Russell Martin

[Farmer Saint]

12 minutes ago, beatlesaint said:

Another issue with Russball is, just watching it, sucks the life out of you....well it does me.

Looking at our next 5 home games up to and inc Boxing Day - Liverpool x 2, Chelsea, Spurs & West Ham - all of those are live on Sky/BT/Prime so where is the desire for us out of towners to actually not just put our tickets on the Exchange thing and stay home? Its not fun anymore and the entertainment value is almost nil. 

Do it - maybe some of the people on here that want to boo the board can put their money where their mouth is and actually go to a game to protest.

[Whitey Grandad]

29 minutes ago, beatlesaint said:

Another issue with Russball is, just watching it, sucks the life out of you....well it does me.

Looking at our next 5 home games up to and inc Boxing Day - Liverpool x 2, Chelsea, Spurs & West Ham - all of those are live on Sky/BT/Prime so where is the desire for us out of towners to actually not just put our tickets on the Exchange thing and stay home? Its not fun anymore and the entertainment value is almost nil. 

The problem is that it doesn’t suck the life out of the opposition.

[tdmickey3]

44 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

Do it - maybe some of the people on here that want to boo the board can put their money where their mouth is and actually go to a game to protest.

To busy muckin` out

[Barsiem]

Why is he still here??  70+% possession with zero shots on target against what was the worst defence in the PL should surely be the final straw...

[ally_uk]

Perfectly opportunity to make the change now....... 

[franniesTache]

3 hours ago, beatlesaint said:

Another issue with Russball is, just watching it, sucks the life out of you....well it does me.

Looking at our next 5 home games up to and inc Boxing Day - Liverpool x 2, Chelsea, Spurs & West Ham - all of those are live on Sky/BT/Prime so where is the desire for us out of towners to actually not just put our tickets on the Exchange thing and stay home? Its not fun anymore and the entertainment value is almost nil. 

I genuinely think this is the least i've enjoyed watching Saints play since Branfoot (and at least under Branfoot we had Le Tiss).

The "style" of play is dire, a million passes in areas that make no difference to the game, followed by a mistake that costs us the game and no mental strength in the team which means most times one goal turns into three as their heads drop.

Then post game we have to listen to a bloke that is completely delusional tell us how it's positive and brave, and that all of us that watch it are wrong.

Couple that with the god awful linked in speak that the more visible parts of the ownership stuff in our face and it's absolutely everything wrong with modern football.

How anyone can enjoy watching the footballing equivalent of beige every week i can't understand. How the owners can't see what everyone else does, that repeating the same failed tactic every single week has the same result baffles me. How Martin can be so fucking arrogant to think it's working and great angers me. 

[Gloucester Saint]

3 hours ago, Farmer Saint said:

Do it - maybe some of the people on here that want to boo the board can put their money where their mouth is and actually go to a game to protest.

Been there with Branfoot and Lowe already as separate examples.
Tried to with Pellegrino as did others at SMS but we didn’t get buy-in until it was almost too late. Difference with Branfoot and Lowe was that the club had a fragmented ownership structure which had many drawbacks around attracting investment but it also meant that the protests would cause embarrassment and friction would build up across the different stakeholders. Even then, it was really the boycott in 08/09 and 9k gate v Ipswich which broke the board’s stubbornness. 

This time around, Dragan will only take notice that we want firstly Martin and Martinball gone, and then SR restructured with Rasmus and Kraft out of it with swathes of empty seats at SMS on the TV, given why SR bought us in the first place. This season it won’t hit financially, mainly reputationally, but next year when the gate revenue becomes far more of a factor in sustainability, their concerns will multiply. 

Edited Monday at 13:09 by Gloucester Saint

[gammon cheeks]

There has been no improvement and there will be no improvement with this manager . ..I look at Ipswich yesterday ...high energy football and high pressing with getting it forward quicker making a lot of chances for their strikers .  Martins football is dull and boring and creates fuck all !  if he is not gone in this international break then he never will!

[ecuk268]

14 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Been there with Branfoot and Lowe already. Tried to with Pellegrino as did others at SMS but we didn’t get buy-in until it was almost too late. Difference with Branfoot and Lowe was that the club had a fragmented ownership structure which had many drawbacks around attracting investment but it also meant that the protests would cause embarrassment and friction would build up across the different stakeholders. Even then, it was really the boycott in 08/09 and 9k gate v Ipswich which broke the board’s stubbornness. 

 

2 separate things.

Branfoot was long gone when Lowe arrived.

The Ipswich game was December '93.

[Gloucester Saint]

10 minutes ago, ecuk268 said:

2 separate things.

Branfoot was long gone when Lowe arrived.

The Ipswich game was December '93.

I meant them as separate events, have amended the OP accordingly to be clearer on my part.

And the Ipswich gate - there were less than the recorded 9k in the ground as well - was a big factor for the board (this I’m ITK on) as were the difficulties in getting shirt sponsorship- Dimplex stepped in the last minute as a favour. They got a big reward in 94/95 post-Branfoot with MLT, Bally and Lawrie.

They are separate but pertinent examples of where our fans were prepared to stand up and challenge the club’s leadership to improve massively. But where the protests also included staying away and hitting them in the pockets.

Our modern fanbase won’t protest in or around the ground like we did in the early 90s and late 00s - saw it with Pellegrino where the football was as bad as now with a much better squad - but they might stay away given the significantly increased cost for the appalling quality on offer.

Edited Monday at 13:11 by Gloucester Saint

[Maggie May]

I remember the Branford toxicity but can anyone remember what the atmosphere was like when things were really bad under Merrington, Souness and Jones? This is an era pre internet forums so I’m interested to know if it was equally as vitriolic towards them as it is to Martin currently. 

[tdmickey3]

Just now, Maggie May said:

I remember the Branford toxicity but can anyone remember what the atmosphere was like when things were really bad under Merrington, Souness and Jones? This is an era pre internet forums so I’m interested to know if it was equally as vitriolic towards them as it is to Martin currently. 

There is no vitriol now really but a lot of clapping like seals from those trying to grow a beard

[franniesTache]

3 minutes ago, Maggie May said:

I remember the Branford toxicity but can anyone remember what the atmosphere was like when things were really bad under Merrington, Souness and Jones? This is an era pre internet forums so I’m interested to know if it was equally as vitriolic towards them as it is to Martin currently. 

Merrington had a fairly easy ride if i remember rightly, a few vocal people who got on his back but nothing like what Branfoot had. Jones did get a fair amount of abuse, including some pretty bad stuff when rumours about his private life started to come out. But again it wasn't really much more than a few boos and angry calls to Solent.

Souness - weirdly - seemed to be liked by a large chunk of our fanbase, something i never understood as i always thought he was absolutely woeful as a manager. In fact there was a sizeable amount of fans who didn't want him gone.

[lumuah]

Branfoot was absolutely hated. You could feel the hatred and anger in the crowd at every match. 

Martin gets none of that. Generally I think he is a decent bloke who is doing his best. Unfortunately that best is woefully inadequate for the Prem, and you can tell in his body language he is waiting to be put out of his misery. 

 

[Gloucester Saint]

2 hours ago, Maggie May said:

I remember the Branford toxicity but can anyone remember what the atmosphere was like when things were really bad under Merrington, Souness and Jones? This is an era pre internet forums so I’m interested to know if it was equally as vitriolic towards them as it is to Martin currently. 

Similar to Frannie’s Tache, the odd person had a go about Merrington but not the bulk who knew he had a difficult job, one he never wanted in the first place either, which was also quite widely known. Way the club treated him was a disgrace with his wife seriously ill. So sad to see him upset on Meridian. 

Souness - brought in some really interesting players eg Egil, Claus, Eyal and he was still a big name then. Rangers were the dominant UK club late 80s buying the top English players, Liverpool wrong place wrong time but still won the FA Cup, Galatasaray. Probably why he didn’t get stick for the Stockport game. If you kept us up with a 15,000 stadium and no owner like Bournemouth’s, you done alright. I think Souness came to buy the club with investors from what I heard but the dodgy Secure Retirement reverse takeover happened. Sanderson our shirt sponsors also wanted to buy the club but Askham was up to no good.

Jones - very popular in the first season, didn’t use the Davies windfall well and were bottom three until three games from the end, good start 99/00 and then a horror run of form. Fans less sold on him tactically but got fully behind him over those dreadful allegations. I never met a Saints fan who thought they were true. Liverpool, Derby and when he was at Wolves, skates fans sang about it - shame on them.

Edited Monday at 16:29 by Gloucester Saint

[Teamsaint1]

1 hour ago, Gloucester Saint said:

I meant them as separate events, have amended the OP accordingly to be clearer on my part.

And the Ipswich gate - there were less than the recorded 9k in the ground as well - was a big factor for the board (this I’m ITK on) as were the difficulties in getting shirt sponsorship- Dimplex stepped in the last minute as a favour. They got a big reward in 94/95 post-Branfoot with MLT, Bally and Lawrie.

They are separate but pertinent examples of where our fans were prepared to stand up and challenge the club’s leadership to improve massively. But where the protests also included staying away and hitting them in the pockets.

Our modern fanbase won’t protest in or around the ground like we did in the early 90s and late 00s - saw it with Pellegrino where the football was as bad as now with a much better squad - but they might stay away given the significantly increased cost for the appalling quality on offer.

I think it was terrible weather that night  too. Or it had been during the day Certainly the smallest crowd for any first team game I can recall. I was stood on the Milton with a large area all to myself.

And we played badly. And Lost. 

[SWLondon Saint]

1 hour ago, franniesTache said:

I genuinely think this is the least i've enjoyed watching Saints play since Branfoot (and at least under Branfoot we had Le Tiss).

The "style" of play is dire, a million passes in areas that make no difference to the game, followed by a mistake that costs us the game and no mental strength in the team which means most times one goal turns into three as their heads drop.

---

How anyone can enjoy watching the footballing equivalent of beige every week i can't understand. How the owners can't see what everyone else does, that repeating the same failed tactic every single week has the same result baffles me. How Martin can be so fucking arrogant to think it's working and great angers me. 

I honestly think part of the reason the players' heads drop when we concede is that no-one feels we have a chance to get back into it because the way they've been told to play creates so few chances.

If we knew we could create chances and were regularly having lots of shots then the players would be much more up for a comeback. But you never see Martin pushing the team forward on the sidelines. We stick on a giant upfront but the message is still play it short. So if he can't be bothered why should the players?

[coalman]

A betting supercomputer predicts we're going to get 2 points more than Derby. That's right - 13. In your face haters.

[lumuah]

1 hour ago, coalman said:

A betting supercomputer predicts we're going to get 2 points more than Derby. That's right - 13. In your face haters.

It's clearly not that super - it reckons we will score 36 goals! 

[beatlesaint]

1 hour ago, lumuah said:

Branfoot was absolutely hated. You could feel the hatred and anger in the crowd at every match. 

Martin gets none of that. Generally I think he is a decent bloke who is doing his best. Unfortunately that best is woefully inadequate for the Prem, and you can tell in his body language he is waiting to be put out of his misery. 

 

I wonder if it would be like that for Martin if he had to make that long walk along the touch line to the dug out like Branfoot had to? By the time he got there the abuse and booing was fever pitch towards the end…..I was almost gonna say “ah the good old days” but they were far from that…..although we did try and score occasionally unlike this passive shite

[miserableoldgit]

1 minute ago, beatlesaint said:

I wonder if it would be like that for Martin if he had to make that long walk along the touch line to the dug out like Branfoot had to? By the time he got there the abuse and booing was fever pitch towards the end…..I was almost gonna say “ah the good old days” but they were far from that…..although we did try and score occasionally unlike this passive shite

I have been watching Saints since the 50's, and Branfoot really WAS hated.....probably the most hated Saints manager that I have seen. It wasn't just the football which was dire, he really didn't come across as a decent bloke. I remember after one televised game he was being quite politely interviewed and when the interviewer referred to a particular incident in the game and she pointed toward the TV monitor, he angrily said something like "I know where the monitor is!" Might seem trivial. but it was embarrasing to watch. He worked at the club as a coach when i helped run the Travel Club, and a lot of staff said that he was going to make a good manager one day......how wrong they were!

[Farmer Saint]

1 hour ago, coalman said:

A betting supercomputer predicts we're going to get 2 points more than Derby. That's right - 13. In your face haters.

Where's that Octopus when you need him?

[Gloucester Saint]

2 hours ago, Teamsaint1 said:

I think it was terrible weather that night  too. Or it had been during the day Certainly the smallest crowd for any first team game I can recall. I was stood on the Milton with a large area all to myself.

And we played badly. And Lost. 

0-1 to a late flicked header.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

24 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

Where's that Octopus when you need him?

If it's working on it's coaching badges, it's in.

[Whitey Grandad]

59 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

Where's that Octopus when you need him?

Can he play in goal?

[coalman]

1 hour ago, Farmer Saint said:

Where's that Octopus when you need him?

The Octopus is holding out for the Leicester job. He wouldn't return our calls.

[verlaine1979]

So he's not fucked off yet then. Bah.

[Lord Duckhunter]

Souness hitting the nail on head. Said if Lego head rang up all the top managers and asked them how they wanted us to play against them, they’d want us to play RussBall. That trying to out pass and out play better sides is madness.
 

He then went on to add that he played for the best passing side in the country, yet they unnerved opposition sides by knocking it in behind for Ian Rush to chase early on. The opposition then played deeper, frightened of Rush’s pace, and this then gave space for their passing game to control the game. He said the way Lego sets us up,  sides are just going to press and press keeping a high line, safe in the knowledge we always try and play through them. We can do it in the championship because we’ve got better players than most sides, but it won’t work at this level….

[pingpong]

3 hours ago, coalman said:

A betting supercomputer predicts we're going to get 2 points more than Derby. That's right - 13. In your face haters.

So all this fuss on  this thread and we're actually bang on our target? Insanity.

Edited Monday at 17:40 by pingpong

[Gloucester Saint]

26 minutes ago, coalman said:

The Octopus is holding out for the Leicester job. He wouldn't return our calls.

Has good energy I heard

[Fitzhugh Fella]

3 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Similar to Frannie’s Tache, the odd person had a go about Merrington but not the bulk who knew he had a difficult job, one he never wanted in the first place either, which was also quite widely known. Way the club treated him was a disgrace with his wife seriously ill. So sad to see him upset on Meridian. 

Souness - brought in some really interesting players eg Egil, Claus, Eyal and he was still a big name then. Rangers were the dominant UK club late 80s buying the top English players, Liverpool wrong place wrong time but still won the FA Cup, Galatasaray. Probably why he didn’t get stick for the Stockport game. If you kept us up with a 15,000 stadium and no owner like Bournemouth’s, you done alright. I think Souness came to buy the club with investors from what I heard but the dodgy Secure Retirement reverse takeover happened. Sanderson our shirt sponsors also wanted to buy the club but Askham was up to no good.

Jones - very popular in the first season, didn’t use the Davies windfall well and were bottom three until three games from the end, good start 99/00 and then a horror run of form. Fans less sold on him tactically but got fully behind him over those dreadful allegations. I never met a Saints fan who thought they were true. Liverpool, Derby and when he was at Wolves, skates fans sang about it - shame on them.

You can't keep a manager in his job because his wife is ill.

[Turkish]

4 hours ago, franniesTache said:

Merrington had a fairly easy ride if i remember rightly, a few vocal people who got on his back but nothing like what Branfoot had. Jones did get a fair amount of abuse, including some pretty bad stuff when rumours about his private life started to come out. But again it wasn't really much more than a few boos and angry calls to Solent.

Souness - weirdly - seemed to be liked by a large chunk of our fanbase, something i never understood as i always thought he was absolutely woeful as a manager. In fact there was a sizeable amount of fans who didn't want him gone.

 

4 hours ago, Maggie May said:

I remember the Branford toxicity but can anyone remember what the atmosphere was like when things were really bad under Merrington, Souness and Jones? This is an era pre internet forums so I’m interested to know if it was equally as vitriolic towards them as it is to Martin currently. 

That’s how I remember it. Merrington was popular and should never really have been given the job in the first place but he didn’t get any stick at all

jones got a hard time he wasn’t popular most fans thought he was an arrogant prick and when he was put on garden leave the fact was he was lucky not to have be sacked for results. He had a good first season where we finished midtable but then brought it shit players like Scott Marshall, Stuart Ripley, David Howells etc and our first ten games im pretty sure we only got 2 points or something like that

souness was popular because he was a big name and we made some good singing Eyal Berkovic, Ostenstad etc and we got some good results early on but overall he was pretty shit 

[Turkish]

4 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Similar to Frannie’s Tache, the odd person had a go about Merrington but not the bulk who knew he had a difficult job, one he never wanted in the first place either, which was also quite widely known. Way the club treated him was a disgrace with his wife seriously ill. So sad to see him upset on Meridian. 

Souness - brought in some really interesting players eg Egil, Claus, Eyal and he was still a big name then. Rangers were the dominant UK club late 80s buying the top English players, Liverpool wrong place wrong time but still won the FA Cup, Galatasaray. Probably why he didn’t get stick for the Stockport game. If you kept us up with a 15,000 stadium and no owner like Bournemouth’s, you done alright. I think Souness came to buy the club with investors from what I heard but the dodgy Secure Retirement reverse takeover happened. Sanderson our shirt sponsors also wanted to buy the club but Askham was up to no good.

Jones - very popular in the first season, didn’t use the Davies windfall well and were bottom three until three games from the end, good start 99/00 and then a horror run of form. Fans less sold on him tactically but got fully behind him over those dreadful allegations. I never met a Saints fan who thought they were true. Liverpool, Derby and when he was at Wolves, skates fans sang about it - shame on them.

Everton too at home, I remember I was one of the first games after he got put on garden leave and their fans were singing “where’s your peadophile”  remember a handful of theirs giving it the trampoline and “come on then” under the east until the DEF stood up and they pretended they were doing their shoe laces up 

Edited Monday at 18:08 by Turkish

[SWLondon Saint]

33 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Souness hitting the nail on head. Said if Lego head rang up all the top managers and asked them how they wanted us to play against them, they’d want us to play RussBall. That trying to out pass and out play better sides is madness.
 

He then went on to add that he played for the best passing side in the country, yet they unnerved opposition sides by knocking it in behind for Ian Rush to chase early on. The opposition then played deeper, frightened of Rush’s pace, and this then gave space for their passing game to control the game. He said the way Lego sets us up,  sides are just going to press and press keeping a high line, safe in the knowledge we always try and play through them. We can do it in the championship because we’ve got better players than most sides, but it won’t work at this level….

Yep. We're completely predictable, must be a dream for other teams - everything in front of them, nothing in behind, slow build up that doesn't stretch the defence.

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

3 hours ago, coalman said:

A betting supercomputer predicts we're going to get 2 points more than Derby. That's right - 13. In your face haters.

The problem with all this comparison with Derby is that they were last in the premier league in 2007. 17 years ago. With our main players being sold off on relegation, there's a very real threat that we will float between the Championship and League 1 for a long time to come. And I don't think RM will get up promoted next year either. He has to go, and like someone said, he expects to go, so put him out of his misery.

[Turkish]

I really think like the Dutch still talk about total football many years on in 2060 people will still be talking about Russell Martins crab football revolutionary view of the game 

[Gloucester Saint]

1 hour ago, Fitzhugh Fella said:

You can't keep a manager in his job because his wife is ill.

Agreed but Dave apparently never wanted it in the first place. 

[Gloucester Saint]

45 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Everton too at home, I remember I was one of the first games after he got put on garden leave and their fans were singing “where’s your peadophile”  remember a handful of theirs giving it the trampoline and “come on then” under the east until the DEF stood up and they pretended they were doing their shoe laces up 

‘One of them’ supposedly as well, Toffees stick together etc. They didn’t that day. Football-wise, Lowe made the right call, tough as it was, our form was heading into an abyss after a good start. Jones was a bit riled by Hoddle turning up to our games from autumn onwards IIRC. But they all do it, managers, eyeing the next meal.

Edited Monday at 18:55 by Gloucester Saint

[Turkish]

1 hour ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Souness hitting the nail on head. Said if Lego head rang up all the top managers and asked them how they wanted us to play against them, they’d want us to play RussBall. That trying to out pass and out play better sides is madness.
 

He then went on to add that he played for the best passing side in the country, yet they unnerved opposition sides by knocking it in behind for Ian Rush to chase early on. The opposition then played deeper, frightened of Rush’s pace, and this then gave space for their passing game to control the game. He said the way Lego sets us up,  sides are just going to press and press keeping a high line, safe in the knowledge we always try and play through them. We can do it in the championship because we’ve got better players than most sides, but it won’t work at this level….

Watching a few games this weekend, Villa described as hard to play against, aggressive quick, Brighton described as same but whilst they do knock it around a bit they’re quick and aggressive in the final third no constant recycling waiting for the perfect moment 

football is a chaotic game russ seems to want to find a perfect strategy and map it onto a load of players who are millions of miles away from being perfect then blame them when it doesn’t work

[StrangelyBrown]

1 hour ago, verlaine1979 said:

So he's not fucked off yet then. Bah.

The latest of football innovations from Ankersen is that he's now reinvented "football manager sacking" - coming to a TED talk anytime soon...

[Toussaint]

If there was to be a club statement ( I really think they should make one), who would make it? I really haven’t a clue who is calling the shots, say what you like about Rupert, Krueger, Semmens etc, at least you knew who they were, they had a presence, you knew who they were and what there roles were. 

[TheAlehouseBrawlers]

18 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

‘One of them’ supposedly as well, Toffees stick together etc. They didn’t that day. Football-wise, Lowe made the right call, tough as it was, our form was heading into an abyss after a good start. Jones was a bit riled by Hoddle turning up to our games from autumn onwards IIRC. But they all do it, managers, eyeing the next meal.

His missus certainly was, wasn't she the one who gave Lowe the black eye when he turned up at his house to tell him he was on gardening leave? It wasn't particularly good under Jones, pretty sure there was a game away at Newcastle towards the end where we got dicked and many were calling it one of the worst ever Saints performances.

But no one has come close to the vitriol aimed at Branfoot. I was at that first SISA meeting at the Captain's Table pub where the place was crackling. Those early meetings were red hot. I was also there when McMenemy was taking flak from the West Stand terrace on the long walk to the dugout, he had a tough act to follow in Ted Bates, but again nothing like Branfoot. Everyone seemed to love 'Big Dave', was a popular figure and did a great job bringing through the youngsters and was almost forced into taking the manager's job that apparently he didn't really want. LIke Souness, didn't really get much stick despite some poor results.

The other Jones, that fittest-in-Europe Welsh fella, may possibly have got a bit more venom if he'd stayed around but, although many of us want a change, RM isn't disliked anywhere near how him and Branfoot were. 

[Gloucester Saint]

17 minutes ago, TheAlehouseBrawlers said:

His missus certainly was, wasn't she the one who gave Lowe the black eye when he turned up at his house to tell him he was on gardening leave? It wasn't particularly good under Jones, pretty sure there was a game away at Newcastle towards the end where we got dicked and many were calling it one of the worst ever Saints performances.

But no one has come close to the vitriol aimed at Branfoot. I was at that first SISA meeting at the Captain's Table pub where the place was crackling. Those early meetings were red hot. I was also there when McMenemy was taking flak from the West Stand terrace on the long walk to the dugout, he had a tough act to follow in Ted Bates, but again nothing like Branfoot. Everyone seemed to love 'Big Dave', was a popular figure and did a great job bringing through the youngsters and was almost forced into taking the manager's job that apparently he didn't really want. LIke Souness, didn't really get much stick despite some poor results.

The other Jones, that fittest-in-Europe Welsh fella, may possibly have got a bit more venom if he'd stayed around but, although many of us want a change, RM isn't disliked anywhere near how him and Branfoot were. 

Newcastle away - 5-0 and 2-0 down inside 3 minutes live on Sky. Richard Dryden rushed into action despite clearly being miles off match fit. The anti-Branfoot sentiment was different league I agree and Nathan Jones would’ve got there if he’d stayed long enough. Martin could get closer to that status if he stays most of the season and there’s a few spats during matches with fans near the dugout, but not there at the moment. I think most people are just numbed by how dreadful we are, a bit like the equally slow and even more defensive football under Pellegrino. At least we could defend at times that season, albeit with a miles better squad.

Edited Monday at 19:50 by Gloucester Saint

[ecuk268]

21 minutes ago, TheAlehouseBrawlers said:

His missus certainly was, wasn't she the one who gave Lowe the black eye when he turned up at his house to tell him he was on gardening leave? It wasn't particularly good under Jones, pretty sure there was a game away at Newcastle towards the end where we got dicked and many were calling it one of the worst ever Saints performances.

But no one has come close to the vitriol aimed at Branfoot. I was at that first SISA meeting at the Captain's Table pub where the place was crackling. Those early meetings were red hot. I was also there when McMenemy was taking flak from the West Stand terrace on the long walk to the dugout, he had a tough act to follow in Ted Bates, but again nothing like Branfoot. Everyone seemed to love 'Big Dave', was a popular figure and did a great job bringing through the youngsters and was almost forced into taking the manager's job that apparently he didn't really want. LIke Souness, didn't really get much stick despite some poor results.

The other Jones, that fittest-in-Europe Welsh fella, may possibly have got a bit more venom if he'd stayed around but, although many of us want a change, RM isn't disliked anywhere near how him and Branfoot were. 

It's often forgotten that McMenemy got a lot of abuse in his first season.

Taking us from top half when he joined to relegation upset most fans. I was under the East Stand  but was told by friends under the West that he was roundly abused and regrettably even spat upon on the walk to the dugout. 

I'll always be grateful to Souness for the 6-3 Man Utd game.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

I really think like the Dutch still talk about total football many years on in 2060 people will still be talking about Russell Martins crab football revolutionary view of the game 

I should think the "which manager got the lowest points total in any top major league, excluding points deduction?" question will come up in pub quizzes across the world in 60 years.

[Convict Colony]

Honestly we are all saints fans and we are used to us being mainly shit so we have tolerance but at the moment it feels like we are really shit.

We used to be able to score goals in years gone by but now we end up complaining about var rather than addressing the fundamental problem of not scoring goals.

[SWLondon Saint]

9 minutes ago, Convict Colony said:

We used to be able to score goals in years gone by but now we end up complaining about var rather than addressing the fundamental problem of not even managing 1 shot on target in 90 mins against a team who hadn't kept a clean sheet in 9 months.

Fixed that for you.

[ally_uk]

Board haven't got a clue.... it's getting embarrassing... 

What's the long term plan ? Stick with Russ get promoted hopefully then what? 

Hope he becomes less rigid and stubborn....

Definition of insanity.... 

Wakey wakey 

[Weston Super Saint]

1 hour ago, TheAlehouseBrawlers said:

It wasn't particularly good under Jones, pretty sure there was a game away at Newcastle towards the end where we got dicked and many were calling it one of the worst ever Saints performances.

 

Little did we know how bad it could get!!

[spyinthesky]

I really, really wanted Russell Martin to be successful.
However a stubborness in his tactics and the relatively poor scouting system has ended up with us supporters having to put up with our worse ever season in the Premiership and the possibility of a slow decline in the Championship next year.
The only positive, hopefully, is that we dont suffer the same problems as we had under Rupert Lowe and the 'Go Wilde' ownership prior to Marcus Liebherr coming to the rescue.
For my sins I am in for the long haul but not relishing my attachment to the Saints atm.