Russell Martin

[beatlesaint]

10 minutes ago, Pilchards said:

I would also go as far as saying that ask any Saints fan three weeks ago who you would like to take over as the manager fur Saints. Martin would not be in anyone’s top 30 of realistic targets.

Much in the same way Adkins and Pochettino wouldnt have been presumably?

You can skew that argument anyway you like, its pointless and irrelevant. 

[Smirking_Saint]

3 minutes ago, Pilchards said:

That’s a silly question because anyone realistic is possible if you sell the project to them and pay them decent wages.

Worked out we bought 100m worth of useless players last season. A half decent manager would of got better results out of the current squad even without wasting that 100m.

I would also go as far as saying that ask any Saints fan three weeks ago who you would like to take over as the manager fur Saints. Martin would not be in anyone’s top 30 of realistic targets.

Its a stupid gamble by Ankerson who’s proving to us that he has Drago by the balls with yet another pathetic managerial appointment.

 

ps 3rd post and out.

Ahh the old their choice is shit and I’ve provided absolutely no tangible argument whatsoever post

I’ll ignore the rest of the childish drivel 

I suppose we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see who you suggest would do a better job then 👍🏻

[Wade Garrett]

1 hour ago, Fabrice29 said:

Probably a good thing that we’re appointing someone who seemingly will prioritise us being much better at this then isn’t it? 

I’ll say it again, being angry at the idea of us passing the ball to each other is genuinely mental.

But understandable when you look at the really poor version of possession football we’ve been subjected to for a good while now.

[Wiggles31]

I’m coming round to Martin as a manager. There are many ways a possession team can play and hopefully it’s nearer to Adkins than Puel. The most important thing in the summer is to clear out the loser mentality which has plagued the club for some time now. Bringing in some experienced leadership quality players. Us fans will quickly get onside with some actual entertainment (goals, wins, hell even some shots on target!). 

[John Boy Saint]

1 minute ago, Wiggles31 said:

I’m coming round to Martin as a manager. There are many ways a possession team can play and hopefully it’s nearer to Adkins than Puel. The most important thing in the summer is to clear out the loser mentality which has plagued the club for some time now. Bringing in some experienced leadership quality players. Us fans will quickly get onside with some actual entertainment (goals, wins, hell even some shots on target!). 

You just had to get silly! 🤪

[CSA96]

1 hour ago, Colinjb said:

I'm veering towards this mentality. But, the fear of 'more of the same' is not going away. Similar tactical approach after the best part of 4 years of seeing our club wither away under such an approach.

I have absolutely no idea how anyone has looked at the last four years and concluded that we've been playing possession-heavy football under RS, NJ and RH.

This season alone, we rank second-last for possession (44.4%) and sixth-last for passing completion (77.4%) across the campaign.

Edited 23 May, 2023 by CSA96

[Colinjb]

12 minutes ago, CSA96 said:

I have absolutely no idea how anyone has looked at the last four years and concluded that we've been playing possession-heavy football under RS, NJ and RH.
 

Oh, we have not been doing it succesfully, but we have tried to.

[Smirking_Saint]

23 minutes ago, CSA96 said:

I have absolutely no idea how anyone has looked at the last four years and concluded that we've been playing possession-heavy football under RS, NJ and RH.

This season alone, we rank second-last for possession (44.4%) and sixth-last for passing completion (77.4%) across the campaign.

I’m glad somebody said it 😂

[suewhistle]

We pass it around at the back a lot, sometimes even quite successfully for periods of time.. When they talk about possession football does that include losing possession football?

Anyway, I can't remember when we last scored at home or when we last won so there is definitely room for improvement in that aspect of the game.

 

[Dusic]

41 minutes ago, Colinjb said:

Oh, we have not been doing it succesfully, but we have tried to.

We literally haven't. We have been a pressing team that is more concerned with what we do off the ball than on it.

Of course every team will pass the ball between defenders during a game, thats just normal.

But in no way have Saints been a possession based team since day one of Ralph to now.

Frankly anyone who thinks we have been playing or even trying to play a possession based style is clueless.

Edited 23 May, 2023 by Dusic

[Saint86]

Don't know enough about him other than they'll be plenty of goals at both ends.

What's clear is we'll need some clinical finishers, a rebuilt central midfield, a rebuilt defence, and a good keeper... that isn't changing whoever is manager 🤣

[Fabrice29]

1 hour ago, Wade Garrett said:

But understandable when you look at the really poor version of possession football we’ve been subjected to for a good while now.

I’d understand if we have actually been playing possession football but as has been pointed out a few times now, we simply haven’t. The only time we have more possession than the opposition is normally at home and it’s normally because teams rightly set up deep against us and concede the ball to us…because they know we’re clueless and they’ll pick us off. 

[Wade Garrett]

13 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

I’d understand if we have actually been playing possession football but as has been pointed out a few times now, we simply haven’t. The only time we have more possession than the opposition is normally at home and it’s normally because teams rightly set up deep against us and concede the ball to us…because they know we’re clueless and they’ll pick us off. 

I agree.  But I think we have been so blinded by our ineffective constant sideways and backwards passing, coupled with an embarrassing lack of movement, that we are confusing this with possession football.

Hopefully, the new manager will implement an effective passing game rather than the turgid shit we’ve put up with for too long.

[Nordic Saint]

23 hours ago, revolution saint said:

There's loads of stats bouncing around but if I understand you correctly, only 3 more teams conceded more than Swansea this season BUT only 4 teams were expected to concede less than Swansea.  Is it just that they have a shit keeper?

Well Swansea fans certainly don't seem too keen on him:

"When he goes, we will see a putrid goalkeeper replaced, the end of suicide defence passing and players being respected and nurtured playing in their best positions. It might see us enjoying watching us again."

 

Edited 23 May, 2023 by Nordic Saint

[pimpin4rizeal]

Interesting interview here https://www.coachesvoice.com/cv/russell-martin-interview-mkdons-swansea-guardiola/

at the minute I’m a bit torn on him but it’s a big positive that he seems to favour on the ball play to the off the ball dirge fest  we have had inflected upon us for so long ..  so that and getting away from the 442 are huge plusses for me and  also sounds like we will have our own identity which one would hope at best could be something like when Brendan Rogers had Swansea playing like Barca :)..

on the other hand he does sound very process over results .. Swansea fans seem to think the great run of form was after he ditched his process.. also in the interview when asked about plan b he refers to if you have that you  can’t believe in plan A too much..

At the moment though I just want as far away from this 442 Ralph selles shit as possible sick to death of that approach now at least this guy sounds like he wants to play football and dominate the ball so happy to give him a go 

[InvictaSaint]

5 minutes ago, Nordic Saint said:

Well Swansea fans certainly don't seem too keen on him:

"When he goes, we will see a putrid goalkeeper replaced, the end of suicide defence passing and players being respected and nurtured playing in their best positions. It might see us enjoying watching us again."

 

Very selective. Does this not count then? 

[Suhari]

1 hour ago, InvictaSaint said:

Very selective. Does this not count then? 

Crikey. Football fans are a strange lot aren't they.

[Saint86]

1 hour ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

Interesting interview here https://www.coachesvoice.com/cv/russell-martin-interview-mkdons-swansea-guardiola/

at the minute I’m a bit torn on him but it’s a big positive that he seems to favour on the ball play to the off the ball dirge fest  we have had inflected upon us for so long ..  so that and getting away from the 442 are huge plusses for me and  also sounds like we will have our own identity which one would hope at best could be something like when Brendan Rogers had Swansea playing like Barca :)..

on the other hand he does sound very process over results .. Swansea fans seem to think the great run of form was after he ditched his process.. also in the interview when asked about plan b he refers to if you have that you  can’t believe in plan A too much..

At the moment though I just want as far away from this 442 Ralph selles shit as possible sick to death of that approach now at least this guy sounds like he wants to play football and dominate the ball so happy to give him a go 

Reading that, it sounds like he is being hired to be part of a project with the intention of being given time. Which suggests possibly a stabilising approach to the championship and building towards promotion - Or at least, that is Martin's comfort zone.

[HKsaint]

10 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

Reading that, it sounds like he is being hired to be part of a project with the intention of being given time. Which suggests possibly a stabilising approach to the championship and building towards promotion - Or at least, that is Martin's comfort zone.

I’m afraid it will turn out to be another relegation battle. 

[pimpin4rizeal]

8 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

Reading that, it sounds like he is being hired to be part of a project with the intention of being given time. Which suggests possibly a stabilising approach to the championship and building towards promotion - Or at least, that is Martin's comfort zone.

I think at the moment the main issue with martin is that he’s been very process over results so far in his career .. his teams play good possession football but he’s yet to rip up trees results wise ..

im all for us playing good football and getting away from the 442 off the ball pressing dirge but this time martin needs to also deliver results wise as well as just playing pretty football with his philosophy 

[Badger]

On 22/05/2023 at 09:34, Smirking_Saint said:

We are still an attractive appointment but Rodgers/Potter are out of our reach

No matter the waffle being said about Martin he has more league experience than the likes of Vieira or Gerrard or even a Jaissle or Gallardo

Carrick/Corberan didn’t want to move

Moyes would be attractive IF/WHEN he gets released but I wouldn’t want the club to wait and he just doesn’t fit the philosophies wanted right now

So who else are we left with ?

Mowbray ? Not for me

Warnock ? Absolutely not

I see people like to talk about risk but will happily look at Vieira etc that has zero championship experience and so, in my mind, carries as much risk as Martin

Some intersting points there.

Are you saying that Carrick and Corberan were approached ?

Of the other names you mention I see it as a balance of risk and reward . From what I've read of them Jaissie and Gallardo possibly offer a greater scope for improvement at the club, especially if they were to get us back up to the EPL but would cost more. Their inexperience of both English football in general and and the Championship in particular will be seen as a greater risk. As things stand it appears we've gone for what is probably seen as a steadier but less spectacular pair of hands (with the potential to improve).

Of the other names you mention, I wouldn't have been against the idea of Mowbray who always struck me as a solid 'proper football man ' at heart. All opinions of course.

[Chez]

3 hours ago, CSA96 said:

I have absolutely no idea how anyone has looked at the last four years and concluded that we've been playing possession-heavy football under RS, NJ and RH.

This season alone, we rank second-last for possession (44.4%) and sixth-last for passing completion (77.4%) across the campaign.

The stats obviously show we haven't had possession of the football, but we've certainly tried to be a possession-based side. The simple fact of the  matter is we just ain't been good enough individually and collectively to keep the ball - especially when moving out of the comfort zone of our own third of the pitch. 

[Chez]

I was wondering about the benefit of appointing Martin right now and perhaps getting a week to train with the players and see what he has. I assume he will have a say as to who he wants to retain and who he is happy to be released and sold etc.? I get the feeling the manager's say has got a lot smaller as the players wages have got a lot bigger.  

When the final game is over, I think players do come in the following week, mostly to wind down and debrief. But if they are contracted until the end of June (and onwards), can they be made to train for a week or two at the end of a season? I would imagine players want to get off on holiday immediately and the holiday period is agreed well in advance. Just wondered...

[OttawaSaint]

So we're getting in another guy with who talks a good talk but can't get it done on the scoreboard?

FFS, when will these clowns ever learn. It'll take forever for the squad to learn the system, by that time we'll be fighting relegation and the players will be bereft of confidence.

We need a name to come in and galvanize the squad, get us playing with a bit of confidence and swagger.

[derry]

My favourite team is and always will be Saints, warts and all. My biggest criticism is that after Koeman we got Puel, Pellegrino, Hughes (He kept us up, just.) Hasenhuttl (good for a couple of years then lost it), then it's a WTF spell, Jones and gobbledygook Selles. We got our comeuppence. Time after time unbalanced sides picked plus the sideways and backwards in our defensive turd. We need a reset so I'm prepared to give Martin a go and see if he can clear out the dross and get us playing.

As an addendum to the above let me be clear, my favourite team for the last few years, anybody managed by Pep Guardiola. Now it's almost as good as it gets with Manchester City. That's what I call possession football with a purpose to grind the opposition down and a deluge of goals. I'd like my team to play that way. Give it a go, failing that pace and power and go direct. Aimless ball recycling as indulged in by us isn't possession football. JWP etc recycling the ball back to the keeper from our opponent's goal line isn't either. Any player that isn't comfortable cannot be picked. 

[Saint86]

58 minutes ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

I think at the moment the main issue with martin is that he’s been very process over results so far in his career .. his teams play good possession football but he’s yet to rip up trees results wise ..

im all for us playing good football and getting away from the 442 off the ball pressing dirge but this time martin needs to also deliver results wise as well as just playing pretty football with his philosophy 

Its risky for sure. Implications are that the plan is to consolidate and then build for promotion, but that requires fan patience with whatever we get at the start. I could maybe see this as a viable plan if we were intending to keep at least some of our better players - i.e. JWP/Lavia, ABK, Alcaraz, Adams etc. But by all accounts we're pretty much shifting anyone good out of the club... So we're going to reset to a championship level of squad entirely.

Martin doesn't appear to have much experience of quickly turning things around (even at MK it took him time and he new the dressing room inside out). But at saints, as fans we will surely demand performances from the get go - there has been remarkably no real reaction yet from the fans re relegation, but surely a bad start upon landing in the championship and it is going to turn incredibly toxic and hostile?!

I think he could be good if we keep some of our genuinely better players for him to build a spine around at least...

[pimpin4rizeal]

19 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

Its risky for sure. Implications are that the plan is to consolidate and then build for promotion, but that requires fan patience with whatever we get at the start. I could maybe see this as a viable plan if we were intending to keep at least some of our better players - i.e. JWP/Lavia, ABK, Alcaraz, Adams etc. But by all accounts we're pretty much shifting anyone good out of the club... So we're going to reset to a championship level of squad entirely.

Martin doesn't appear to have much experience of quickly turning things around (even at MK it took him time and he new the dressing room inside out). But at saints, as fans we will surely demand performances from the get go - there has been remarkably no real reaction yet from the fans re relegation, but surely a bad start upon landing in the championship and it is going to turn incredibly toxic and hostile?!

I think he could be good if we keep some of our genuinely better players for him to build a spine around at least...

I think the idea is probably like how Rogers had Swansea playing ..if it works out,which I think we would all be happy with..

Alcaraz I think will be main man next season and think we will be pretty decent in the wide forwards or tens area too ..sulemana edozie or even if we somehow manage to keep tella could all tear it up in the championship so that’s a nice start to the squad .. I think it could be a enjoyable season tbh 

Edited 23 May, 2023 by pimpin4rizeal

[Saint Garrett]

6 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Far too simplistic. It’s the direction of passing that matters. And the motivation behind it.

Passing back from striker to midfield to defender to goalkeeper, bad.

Passing from goalkeeper to defender to midfield to striker, good.

Passing from fullback to defender to defender to other fullback, pointless waste of time.

Assume you haven't been watching City this season, or Brighton, or the Barcelona of 10 years ago. 

It's about keeping the ball. With intent yes, but keep the ball.  If you need to go back then fine, I have no problem with it, I'd much rather we went backwards than give it straight back to the opposition because there is no one to pass to. It becomes far easier passing the ball forwards when you have some quality players in the final third. WHen you have the likes of Elyounoussi, Sulemena, Theo, Djenepo, Armstrong, Mara, Onuachu up front, then it's not a surprise we end up going backwards.

You watch some of the best teams in the world and they will go forward and backwards and side to side, and back again, back into midfield, back to defence constantly. Brighton a great example this season and look how impressive theyve been.

[aintforever]

He’s not the sort of manager I would have gone for, for me the priority has to be sorting the squad out, then getting the players organised and motivated. I don’t think it matters one bit what style of play we have just as long as it gets results.

The squad needs major surgery, and a manager who can tell straight away who he needs in the squad to get promotion. There will be overpaid ex-prem players who will be wanting away and youngsters devoid of any confidence. It’s going to be a hard job to build a team capable of challenging, I just think it’s a job that, in the current situation, would suit someone with stature who demands respect and knows how to get promoted. It would also be bonus if he is someone who excites the fans and galvanizes the whole club.

Guess we can only wait and see, at least Martin knows the league and at least they appear to be getting things done early on.

[Whitey Grandad]

18 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

Assume you haven't been watching City this season, or Brighton, or the Barcelona of 10 years ago. 

It's about keeping the ball. With intent yes, but keep the ball.  If you need to go back then fine, I have no problem with it, I'd much rather we went backwards than give it straight back to the opposition because there is no one to pass to. It becomes far easier passing the ball forwards when you have some quality players in the final third. WHen you have the likes of Elyounoussi, Sulemena, Theo, Djenepo, Armstrong, Mara, Onuachu up front, then it's not a surprise we end up going backwards.

You watch some of the best teams in the world and they will go forward and backwards and side to side, and back again, back into midfield, back to defence constantly. Brighton a great example this season and look how impressive theyve been.

Of course I’ve been watching them. Just as I had been watching good teams over the past six decades. They weren’t all like this. The great Spurs teams of the sixties with their ‘tip and run’ were an example of another way of doing it.
 

It needs to be done with pace and purpose. Something that pulls the other team out of its defensive shape.

[S-Clarke]

In the last couple of years I feel that we've lost our identity, we've got a bit confused. When Ralph first came in we were a clear high pressing team, counter pressing for fun. Eventually, as Liverpool also discovered in this league, that was found out and teams came up with ways to not just 'nullify' you - but to actually expose the gaping holes that style of play leaves, if you beat the press then you have ample chances.

For me, that 0-9 game changed a lot. We did go on a decent run shortly after that, weirdly, but a fear had crept into our game and slowly but surely we became more and more risk adverse and we focused more on what we did without the ball (to protect ourselves) than what we did when we had it. That's confused us because we're crap defensively anyway, but we've then nullified our attack through style and also the loss of personal (Ings), so it's been a recipe for disaster really.

'If' we can bring ourselves back with a style that we all know, a philosophy that we can all coach towards, then I think it will help. We can then also start recruiting players for the right style, rather than this mis-match of recruitment we have been doing in recent years.

As much as I enjoyed 'gegenpressing', I think it's had it's time (2015-2019 ish) and now we are entering back into an era of tika-taka style football. As long as we have the substance to go with the style then I don't see it as a bad thing to focus on keeping the ball, it will certainly be more productive than focusing on what we do without the ball.

[saint michael]

All the stats flying around…does anyone have one for the percentage of back or sideways passes. Bet we are top of this league

[Saint Garrett]

39 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Of course I’ve been watching them. Just as I had been watching good teams over the past six decades. They weren’t all like this. The great Spurs teams of the sixties with their ‘tip and run’ were an example of another way of doing it.
 

It needs to be done with pace and purpose. Something that pulls the other team out of its defensive shape.

Of course, but generally the best teams over the years have had the most possession.  Of course there are exceptions to the rule, but most of the time, the teams with the biggest possession finish the highest up the league. We need to make sure they bring in the right players to play that way, but I do believe we have a decent core at the club now. With 3 or 4 attacking players brought in this summer, we'll be able to stretch teams which allows us more space in midfield to play and keep the ball.

[Saint Garrett]

7 minutes ago, saint michael said:

All the stats flying around…does anyone have one for the percentage of back or sideways passes. Bet we are top of this league

Is that a surprise? We have the worst attacking players so of course we're going to have the most sideways and backwards passes. Especially if theyre trying to keep the ball. Whats the point in just aimlessy booting it up the pitch to no-one?

[Smirking_Saint]

3 hours ago, Badger said:

Some intersting points there.

Are you saying that Carrick and Corberan were approached ?

Of the other names you mention I see it as a balance of risk and reward . From what I've read of them Jaissie and Gallardo possibly offer a greater scope for improvement at the club, especially if they were to get us back up to the EPL but would cost more. Their inexperience of both English football in general and and the Championship in particular will be seen as a greater risk. As things stand it appears we've gone for what is probably seen as a steadier but less spectacular pair of hands (with the potential to improve).

Of the other names you mention, I wouldn't have been against the idea of Mowbray who always struck me as a solid 'proper football man ' at heart. All opinions of course.

I believe their may have been inquiries into Carrick but were quickly rebuffed, Corberan I’m not sure about but was chatting to someone I know in the industry a few weeks back and was basically told we wouldn’t get much from Corberan who wants a run at promotion with WBA this year…. From what little info I have and trying to piece in the holes we interviewed a couple of names, sounded out some coaches.. for instance its in the public domain we could have got Potter if we were still a prem side BUT he is now looking at other options, I read about Nice but I wouldn’t put much money on him going there I think he wants to stay in England

Jaissle was basically a no now because he prefers pressing football

Gallardo ? I’m not sure why he hasn’t been approached by any European clubs yet but I think most in the industry see him as a bit of a risk, I think he’ll pitch up at a middling La Liga club first and we’ll see where he goes from there

Mowbray.. yeah he’s steady but really not particularly inspiring, has plenty of experience of this division though. The more I read and hear about Martin the more optimistic I get, but he’ll need to be backed, which I think he will be. He’s a good progressive coach, if he wasn’t coming to us I think he’d be at a club vying for promotion next year anyway IMO

[Smirking_Saint]

3 hours ago, Chez said:

The stats obviously show we haven't had possession of the football, but we've certainly tried to be a possession-based side. The simple fact of the  matter is we just ain't been good enough individually and collectively to keep the ball - especially when moving out of the comfort zone of our own third of the pitch. 

We’ve been fucking awful but we certainly haven’t attempted to be a possession based side, go and ask any coach what our tactical philosophy is and Id wager none will say possession based. Passing a ball around and looking for option’s doesn’t make us a possession side by the way.

Our MO is to try to catch the oppo in favourable positions in and around their penalty area, unfortunately we genuinely have very very little threat/build up other than that, but it has got even worse under the end of Ralph/Selles… teams know if they leave us on the ball we’re ponderous and toothless, hence the passing back.. because frankly our attacking bank of four make very few penetrating runs outside of Theo

[Smirking_Saint]

15 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

Is that a surprise? We have the worst attacking players so of course we're going to have the most sideways and backwards passes. Especially if theyre trying to keep the ball. Whats the point in just aimlessy booting it up the pitch to no-one?

Funnily enough, early Ralph this was a tactical play… was soon found out though

Bang it forward, initiate the press immediately and hope for a poor pass or touch, it was somewhat effective at first

[Sunglasses Ron]

In a massive plot twist, it turns out that we are actually after Martin Russell, who apparently has even better metrics!

 

Edited 23 May, 2023 by Sunglasses Ron

[edprice1984]

A couple of things since my post last week re RM, whether we could 'do better', what that might look like and the style of football.

Firstly, to cover off whether we could 'do better than RM'. Can you name me realistic options out there at the moment who would be looking to join a newly relegated football club with a despondent fan base, a dressing room which clearly needs a lot of work, a mixture of players who are not good enough, in horrible form or who need to leave and an ownership who have so far made every bad decision possible?

They aren't likely to be household names, or if they are there is probably a very good reason why they are now available!

Re the style of football. We may have played a number of games where we had the majority of possession, but this is because most teams (outside of the top 6) now try to play counter attacking, transitional football with a high press. Once you have had your initial press bypassed, the safest thing to do is to fall back into a system and wait for the opponent with possession to make a mistake. We are exactly the same. The difference between us and others is that we have had very average forward line who couldn't hit a cows arse with a banjo.

Personally I find possession football without an attacking intent - see Claude Puel - incredibly boring and most teams now know how to combat this. Be compact and aggressive around the box, forcing play out wide as much as possible. 

I can't get too excited about who the next manager is because the bulk of the squad aren't suited to the Championship anyway. Ironically the two signings made in January (Tall Paul and Kamaldeen) are actually the most suited in my opinion. (Although I am clearly going to be proven wrong when they are dreadful next season too).

[Sheaf Saint]

17 minutes ago, Sunglasses Ron said:

In a massive plot twist, it turns out that we are actually after Martin Russell, who apparently has even better metrics!

 

He looks as though this sacking came as quite a surprise.

[Sunglasses Ron]

13 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

He looks as though this sacking came as quite a surprise.

Probably the same face as when Nathan Jones found out we wanted to offer him a job!

[qwertyell]

47 minutes ago, Smirking_Saint said:

Gallardo ? I’m not sure why he hasn’t been approached by any European clubs yet but I think most in the industry see him as a bit of a risk

He turned down Ajax a few months ago. Linked with PSG recently - who he played for.

Seems to be waiting around for the right job, not just any old offer. I suspect a Championship basket case run by a spreadsheet wanker is probably not the one.

[SherborneSaint]

2 hours ago, derry said:

My favourite team is and always will be Saints, warts and all. My biggest criticism is that after Koeman we got Puel, Pellegrino, Hughes (He kept us up, just.) Hasenhuttl (good for a couple of years then lost it), then it's a WTF spell, Jones and gobbledygook Selles. We got our comeuppence. Time after time unbalanced sides picked plus the sideways and backwards in our defensive turd. We need a reset so I'm prepared to give Martin a go and see if he can clear out the dross and get us playing.

As an addendum to the above let me be clear, my favourite team for the last few years, anybody managed by Pep Guardiola. Now it's almost as good as it gets with Manchester City. That's what I call possession football with a purpose to grind the opposition down and a deluge of goals. I'd like my team to play that way. Give it a go, failing that pace and power and go direct. Aimless ball recycling as indulged in by us isn't possession football. JWP etc recycling the ball back to the keeper from our opponent's goal line isn't either. Any player that isn't comfortable cannot be picked. 

What he said…

 

Our incoming Head of Recruitment has a job on his hands. Signing the right players (rather than the biggest name players) will be so important. Hopefully we will have some money to spend, but there will be a lot of players that need to be recruited. 
 

Having the right players for the manager will be key. For too long, that has not been the case for SFC

[HarvSFC]

1 minute ago, SherborneSaint said:

Having the right players for the manager will be key. For too long, that has not been the case for SFC

Hasn't happened since Koeman, and we did really well under Koeman, so might be a bit too obvious for the decision makers.

[Yorkshire Saint]

1 hour ago, Saint Garrett said:

Of course, but generally the best teams over the years have had the most possession.  Of course there are exceptions to the rule, but most of the time, the teams with the biggest possession finish the highest up the league. We need to make sure they bring in the right players to play that way, but I do believe we have a decent core at the club now. With 3 or 4 attacking players brought in this summer, we'll be able to stretch teams which allows us more space in midfield to play and keep the ball.

Who do you believe will definitely leave?

[skintsaint]

Has he signed yet?

[Yorkshire Saint]

He is quite active on LinkedIn (not checked other and more social media as I dont use them) but if LinkedIn is anything to go by he has other business interests and is a little entrepreneurial which I would imagine is a massive box ticked for SR.

Edited 23 May, 2023 by Yorkshire Saint

[S-Clarke]

4 minutes ago, Yorkshire Saint said:

He is quite active on LinkedIn (not checked other and more social media as I dont use them) but if LinkedIn is anything to go by he has other business interests and is a little entrepreneurial which I would imagine is a massive box ticked for SR.

Doesn't he have some sort of footballing academy in Brighton, or did I make that up?

If that is true then he's a bit entrepreneurial as I believe he set that up himself.

Edited 23 May, 2023 by S-Clarke

[Yorkshire Saint]

3 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Doesn't he have some sort of footballing academy in Brighton, or did I make that up?

If that is true then he's a bit entrepreneurial as I believe he set that up himself.

Thats right:

www.russellmartinfoundation.co.uk

Also, www.erpinghamhouse.com which doesn't look to have turned out so well, and...

www.cryobright.co.uk

 

 

[Fabrice29]

35 minutes ago, skintsaint said:

Has he signed yet?

Nope. Actually can't wait for him to pull out of the running by the end of the week so all the people who don't want him can be even more angry that we didn't get it done.