Russell Martin

[Wade Garrett]

1 hour ago, miserableoldgit said:

Any cancer.....hopefully the one that I am suffering from. I was just indicating that it doesn't matter what good he does some will still dislike him....

Fucking hell, good luck!

[Holmes_and_Watson]

44 minutes ago, notnowcato said:

Now WBA won’t know which formation to prepare for and we have the option of in game switching between a back 3 or 4. Love it. 

I was wondering if Russ won't know which formation to prepare for now.
🙂

Memories of Stu being subbed on by Nathan, and turning to ask him what it was he wanted him to do, as our manager shifted it 4 times already that game.

Edited 5 May, 2024 by Holmes_and_Watson

[Tom & Gerry]

4 hours ago, Toussaint said:

Because he didn’t, he had a fresh start with a new team behind him giving him 100% backing in his philosophy and a bunch of premier league players and loanees at his disposal. 
 

Having said that, we are we are are and I feel much more positive after Russ and the team’s performance yesterday. 

He had the dregs of a failed premier league team, loan players that were surplus to requirements, ie not good enough for their premier league team, and some wet behind the ears youngsters who may or may not make good players. I don't see any top clubs rushing to sign any of our players like they use to in the past.

[Dark Munster]

3 hours ago, miserableoldgit said:

Any cancer.....hopefully the one that I am suffering from. I was just indicating that it doesn't matter what good he does some will still dislike him....

That is purely speculation. If RM had done what that Ipswich manager has done this season, I doubt any Saints fan would have anything but praise for him. Or if we had played most of our matches this season like we did against Leeds (twice). It's been the persistent tippy tappy possession obsession that has driven so many of us nuts. Nothing personal against him as a person.

I'm sorry to hear about your disease. I hope you make a quick and full recovery.

[Midfield_General]

Fair play to him. He was challenged to show he had a Plan B, he found one, and it worked. Now let's cut out the silly defensive mistakes and do it next Sunday when it really counts. 

[Dark Munster]

2 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

Fair play to him. He was challenged to show he had a Plan B, he found one, and it worked. Now let's cut out the silly defensive mistakes and do it next Sunday when it really counts. 

He's done it before, usually after a string of bad results. The problem is he then reverts back to his beloved plan A (which sucks).

Let's hope he can swallow his pride and stick with plan B for the next three games.

[DrSuess1979]

6 hours ago, Toussaint said:

Because he didn’t, he had a fresh start with a new team behind him giving him 100% backing in his philosophy and a bunch of premier league players and loanees at his disposal. 
 

Having said that, we are we are are and I feel much more positive after Russ and the team’s performance yesterday. 

Sorry I didnt mean players as such, more the over all feeling and mentality.

[Whitey Grandad]

4 hours ago, miserableoldgit said:

Any cancer.....hopefully the one that I am suffering from. I was just indicating that it doesn't matter what good he does some will still dislike him....

My best wishes to you.

[West end Saints]

11 hours ago, miserableoldgit said:

Adam and Jo spoke a  lot of sense re:- RM, giving him 8.0/8.5 out of 10, on yesterdays Going Home, plus a good fair review of the season.

I just listened, fair summary of the season and progress under Martin, and why he gives him a 8.5/10 rating.

Most people appreciate this season, but with some frustrating games, and see it as decent appointment.

I totally get (and feel) the frustration when we have thrown points away, or had our hopes killed for automatic, which explains some of the emotional negativity. However, I believe this forum can sometimes not reflect most supporters views with a few posters (who are entitled to their view) being very repetitive in their insults.

 

[Forkbeard]

14 hours ago, Dark Munster said:

He's done it before, usually after a string of bad results. The problem is he then reverts back to his beloved plan A (which sucks).

 

This sounds awfully familiar too.

[Lord Duckhunter]

On 05/05/2024 at 09:33, Wade Garrett said:

Martin showed yesterday that he can change our shape.  I’ll like him a whole lot more if he continues to be pragmatic and adaptable,

Absolutely spot on. Far better Defensively, second only to the WBA away game imo. Looked comfortable all game and managed the game well. 

[SaintsFan86]

10 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Absolutely spot on. Far better Defensively, second only to the WBA away game imo. Looked comfortable all game and managed the game well. 

Our formation was excellent and completely gazumped Leeds.

Russell is a very good coach, just needs a little more pragmatism and he will go far.

Edited 6 May, 2024 by SaintsFan86
.

[East Kent Saint]

Moyes available probably along with JWP 😄

[Badger]

22 minutes ago, East Kent Saint said:

Moyes available probably along with JWP 😄

A better manager than his reputation based largely on his time at Man Utd suggests. It was a shame he rejected Rupert’s offer at the time.

The downside of this is that the new bloke will probably want to give Downes a once over, and the player will want the chance with a new manager. Inevitable though.

Doubt that Moyes would fit the Rasmus criterion should there be a vacancy here. 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

5 minutes ago, Badger said:

Doubt that Moyes would fit the Rasmus criterion should there be a vacancy here. 

"What could be more left field than a completely unexpected traditional hire?" cackles Joker Rasmus, trying to find Gotham on a map. 🙂

[Badger]

1 minute ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

"What could be more left field than a completely unexpected traditional hire?" cackles Joker Rasmus, trying to find Gotham on a map. 🙂

My answer on a postcard:

A successful one 

[SaintsBarry74]

Would love to have Moyes for the simple fact that he values having an actual goalkeeper between the posts.

[Badger]

1 hour ago, SaintsBarry74 said:

Would love to have Moyes for the simple fact that he values having an actual goalkeeper between the posts.

Probably the same for 91/92 managers. 

[Saint_clark]

4 minutes ago, Badger said:

Probably the same for 91/92 managers. 

89/92, Jones and Selles are both managing still. 

[Wyn]

It's weird how the penny still hasn't quite dropped for Martin. When he was at Swansea, in his last season, in games where the team had over 60% possession they showed near relegation form, and in games where they had between 50 and 60% possession they had title winning form. The 7 wins and two draws that ended his time with the Swans was much more pragmatic and direct. But it's obvious from what I'm reading here that he's still struggling with his possession obsession addiction.

Best of luck with the playoffs. We could do without you or Leeds taking up one of automatic promotion slots next season. 

[notnowcato]

Not as weird as continuing to comment on a manager on another team’s forum a year after he left your team. 

Anyway, I’d bet that “penny” that the vast majority of our wins have come when we’ve dominated possession. 

[SaintsFan86]

12 minutes ago, Wyn said:

It's weird how the penny still hasn't quite dropped for Martin. When he was at Swansea, in his last season, in games where the team had over 60% possession they showed near relegation form, and in games where they had between 50 and 60% possession they had title winning form. The 7 wins and two draws that ended his time with the Swans was much more pragmatic and direct. But it's obvious from what I'm reading here that he's still struggling with his possession obsession addiction.

Best of luck with the playoffs. We could do without you or Leeds taking up one of automatic promotion slots next season. 

I wouldn't read to much into the fans thoughts of Russell, many are fossilised and don't want the possession football, instantly chose to dislike Russ.

[Wyn]

28 minutes ago, notnowcato said:

Not as weird as continuing to comment on a manager on another team’s forum a year after he left your team. 

Anyway, I’d bet that “penny” that the vast majority of our wins have come when we’ve dominated possession. 

You're probably right. Martin is still animating discussion on the Swansea forums a year on. I've never known a manager quite like him for generating such strong responses, in favour and against. I was mainly in the in favour camp, but he didn't half test my patience with his extreme take on possession football. 

It does seem he's evolved somewhat, especially with the high press. 

With Luke Williams now in charge Martin will finally recede in the rear view mirror for Swansea fans. 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

The idea isn't posession for the sake of it, though. The idea is to shift the ball, either attracting players vertically or moving them even slightly out of shape horizontally. Then it's to use that space to move it through them.

An example was just in the last couple of fixtures. The ball was getting passed around for the fourth time, when we got that space, it went up the flank and we got a chance. I pressed backspace on my comment. 🙂

There are arguments against doing that at all. Or that it shouldn't take as long. Or that constantly doing it saps momentum from our play.

We've certainly had games where we've not managed to create with our possession (others went fine) and certainly that all that possession doesn't stop us conceding.

Martin is usually frustrated at us not getting it forward as quickly as he'd like. That just raises more counter arguments about why that is, right enough.

He's been happy with the possession stats. But, I've never thought it was that and an off chance of getting a goal. There's always been more to it.

[Lord Duckhunter]

3 hours ago, Wyn said:

but he didn't half test my patience with his extreme take on possession football. 

Fossilised Welsh Dinosaur 😂

[Wyn]

5 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Fossilised Welsh Dinosaur 😂

If I'm a fossilised Welsh Dinosaur God knows what that makes half of Swansea's support...

[Fabrice29]

15 hours ago, Wyn said:

You're probably right. Martin is still animating discussion on the Swansea forums a year on. I've never known a manager quite like him for generating such strong responses, in favour and against. I was mainly in the in favour camp, but he didn't half test my patience with his extreme take on possession football. 

It does seem he's evolved somewhat, especially with the high press. 

With Luke Williams now in charge Martin will finally recede in the rear view mirror for Swansea fans. 

It's weird how the penny still hasn't quite dropped for how rubbish you’ve been since Martin left and under Williams specifically. Etc etc. 

[gio1saints]

What I think goes unremarked is that there is almost always a lengthy gestation period in the resurrection of clubs that have gone down as ignominiously as we did last year. We were not plucky losers or unlucky to go down. We stank the place out most weeks. It was start from scratch not build on the good bits time. 

There exists a massive gap between the  “expectation” of fans this season after that utter tripe last year versus the practical reality. But it has been ever thus. Look at the EPL - there’s not one team not slated by its own supporters for not doing better.Moyes gave WHUFC a European trophy and top ten finishes yet he became the Antichrist. Go figure. 

Edited 9 May, 2024 by gio1saints

[Fabrice29]

7 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

What I think goes unremarked is that there is almost always a lengthy gestation period in the resurrection of clubs that have gone down as ignominiously as we did last year. We were not plucky losers or unlucky to go down. We stank the place out most weeks. It was start from scratch not build on the good bits time. 

There exists a massive gap between the  “expectation” of fans this season after that utter tripe last year versus the practical reality. But it has been ever thus. Look at the EPL - there’s not one team not slated by its own supporters for not doing better.Moyes gave WHUFC a European trophy and top ten finishes yet he became the Antichrist. Go figure. 

 Not sure that’s fair on West Ham fans. They don’t play down the success they’ve had under Moyes but if you spoke to any match going West Ham they’d tell you the football is terrible to watch and domestically the results are increasingly getting worse. I think they want to enjoy their weekly football experience rather than unrealistic expectations.

Edited 9 May, 2024 by Fabrice29

[gio1saints]

28 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

 Not sure that’s fair on West Ham fans. They don’t play down the success they’ve had under Moyes but if you spoke to any match going West Ham they’d tell you the football is terrible to watch and domestically the results are increasingly getting worse. I think they want to enjoy their weekly football experience rather than unrealistic expectations.

Don’t disagree. They want to enjoy their match day experience AND win. We all do. But to “expect” it from Saints after what happened last season is a little bit over ambitious imo. 
 

The way Moyes approaches football is to concentrate 100% on the result and to some ( a vocal minority) it’s not been stylistically pretty enough on the eye especially as West Ham have that pretty football  reputation. 
I think they should be more grateful for what Moyes has done myself - like I think some Saints fans should be a little less ungracious about RM.
 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

1 hour ago, gio1saints said:

Don’t disagree. They want to enjoy their match day experience AND win. We all do. But to “expect” it from Saints after what happened last season is a little bit over ambitious imo. 
 

The way Moyes approaches football is to concentrate 100% on the result and to some ( a vocal minority) it’s not been stylistically pretty enough on the eye especially as West Ham have that pretty football  reputation. 
I think they should be more grateful for what Moyes has done myself - like I think some Saints fans should be a little less ungracious about RM.
 

West Ham have always had this utter bullshit notion of being the academy of football, perpetuated by the media. To view Moyes as anything but successful for them is very disrespectful to the guy. 

[tdmickey3]

2 hours ago, gio1saints said:

Don’t disagree. They want to enjoy their match day experience AND win. We all do. But to “expect” it from Saints after what happened last season is a little bit over ambitious imo. 
 

The way Moyes approaches football is to concentrate 100% on the result and to some ( a vocal minority) it’s not been stylistically pretty enough on the eye especially as West Ham have that pretty football  reputation. 
I think they should be more grateful for what Moyes has done myself - like I think some Saints fans should be a little less ungracious about RM.
 

We expected it and with our squad rightly so, if we don't get promotion we wont be expecting success next season as our squad will be far, far worse 

[Saint Fan CaM]

22 hours ago, Wyn said:

With Luke Williams now in charge Martin will finally recede in the rear view mirror for Swansea fans. 

Or if you’re a Saints supporter, more a case of receding into the distance and over the horizon outa sight? 😉

[Wyn]

12 hours ago, Fabrice29 said:

 

It's weird how the penny still hasn't quite dropped for how rubbish you’ve been since Martin left and under Williams specifically. Etc etc. 

I beg to differ. Williams rescued the season and has us back on the right trajectory. With a preseason behind him he should do well.

With regards to Martin I think he's fundamentally a good manager who's still young and growing as a coach.  When you get back to the Premier league he should thrive.

Interesting to note that the champions of the top 5 divisions all had 55% average possession or better (with top 3 in Premier league all over 58%) whilst all of the relegated sides in the top 4 divisions having less than 48% possession. When Swansea got to the Premier league they managed over 50% possession in their first season, spent next to nothing, and only missed out on a top half finish on goals scored. Possession football doesn't guarantee success but it's not far off.

[Master Bates]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13410111/Russell-Martin-likely-pay-job-Southampton-fail-secure-promotion-Saints-prepare-play-decider-West-Brom-goalless-draw-St-Marys.html

[CSA96]

16 minutes ago, Master Bates said:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13410111/Russell-Martin-likely-pay-job-Southampton-fail-secure-promotion-Saints-prepare-play-decider-West-Brom-goalless-draw-St-Marys.html

Seems like it is random speculation, just a case of an editor tarting up a match report to try and get people to read about a 0-0.

The reporter himself doesn't even really suggest it's likely.

From headline, to sub-heading, to opening line it goes will, may, could... 

Headline: Russell Martin will likely pay with his job if Southampton fail to secure promotion
Sub-heading: Russell Martin's job may well be at stake as Saints attempt to secure promotion
Opening line: Russell Martin heads into Friday’s play-off decider against West Bromwich Albion knowing that defeat could hasten the end of his time as Southampton manager.

Edited 13 May, 2024 by CSA96

[West end Saints]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0hxl2gt?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

 

Sounds like CEO doesn't agree

[Dusic]

10 hours ago, West end Saints said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0hxl2gt?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

 

Sounds like CEO doesn't agree

Parsons sounds like a common sense guy in all the interviews I have heard so far. A very underrated trait in football leadership.

Good to end the (IMO ridiculous) speculation that a manager who achieved 87 points in his first season, including a club record unbeaten run and who still may achieve promotion, could or should lose his job if potentially a couple of one off playoff games don't go his way.

[Whitey Grandad]

3 minutes ago, Dusic said:

Parsons sounds like a common sense guy in all the interviews I have heard so far. A very underrated trait in football leadership.

Good to end the (IMO ridiculous) speculation that a manager who achieved 87 points in his first season, including a club record unbeaten run and who still may achieve promotion, could or should lose his job if potentially a couple of one off playoff games don't go his way.

Please don’t harp on about the ‘record run’. Over the season we were unbeaten in eleven games. Whether these all came in a clump together or spread out evenly is irrelevant. It’s just a statistical variation.

Ipswich only lost six league games.

[badgerx16]

8 minutes ago, Dusic said:

Parsons sounds like a common sense guy in all the interviews I have heard so far. A very underrated trait in football leadership.

Good to end the (IMO ridiculous) speculation that a manager who achieved 87 points in his first season, including a club record unbeaten run and who still may achieve promotion, could or should lose his job if potentially a couple of one off playoff games don't go his way.

The club record unbeaten run gained us absolutely nothing in terms of points compared to Leeds and Leicester over that run of games.

[trousers]

I still maintain that the fabled "unbeaten run" was a factor in us not achieving automatic promotion...

("Trousers, you're an absolute buffoon for airing such nuthousery on an otherwise sane internet football forum")

Edited 13 May, 2024 by trousers

[Whitey Grandad]

13 minutes ago, trousers said:

I still maintain that the fabled "unbeaten run" was a factor in us not achieving automatic promotion...

("Trousers, you're an absolute buffoon for airing such nuthousery on an otherwise sane internet football forum")

One of many factors. I believe it stopped us from being brave enough.

[Dusic]

33 minutes ago, trousers said:

I still maintain that the fabled "unbeaten run" was a factor in us not achieving automatic promotion...

("Trousers, you're an absolute buffoon for airing such nuthousery on an otherwise sane internet football forum")

I think it was the games we lost either side of it that did that, specifically the 3 in 4 vs BC, Hull and Millwall after having got back in contention following the run of losses after the window shut.

I get we could have won a couple more of the games in that run rather than having drawn them but thisnis the Championship and overall its clearly something to celebrate (as happened at the time) as is clearly very rare to achieve. 

That some will use it as a stick to beat the manager is quite telling.

[CB Fry]

56 minutes ago, trousers said:

I still maintain that the fabled "unbeaten run" was a factor in us not achieving automatic promotion...

("Trousers, you're an absolute buffoon for airing such nuthousery on an otherwise sane internet football forum")

You're right. A win and a defeat better than two draws.

The main thing that stopped us getting automatics was our appalling goals against record.

Edited 13 May, 2024 by CB Fry

[FarehamSaintJames]

18 hours ago, Master Bates said:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13410111/Russell-Martin-likely-pay-job-Southampton-fail-secure-promotion-Saints-prepare-play-decider-West-Brom-goalless-draw-St-Marys.html

Classic Daily Mail non story.

[trousers]

5 hours ago, Dusic said:

I think it was the games we lost either side of it that did that [not achieving automatic promotion], specifically the 3 in 4 vs BC, Hull and Millwall after having got back in contention following the run of losses after the window shut.

We lost the same number of games as Leicester City, the league winners. Our defeats just happened to occur in bunches rather than being spread out. 

Edited 13 May, 2024 by trousers

[The Cat]

Anyone copped one of these? Will look great when we all turn up wearing one on Friday.

[The Cat]

Sorry, just noticed it was posted on another thread. 

[FarehamSaintJames]

If the worst happens and we don’t go up, I hope we stick with RM.

It would be foolish to go through another upheaval, and equally who are we likely to get that would be a better calibre - realistically?

[StrangelyBrown]

46 minutes ago, The Cat said:

Anyone copped one of these? Will look great when we all turn up wearing one on Friday.

That could be the noddiest thing I've ever seen from the club. Do you get a free giant foam hand and a red and white wig to go with it?