empty space, that is all on RM and his coaching 

[Golac's Cunning Stunts]

10 minutes ago, trousers said:

Yep, this echos my thoughts on last season. I don't get to many games these days but I remember one match I went to last season (Rotherham at home I think) where we scored early on and the rest of the game was the usual 80% possession but doing nothing with it... and then Rotherham scored towards the end to gain a draw. I remember turning to my son at one point part way through the game and saying that I'd spent the last 20 minutes staring into space because nothing of note was happening on the field. As you say, it was hard work watching the game, rather than being enjoyable. That experience summed up "Russball" to me. Yes, we'd added to the fabled "undefeated run" stats, but at what cost...? Turgid football and throwing away 2 points, that's what...

Exactly echoes my memories of Watford away last season. Especially the staring into space bit. Oh and conceding a late goal after endless sideways and backwards passing. 

[Dirkdiggler]

27 minutes ago, OldNick said:

I agree but just sharing what I heard from someone who could well know. No problem not accepting it,

The club owns homes in Winchester that they use for players. Wouldn’t of thought any new manager would be buying his own for a possible short term appointment 

[Turkish]

43 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

My view is very close to yours on this one. I've never been a fan. 

I see lots of comments today about how everyone is grateful for last season etc, but for me I can't help but remember last season as a bit of a chore. It wasn't as enjoyable as some make out. Look at how we ended the season, horrendous.  Salvaged it by a 1-0 win in a one off game, but prior to that we had been 2007-2008 Wotte levels of shit. 

The unbeaten run was a puff piece really. Littered with multiple draws and really shocking results against the likes of Huddersfield and Rotherham.

I was never convinced by the appointment and felt it was a gamble, in a way the gamble paid off slightly, but I sit here today and wonder what on earth the point of promotion actually was? Money for a new bar and hospitality lounges?

 

He was certainly an uninspiring appointment with no track record of success anywhere. That said I quite liked him at the start, seemed like a good guy and changed the energy around the club which had been terrible for years beforehand. However you could see he had it in him to a be a bit of a prick soon as he went through a rough spell, he'd bite at interviewers, blame anything other than himself. 

 

I was never a fan of his tactics though and felt it was dull, style over substance. That 4 game run at the start of last season was a warning sign to us all, so easy to play against if a team got it right, we had the luxury of generally having better players in the championship plus you can get away with mistakes in the championship in the premier league 9/10 you get punished. The two games against Leciester also showed how vunerable we were against a decent team. So  It was pretty obvious with a history of conceding loads of goals at championship level that was only going to be worse at a higher level and so it's proved. I also do agree we got promoted inspite of him not because of him.

I dont feel sorry for him. I might have done if he'd been prepared to adapt and change but he wasn't so only got himself to blame. He'll have done very well financially and another championship club will see his promotion and appoint him im sure so wont be out of work for long. Youd think he might learn from it that his whiteboard philosophy doesn't work, a game that relies on a perfect plan can never succeed with far from perfect players in a chaotic, unpredictable fast paced top environment, but i dont think he will. 

Edited 16 December, 2024 by Turkish

[badgerx16]

37 minutes ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

My friends, I sincerely hope you find a new manager who will be capable of doing great things for the rest of the season.

I don't necessarily want a manager who does "great" things, I want one who does things competently; who knows how to organise a defence, doesn't drop players for hoofing the ball when required, and takes the captaincy off Stephens.

[tdmickey3]

Great news at last

[ally_uk]

Glad he is gone couldn't stand the arrogant twat! 

What we now is a experienced no nonsense manager who can steady the ship. If we are to be relegated let's least show a bit of bollocks eh?

Also a director of football would be a smart acquisition with a proper sound strategy.

None of this tika taka fannying it around the back nonsense.

I wouldn't mind a return to the pressing attacking football. Mind you that would mean our players would actually have to be fit.... currently they are not 

 

[Saint86]

My concern now is the limp leadership from Rasmus and co.

In all the major managerial decisions they've shown weak and/or poor decision making. With Ralph (despite him clearly being a good manager that was doing the best he could with what they gave him), they waited until the fans started to turn and then pretty swiftly dumped him... all under just a bit of fan pressure, and despite faffing around with it for nearly a year, undermining him, and giving him a very weak squad to work with. it was a terrible call ultimately, and they also had no serious replacement lined up. Bad decision, no plan.

Then Nathan jones was clearly a bad appointment, and in that case they waited until huge negativity delivered overwhelming pressure for him to go (stressed out press conferences, the fan's forum with rasmus etc). It was almost as if they felt burned by the pressure over Ralph and so instead dug their toes in on Jones. Regardless, kept him too long and it was a bad appointment and delayed decision to sack. Costly.

The selles. Another weird appointment. If they had so much faith in him it made even less sense to get rid of him. I suspect he would probably have proved as good as Martin ultimately and I'm pleased to see him doing well at Reading after a rocky start at a very messy club.

And then Martin. They've kept him and kept him despite clear signs of him being unable to setup a defence. Its a total lack of decisiveness and ruthlessness from them though that has kep him this long. Cortese (for comparison), was brutal with nigel - and nigel would likely have kept us up. But again, they've kept martin past the point of sacking him, then a little bit of fan pressure and they've pulled the plug straight away - and with no replacement in sight. Its alarming as it shows they simply haven't learned and are seemingly hamstrung with very weak decision making and a lack of footballing knowledge. You cannot have a leadership structure seemingly so divorced from footballing knowledge and seemingly so malleable that a bit of fan pressure will force them to act. Historically as a collective, football fans don't make great calls.... and our board even less to. It spells long term trouble.

Edited 16 December, 2024 by Saint86

[FarehamSaintJames]

He was very likeable and last season was enjoyable because of the ending result in promotion.
That shouldn’t be forgotten.

However, he’s effectively been allowed to steer the ship on his own. Director of football and probably his closest ally left, even then recruitment wasn’t spectacular at times.

This season though the delusion seems to have taken to a new height. There is nothing wrong with wanting to play a certain way.

But common sense and good managers will understand that you have to use your squads strengths to your advantage and be pragmatic.

He didn’t do any of that.

He’s contradicted himself at every opportunity. The Onuachu comment a few weeks back got me “we would’ve liked to play him sooner” - well respectfully you chose to not play him, that’s on YOU as the manager.

That’s just one incident, but there are many more.

I’d have had more patience if he just said “yeah it’s not working I need to try something new”. But he didn’t.

He could’ve helped himself. He chose not to. No one else.

[saintant]

1 hour ago, Lighthouse said:

There's a solid page on the St Mary's expansion thread of you arguing with MLG and trying to make the whole discussion about how terrible Martin is. It's quite clearly hatred, or at the very least an intense and irrational dislike, for a fair number of fans. Some of the insults and nastiness on this thread go well beyond what is a reasonable way to talk about the manager of a football team, who in spite of everything actually wanted to be here and wanted to succeed. Compare that to someone like ABK, who people are clamouring to be in the team despite apparently being an absolute helmet with no desire to play for us at all.

When you see me use the words 'I hate Russell Martin' you might gain a shred of credibility. You have clearly decided to misinterpret my words into hatred of RM and that's your problem. The thread you refer to, if you'd care to read it properly, will tell you my main argument is that I don't agree with stadium expansion at a time when the football club is in turmoil which only got worse yesterday. I do mention RM in a critical way because his coaching and handling of the team has contributed to where we find ourselves. Carry on thinking I hate RM but I can tell you quite categorically that I don't - yes I'm glad he's gone but hatred....that's a very strong word and you shouldn't be accusing people you don't know of it based on your own misinterpretations of comments on a football forum. 

[saintant]

1 hour ago, Lighthouse said:

There's a solid page on the St Mary's expansion thread of you arguing with MLG and trying to make the whole discussion about how terrible Martin is. It's quite clearly hatred, or at the very least an intense and irrational dislike, for a fair number of fans. Some of the insults and nastiness on this thread go well beyond what is a reasonable way to talk about the manager of a football team, who in spite of everything actually wanted to be here and wanted to succeed. Compare that to someone like ABK, who people are clamouring to be in the team despite apparently being an absolute helmet with no desire to play for us at all.

That comes across as hatred of ABK - I'm sure it's not and certainly wouldn't accuse you of meaning it that way since clearly I don't know you.

[hypochondriac]

Yes most of the players are not of the required quality for 17th and above. Yes we have been unlucky in some games and arguably deserved a few more points here and there. The players absolutely are of the quality to be on more than five points after almost half a season. They are better than getting humped by teams who play their reserve strikers just so they can score a hatful. They are of a better quality than the most mistakes leading to goals in a premier league season ever and potentially heading for the worst team in the history of the league. That's why Martin should have left quite a few games ago. 

[franniesTache]

The same as with Ralph SR left it far, far to late to pull the trigger, i think most people with half a brain knew that Martin would be a complete failure in the premier league adn that his style would ship goals. We should’ve sacked him the day after the play off final, as it was obvious what would happen.

Sadly the person who will choose the next manager is the utter fuck nugget that is Rasmus, which means we’ll probably end up with the American rhythmic gymnastics coach as manager because we think outside the box. To be honest I trust this current board to select the right manager about as much as i trust Joseph Fritzl to babysit children.

Also maybe, just maybe as a fanbase we can learn one thing from this, which is to stop building weird fucking cults around managers and parroting things like "trust the process" which are just marketing slogans

 

[Lighthouse]

19 minutes ago, saintant said:

When you see me use the words 'I hate Russell Martin' you might gain a shred of credibility. You have clearly decided to misinterpret my words into hatred of RM and that's your problem. The thread you refer to, if you'd care to read it properly, will tell you my main argument is that I don't agree with stadium expansion at a time when the football club is in turmoil which only got worse yesterday. I do mention RM in a critical way because his coaching and handling of the team has contributed to where we find ourselves. Carry on thinking I hate RM but I can tell you quite categorically that I don't - yes I'm glad he's gone but hatred....that's a very strong word and you shouldn't be accusing people you don't know of it based on your own misinterpretations of comments on a football forum. 

A quick search of the word ‘hate’ yields 108 posts. I’m not going to trawl through all of them to see who is saying what but I’m fairly sure those posters weren’t saying ‘chateau’. That’s not even touching on the posts using the words ‘c*nt, pr*ck, d*ckhead’ etc. without actually using the word ‘hate’. He was hated by a lot of people. If you didn’t then fine, but don’t pretend everything said about him on here was nothing but fair and rational criticism.

The stadium expansion debate revolves around the consistency of our attendances, their projected growth, the returns vs expenditure and the increased asset value we can expect from developing St Mary’s. You persistently and deliberately ignored all that because you wanted the argument to be about Martin and being in free fall. Now that he’s been sacked, years before a brick has even been laid, that whole argument looks a bit silly.

[trousers]

15 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

A quick search of the word ‘hate’ yields 108 posts

I 'hate' the way Russ played but don't 'hate' him per se. I would imagine the vast majority of those that wanted him gone feel the same way.

hate_count = hate_count + 2 

(Ah, make that +4 ... )

Edited 16 December, 2024 by trousers

[Turkish]

19 minutes ago, franniesTache said:

The same as with Ralph SR left it far, far to late to pull the trigger, i think most people with half a brain knew that Martin would be a complete failure in the premier league adn that his style would ship goals. We should’ve sacked him the day after the play off final, as it was obvious what would happen.

Sadly the person who will choose the next manager is the utter fuck nugget that is Rasmus, which means we’ll probably end up with the American rhythmic gymnastics coach as manager because we think outside the box. To be honest I trust this current board to select the right manager about as much as i trust Joseph Fritzl to babysit children.

Also maybe, just maybe as a fanbase we can learn one thing from this, which is to stop building weird fucking cults around managers and parroting things like "trust the process" which are just marketing slogans

 

Do they ever learn? We have got the weirdest fan base who lap up all this sort of bollocks. 

[franniesTache]

3 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Do they ever learn? We have got the weirdest fan base who lap up all this sort of bollocks. 

I think a lot of the nipper have completely overblown expectations of things, they've not really seen much in the way of success and are desperate to have idols.

It's the same why you see people call a run of the mill skate midfielder a "legend" because he basically got an attendance award. 

Plus of course like our song sheet they love to copy other clubs and all this trust the process bollocks started with Wenger at Arsenal, ever since then a section of the middle class/student fanbase seem to think there's a "right way" to play football. Which is clearly bullshit as the only right way is winning

[Toussaint]

Listening to Talk Sport this morning Jim White mentioned on  more than one occasion the he get his info directly from Dragan.  In fact Dragan text him during the show, saying he would come on at some point and talk about what has happened. Simon also said something I didn't quite understand, about the people / person around Dragan that had badly let him down, talking in the past tense. I don't know if more sackings are in the air? 

[saintant]

16 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

A quick search of the word ‘hate’ yields 108 posts. I’m not going to trawl through all of them to see who is saying what but I’m fairly sure those posters weren’t saying ‘chateau’. That’s not even touching on the posts using the words ‘c*nt, pr*ck, d*ckhead’ etc. without actually using the word ‘hate’. He was hated by a lot of people. If you didn’t then fine, but don’t pretend everything said about him on here was nothing but fair and rational criticism.

The stadium expansion debate revolves around the consistency of our attendances, their projected growth, the returns vs expenditure and the increased asset value we can expect from developing St Mary’s. You persistently and deliberately ignored all that because you wanted the argument to be about Martin and being in free fall. Now that he’s been sacked, years before a brick has even been laid, that whole argument looks a bit silly.

Aren't you one of the mods on here? If so you might consider setting a better example - you could make a start by stopping accusing me of hating Russell Martin based on things swirling around in your own head and I get that you have said, if I didn't use the word hate that's fine . It might be fine for you but I don't like your original inferences. Your first paragraph is of no interest to me because I am not one of those who may or may not have bandied about the word 'hate'. If I use the word hate against someone feel free to pull me up on it - until then I'm happy for you to disagree with me but don't falsely accuse me of hating.  

[Gloucester Saint]

2 hours ago, Football Special said:

I don't think anyone could genuinely hate him, they could hate his tactics, results etc but it's not like they know Martin personally. 

He came across as arrogant in interviews but when I met him in person in the summer he was really sound, chatted to one of my kids about football and Saints and couldn't have been nicer , shame it had to end the way it did but was inevitable, I wouldn't be surprised if Martin was pleased go get the push and walkaway with the payoff. 

A much better balanced post. Did not enjoy his style of football at all, same as Branfoot, but didn’t dislike either of them as people because that’s just irrational. Probably is a decent bloke if you met him, and there’s far bigger issue behind the alarming slump of our football club.

Rasmus is a different story, now he is arrogant and with very little justification. We’ve all got wide boys like him in our workplaces and companies, say the right things in meetings but that’s all they ever do. No idea of how to operationise and when they do it’s a clusterfuck.

Don’t hate him per se but hate professionally what he represents. At least Martin has managed three clubs, played in the PL, internationally. Rasmus just made Phil Giles some spreadsheets and cups of tea. Dreading who he will select next. 

Edited 16 December, 2024 by Gloucester Saint