Russell Martin

[Sheaf Saint]

Five points from 14 games - Could Southampton be the Premier League's worst ever team? | Transfermarkt

[Turkish]

21 hours ago, Saint Keef said:

My suspicion, based on his body language and his comments, is he's had enough. But he isn't going to walk. He'll wait to be sacked so he can pocket his substantial wedge. So SR, please do us as fans, the club itself, and him, a big favour. If it can't be done today, then tomorrow morning will be acceptable thank you. Further message of advice for SR - please can he be replaced with an actual football manager, one with proper tactical abilities, who can actually coach the players to their strengths, and who is less arrogant, less self-serving and less up his own arse than the current (soon to be former) incumbent, Rusty the Clown. 

 I don’t think it’s that. His comment “I don’t know what more I can give the players to make them believe” was quite telling. It’s not his fault, if the players did exactly what he told them we wouldn’t be in this situation is what he’s saying. The fault lies squarely with the players not following his instructions to the letter, now it also seems it’s the fans fault for cheering players not doing what they’re told and he told us so as when the disobeyed him we conceded within seconds. Clearly the whole world apart from him can see what he wants to do isn’t working, it’s idealistic it might work with Man City and Barcelona who he says he bases it on when they’ve got the best players in the world but it ain’t going to work when you’ve got Jack Stephens and Joe Lumley in your starting 11

Edited 9 December, 2024 by Turkish

[Francis1947]

2 minutes ago, Turkish said:

 I don’t think it’s that. His comment “I don’t know what more I can give the players to make them believe” was quite telling. It’s not his fault, if the players did exactly what he told them we wouldn’t be in this situation is what he’s saying. The fault lies squarely with the players not following his instructions to the letter, now it also seems it’s the fans fault for cheering players not doing what they’re told and he told us so as when the disobeyed him we conceded within seconds. Clearly despite what the whole world can see what he wants to do isn’t working, it’s idealistic it might work with Man City and Barcelona who he says he bases it on when they’ve got the best players in the world but it ain’t going to work when you’ve got Jack Stephens and Joe Lumley in your starting 11

I think that's a good post of yours Turkish and sums up perfectly the message that Martin is now putting out there to cover his arse. The arrogance and ego is shining through now. None of this is the great Gurus fault. It's the players, the fans but not his. 

I do hope the rumours are true that this charlatan is going today but I'm not confident it's based on any real itk

[saintant]

7 minutes ago, Francis1947 said:

I think that's a good post of yours Turkish and sums up perfectly the message that Martin is now putting out there to cover his arse. The arrogance and ego is shining through now. None of this is the great Gurus fault. It's the players, the fans but not his. 

I do hope the rumours are true that this charlatan is going today but I'm not confident it's based on any real itk

He's probably doing it to prepare his pitch for his next job interview. Putting out there that none of this shit show is his fault and deflecting blame.

[SouSaint]

He's still here then. Sport Republic need to fuck off. 

[coalman]

40 minutes ago, Turkish said:

 I don’t think it’s that. His comment “I don’t know what more I can give the players to make them believe” was quite telling. It’s not his fault, if the players did exactly what he told them we wouldn’t be in this situation is what he’s saying. The fault lies squarely with the players not following his instructions to the letter, now it also seems it’s the fans fault for cheering players not doing what they’re told and he told us so as when the disobeyed him we conceded within seconds. Clearly despite what the whole world can see what he wants to do isn’t working, it’s idealistic it might work with Man City and Barcelona who he says he bases it on when they’ve got the best players in the world but it ain’t going to work when you’ve got Jack Stephens and Joe Lumley in your starting 11

Agreed. It's not his fault. This is why he can't learn or adapt because at no point is it ever something he did or could have done.

[tdmickey3]

2 hours ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Five points from 14 games - Could Southampton be the Premier League's worst ever team? | Transfermarkt

Not sure but Martin is giving it his best shot to earn the award

[disconnect]

THREE HUNDRED PAGES(!) of love for our ever pragmatic, adaptable and responsible leader...  

[pingpong]

3 hours ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Five points from 14 games - Could Southampton be the Premier League's worst ever team? | Transfermarkt

5th from bottom? We'd all take that at the end of the season. 

In that context, RM is doing well, results wise.

[cambsaint]

I agree insofar as if we had really class players it could .However we don't have those players in the Prem but we have them playing against us,. when I watched Chelsea  concede the first two goals yesterday I thought it was like watching Saints. However They have got two teams of class players to put a bad start right. I think it was a brave experiment which worked in the Championship (just); but was doomed to failure in the Prem. 

Its probably too late now but we need to adapt our play to the players we have rather than the other way round.

I conclude he must go now, especially his results against some of the teams we had to beat were abysmal.

 

[derry]

Martin slaughtered on the football show on Sky for the tactics against Villa, his criticism of fans, the goalkeeper not playing long out to the touchlines allowing a reset if it goes out of play, the defenders poor defending and kamikaze possession in area.

[SWLondon Saint]

5 minutes ago, derry said:

Martin slaughtered on the football show on Sky for the tactics against Villa, his criticism of fans, the goalkeeper not playing long out to the touchlines allowing a reset if it goes out of play, the defenders poor defending and kamikaze possession in area.

That's the thing he just doesn't get - sometimes it's better to get rid, reset and then be in a better structure so when you do win it, you can take advantage of it. Even Barcelona, Man City, Real Madrid, Spain just hoof it sometimes! It's just so bloody stupid it's incredible.

[Gloucester Saint]

7 minutes ago, derry said:

Martin slaughtered on the football show on Sky for the tactics against Villa, his criticism of fans, the goalkeeper not playing long out to the touchlines allowing a reset if it goes out of play, the defenders poor defending and kamikaze possession in area.

In his own way, as unsuited to the Premier League as Nathan Jones. Well done Sports Republic and Rasmus, both were your hires. Great work lads 👍 

[SWLondon Saint]

4 hours ago, Turkish said:

 I don’t think it’s that. His comment “I don’t know what more I can give the players to make them believe” was quite telling. It’s not his fault, if the players did exactly what he told them we wouldn’t be in this situation is what he’s saying. The fault lies squarely with the players not following his instructions to the letter, now it also seems it’s the fans fault for cheering players not doing what they’re told and he told us so as when the disobeyed him we conceded within seconds. Clearly the whole world apart from him can see what he wants to do isn’t working, it’s idealistic it might work with Man City and Barcelona who he says he bases it on when they’ve got the best players in the world but it ain’t going to work when you’ve got Jack Stephens and Joe Lumley in your starting 11

Agree with you that's what he's saying but he's like a pub bore in that everything for him is about 1 thing only. Somehow he misses all the hard work that teams like City and Barca do OFF the ball in defensive organisation. 🤡

[tdmickey3]

41 minutes ago, derry said:

Martin slaughtered on the football show on Sky for the tactics against Villa, his criticism of fans, the goalkeeper not playing long out to the touchlines allowing a reset if it goes out of play, the defenders poor defending and kamikaze possession in area.

Good

[Challenger]

1 hour ago, derry said:

Martin slaughtered on the football show on Sky for the tactics against Villa, his criticism of fans, the goalkeeper not playing long out to the touchlines allowing a reset if it goes out of play, the defenders poor defending and kamikaze possession in area.

Unfortunately it appears that it's an acceptable standard for our useless owners.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

6 hours ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Five points from 14 games - Could Southampton be the Premier League's worst ever team? | Transfermarkt

It's been so long since I've looked at a PL table after 2 relegation seasons, that it's great to have this mini table to compete in . Thanks SR! 🙂

[SaintsBarry74]

Enzo Maresca also prefers to play out from the back, but unlike Martin, he actually knows how to adapt and mix things up depending on the opponent. When Leicester faced us last season, they scored five goals with a low possession in the mid-30s, punishing our tippy-tappy football with quick transitions. I can't recall seeing a manager as delusional as Martin, who stubbornly sticks to this one-dimensional style of play no matter the opponent or how the game unfolds.

[redkeith]

 

 

2 hours ago, SWLondon Saint said:

That's the thing he just doesn't get - sometimes it's better to get rid, reset and then be in a better structure so when you do win it, you can take advantage of it. Even Barcelona, Man City, Real Madrid, Spain just hoof it sometimes! It's just so bloody stupid it's incredible.

I watched  Real Sociedad  win at Leganes Yesterday. Saw them play a few times last season asin the flesh. They are definitely a possesion based side, playing it a lot better than Saints do, but it was noticable yesterday that they weren't afraid to launch it if the ball if they were in a similar situation that THB was on Saturday.  They did almost give away a comedy Saints style goal when was facing his own goal with 3 attackers on him, but by and large, if in doubt, they just cleared it. 

A bit of pragmatism from Martin like that amd maybe we could have avoided giving away 10 goals so far this season.  

[Mr X]

5 hours ago, disconnect said:

THREE HUNDRED PAGES(!) of love for our ever pragmatic, adaptable and responsible leader...  

More pages than Nathan Jones even! As many pages as passes in front of our own goal 😂

[Mr X]

7 hours ago, SouSaint said:

He's still here then. Sport Republic need to fuck off. 

I would accept relegation now to get rid of the lot of them! Martin and rasmus included 

[Dman]

At this point I kinda hope we stick with him and he goes down as the worst ever PL manager. 

He’s just using us as a window for his career at this point, which is fine so long as its not detrimental to us as a club, which it clearly is. 

The arrogance the bloke has despite achieving absolutely f all in his career, is astonishing. He deserves all the shit he gets. 

[Mboto Gorge]

5 minutes ago, Dman said:

At this point I kinda hope we stick with him and he goes down as the worst ever PL manager. 

He’s just using us as a window for his career at this point, which is fine so long as its not detrimental to us as a club, which it clearly is. 

The arrogance the bloke has despite achieving absolutely f all in his career, is astonishing. He deserves all the shit he gets. 

Hopefully pinder bins him off soon too. Dating her has clearly not helped his levels of arrogance and sense of untouchability 

[scumbag]

“I don't know what more I can give the players to make them really believe”.

Leave?

 

 

[Saint Keef]

8 hours ago, Turkish said:

 I don’t think it’s that. His comment “I don’t know what more I can give the players to make them believe” was quite telling. It’s not his fault, if the players did exactly what he told them we wouldn’t be in this situation is what he’s saying. The fault lies squarely with the players not following his instructions to the letter, now it also seems it’s the fans fault for cheering players not doing what they’re told and he told us so as when the disobeyed him we conceded within seconds. Clearly the whole world apart from him can see what he wants to do isn’t working, it’s idealistic it might work with Man City and Barcelona who he says he bases it on when they’ve got the best players in the world but it ain’t going to work when you’ve got Jack Stephens and Joe Lumley in your starting 11

Turkish - you kindly responded to my post, so I will return the compliment. Rather than disagreeing with me, I think you were just furthering my points, and putting a different slant on them, if that makes sense and I think your summary is absolutely spot on. When I mentioned he is self-serving, you are right, he is now in the "covering his own arse" mode. Cheers.

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

Given up pushing the refresh button. He's still here. Time for Plan B. The players need to advise him that they are going to ignore his directions, instead play to their strengths and practice doing this on the training pitch.

It didn't go unnoticed that one of our few threatening attacks at Villa in the opening minutes started from a hoof/targeted pass by Lumley.

[Mboto Gorge]

2 minutes ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

Given up pushing the refresh button. He's still here. Time for Plan B. The players need to advise him that they are going to ignore his directions, instead play to their strengths and practice doing this on the training pitch.

It didn't go unnoticed that one of our few threatening attacks at Villa in the opening minutes started from a hoof/targeted pass by Lumley.

Yeah, this is all well and good but our bloody fans need to stop conceding so many fucking goals at the other end!
 

I’ve lost count of the amount of times we’ve been on the cusp of a glorious Lego masterminded win, only for our fans to shit on his bonfire with some terrible defending at the very end and cost us god knows many points already this season. 

[coalman]

15 minutes ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

Given up pushing the refresh button. He's still here. Time for Plan B. The players need to advise him that they are going to ignore his directions, instead play to their strengths and practice doing this on the training pitch.

It didn't go unnoticed that one of our few threatening attacks at Villa in the opening minutes started from a hoof/targeted pass by Lumley.

We're Southampton. We have no plan B

[Holmes_and_Watson]

2 hours ago, redkeith said:

A bit of pragmatism from Martin like that amd maybe we could have avoided giving away 10 goals so far this season.  

Taylor: If it's all the same to you, I'll just use my own judgement with your system in mind.

Martin: To the Gulag! 20 years hard backwards passing! Every move must follow my system! There are no excuses! Except the ones I use after the match!

[Matthew Le God]

3 minutes ago, coalman said:

We're Southampton. We have no plan B

Is that a chant for Sunday?

[Holmes_and_Watson]

4 minutes ago, coalman said:

We're Southampton. We have no plan B

To have a plan B would indicate that there is some flaw in Plan A. Which clearly isn't the case.

[Chewy]

2 minutes ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

To have a plan B would indicate that there is some flaw in Plan A. Which clearly isn't the case.

When you have had the full revelation and seen  football nirvana, nothing but pure possession will ever do again. It is the way, the truth, the only. There is nothing else.

Any deviation will lead us down the wrong path, a path littered with mistakes made by referees, fans and players who won’t follow the correct instructions.

[Turkish]

We definitely have 3 in the top 10 now and 2 in the top 3 both appointed by Sports Republic. Also our former director of football in in the top 5. 🤣

The worst ever Premier League managers | FourFourTwo

 

 

[Tommy Mulgrew]

Not much in this analysis that we did not already know but an interesting read nevertheless.  Not as much possession in our penalty area as most of us seem to think but otherwise as expected.  Three suggested signings but the writer seems not to have regarded Dibling worthy of mentioning.  It certainly gets to essence of our problems.  Have a read:

https://totalfootballanalysis.com/article/southampton-tactics

[franniesTache]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

We definitely have 3 in the top 10 now and 2 in the top 3 both appointed by Sports Republic. Also our former director of football in in the top 5. 🤣

The worst ever Premier League managers | FourFourTwo

 

 

We are Southampton, a club built on blind faith from the beginning of Martin's tenure. A faith in himself. A faith other's are wrong. He has his beliefs, His own way of doing things that he refuses to change.

We don’t just buy failure, we breed it. We don’t take shortcuts, we fail slowly and obviously.

Every second of every minute of every day. We’ve move closer to the edge of the abyss and won't come back stronger, because whatever the pressure, however great the temptation, we never shoot, we never win games, we keep passing sideways.

We are the saints, it’s not just a name, it’s who we are. We are not even making up the numbers, we march down!

Edited 9 December, 2024 by franniesTache

[Gloucester Saint]

1 minute ago, franniesTache said:

We are Southampton, a club built on blind faith from the beginning of Martin's tenure. A faith in himself. A faith other's are wrong. He has his beliefs, His own way of doing things that he refuses to change.

We don’t just buy failure, we breed it. We don’t take shortcuts, we fail slowly and obviously.

Every second of every minute of every day. We’ve move closer to the edge of the abyss and won't come back stronger, because whatever the pressure, however great the temptation, we never shoot, we never win games, we keep passing sideways.

We are the saints, it’s not just a name, it’s who we are. We are not even making up the numbers, we march down!

A memory of rapid counter attacking football from players with pace and a moment to make the hairs on your neck stand up.

This is who Southampton Football Club were

 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

10 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

A memory of rapid counter attacking football from players with pace and a moment to make the hairs on your neck stand up.

This is who Southampton Football Club were

 

We even had a shirt sponsor everyone had heard of back then.

[OttawaSaint]

5 hours ago, scumbag said:

“I don't know what more I can give the players to make them really believe”.

 

 

So he's been here 1.5 seasons and still hasn't been able to sell his "vision" to the players?

I wonder why that is Russ. It's a shit vision, that's why. 

[Dark Munster]

1 hour ago, Gloucester Saint said:

A memory of rapid counter attacking football from players with pace and a moment to make the hairs on your neck stand up.

This is who Southampton Football Club were

 

Boring Puel out!!

[Saint86]

On 08/12/2024 at 21:43, HarvSFC said:

We finished 4th in a three horse race last season. 

There are plenty of things to criticise martin about without trotting out this fairly nonsensical one liner. Did i live in a parallel universe where we weren't the worst of the sides to get relegated, where we didn't then sell £160M of players and completely change the playing style, and where Ipswich didn't exist (let alone didn't get 96points)?! He got us promoted when we weren't one of the best 3 sides in the league. Fair play to him - great memories at Wembley and something we'll all remember fondly.

And this season, the reality is that as much as we're all pissed off with him - its fundamentally because the players aren't good enough for his style at this level, and because he refuses to do anything other than go out doing it his way. Which is a recipe for disaster, grates with people, and everyone is tired and fed up of losing... It doesn't mean he's now a manager incapable of getting us out of the championship again.

I said it fairly on in the season, if the board are going to keep him regardless, then they need to just come out and say it. If they don't do this, or keep him around just to sack him later on, then all they're going to cause a lot of damage and negativity to set into the club. Also the stress and uncertainty it puts on Martin and his team cannot be healthy and isn't nice to watch on a human level, and publicly stating the plan (is there even a plan) would end any uncertainty with the fans which is now starting to become quite toxic, and similarly it must be getting to the players by now. 

If we get relegated and keep him, the reality is he'll more than likely do fine in the championship. He's more experienced now than he was previously, he knows his players, and ultimately he got us promoted last year despite not having a top 3 team, and despite having an absolute car crash start to the season re players leaving and arriving from one weekend to the next and being tasked with turning around both player morale and utterly changing the playing style.

I say all that after being utterly furious with him at times this season and calling for him to go... but then i ask myself - do i think anyone else will keep us up? No. Do i think Martin will get us promoted next season? Yes probably..... and so, unless we can get someone in who wants the job, who'll stick around next season, and who clearly is a better pick that Martin (all 3 combined is unlikely lets be honest), then i don't see what we gain in sacking him in a hurry to be honest. Even if it is a car crash season, adding more instability to the club isn't going to help us - as Benali said, what we need is stability again.

[CSA96]

3 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

A memory of rapid counter attacking football from players with pace and a moment to make the hairs on your neck stand up.

This is who Southampton Football Club were

 

Cool, but the manager of that team got sacked for being boring, which was repeatedly levelled at him by the fanbase… 

[Whitey Grandad]

49 minutes ago, CSA96 said:

Cool, but the manager of that team got sacked for being boring, which was repeatedly levelled at him by the fanbase… 

Which it was towards the end. Very boring.

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, Saint86 said:

There are plenty of things to criticise martin about without trotting out this fairly nonsensical one liner. Did i live in a parallel universe where we weren't the worst of the sides to get relegated, where we didn't then sell £160M of players and completely change the playing style, and where Ipswich didn't exist (let alone didn't get 96points)?! He got us promoted when we weren't one of the best 3 sides in the league. Fair play to him - great memories at Wembley and something we'll all remember fondly.

And this season, the reality is that as much as we're all pissed off with him - its fundamentally because the players aren't good enough for his style at this level, and because he refuses to do anything other than go out doing it his way. Which is a recipe for disaster, grates with people, and everyone is tired and fed up of losing... It doesn't mean he's now a manager incapable of getting us out of the championship again.

I said it fairly on in the season, if the board are going to keep him regardless, then they need to just come out and say it. If they don't do this, or keep him around just to sack him later on, then all they're going to cause a lot of damage and negativity to set into the club. Also the stress and uncertainty it puts on Martin and his team cannot be healthy and isn't nice to watch on a human level, and publicly stating the plan (is there even a plan) would end any uncertainty with the fans which is now starting to become quite toxic, and similarly it must be getting to the players by now. 

If we get relegated and keep him, the reality is he'll more than likely do fine in the championship. He's more experienced now than he was previously, he knows his players, and ultimately he got us promoted last year despite not having a top 3 team, and despite having an absolute car crash start to the season re players leaving and arriving from one weekend to the next and being tasked with turning around both player morale and utterly changing the playing style.

I say all that after being utterly furious with him at times this season and calling for him to go... but then i ask myself - do i think anyone else will keep us up? No. Do i think Martin will get us promoted next season? Yes probably..... and so, unless we can get someone in who wants the job, who'll stick around next season, and who clearly is a better pick that Martin (all 3 combined is unlikely lets be honest), then i don't see what we gain in sacking him in a hurry to be honest. Even if it is a car crash season, adding more instability to the club isn't going to help us - as Benali said, what we need is stability again.

No, his style is not suited at this level to the players that he has available.

[SaintsBarry74]

7 hours ago, Tommy Mulgrew said:

Not much in this analysis that we did not already know but an interesting read nevertheless.  Not as much possession in our penalty area as most of us seem to think but otherwise as expected.  Three suggested signings but the writer seems not to have regarded Dibling worthy of mentioning.  It certainly gets to essence of our problems.  Have a read:

https://totalfootballanalysis.com/article/southampton-tactics

"Southampton may have got away with such poor possessional play at the back in the Championship, but the Premier League is more unforgiving.

They rank top of the division for the most errors leading to shots and the most errors leading to goals."

"In the recent fixture against Wolves, the Saints had 71% of the play, but the majority of their passes that match were made between the centre backs, Bednarek and Harwood-Bellis."

"It is admirable to impose such a possession-based system at the top level for a newly promoted side, but it comes with a sense of naivety.

Martin must learn the art of adapting if Southampton are to survive."

Laughing stock of the league, Martin is a fucking idiot.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

6 hours ago, Saint86 said:

There are plenty of things to criticise martin about without trotting out this fairly nonsensical one liner. Did i live in a parallel universe where we weren't the worst of the sides to get relegated, where we didn't then sell £160M of players and completely change the playing style, and where Ipswich didn't exist (let alone didn't get 96points)?! He got us promoted when we weren't one of the best 3 sides in the league. Fair play to him - great memories at Wembley and something we'll all remember fondly.

And this season, the reality is that as much as we're all pissed off with him - its fundamentally because the players aren't good enough for his style at this level, and because he refuses to do anything other than go out doing it his way. Which is a recipe for disaster, grates with people, and everyone is tired and fed up of losing... It doesn't mean he's now a manager incapable of getting us out of the championship again.

I said it fairly on in the season, if the board are going to keep him regardless, then they need to just come out and say it. If they don't do this, or keep him around just to sack him later on, then all they're going to cause a lot of damage and negativity to set into the club. Also the stress and uncertainty it puts on Martin and his team cannot be healthy and isn't nice to watch on a human level, and publicly stating the plan (is there even a plan) would end any uncertainty with the fans which is now starting to become quite toxic, and similarly it must be getting to the players by now. 

If we get relegated and keep him, the reality is he'll more than likely do fine in the championship. He's more experienced now than he was previously, he knows his players, and ultimately he got us promoted last year despite not having a top 3 team, and despite having an absolute car crash start to the season re players leaving and arriving from one weekend to the next and being tasked with turning around both player morale and utterly changing the playing style.

I say all that after being utterly furious with him at times this season and calling for him to go... but then i ask myself - do i think anyone else will keep us up? No. Do i think Martin will get us promoted next season? Yes probably..... and so, unless we can get someone in who wants the job, who'll stick around next season, and who clearly is a better pick that Martin (all 3 combined is unlikely lets be honest), then i don't see what we gain in sacking him in a hurry to be honest. Even if it is a car crash season, adding more instability to the club isn't going to help us - as Benali said, what we need is stability again.

Can't agree with that. If Martin is still in charge next season, at whatever level we are at, SR can just fuck off. 

[CB Fry]

6 hours ago, Saint86 said:

There are plenty of things to criticise martin about without trotting out this fairly nonsensical one liner. Did i live in a parallel universe where we weren't the worst of the sides to get relegated, where we didn't then sell £160M of players and completely change the playing style, and where Ipswich didn't exist (let alone didn't get 96points)?! He got us promoted when we weren't one of the best 3 sides in the league. Fair play to him - great memories at Wembley and something we'll all remember fondly.

And this season, the reality is that as much as we're all pissed off with him - its fundamentally because the players aren't good enough for his style at this level, and because he refuses to do anything other than go out doing it his way. Which is a recipe for disaster, grates with people, and everyone is tired and fed up of losing... It doesn't mean he's now a manager incapable of getting us out of the championship again.

I said it fairly on in the season, if the board are going to keep him regardless, then they need to just come out and say it. If they don't do this, or keep him around just to sack him later on, then all they're going to cause a lot of damage and negativity to set into the club. Also the stress and uncertainty it puts on Martin and his team cannot be healthy and isn't nice to watch on a human level, and publicly stating the plan (is there even a plan) would end any uncertainty with the fans which is now starting to become quite toxic, and similarly it must be getting to the players by now. 

If we get relegated and keep him, the reality is he'll more than likely do fine in the championship. He's more experienced now than he was previously, he knows his players, and ultimately he got us promoted last year despite not having a top 3 team, and despite having an absolute car crash start to the season re players leaving and arriving from one weekend to the next and being tasked with turning around both player morale and utterly changing the playing style.

I say all that after being utterly furious with him at times this season and calling for him to go... but then i ask myself - do i think anyone else will keep us up? No. Do i think Martin will get us promoted next season? Yes probably..... and so, unless we can get someone in who wants the job, who'll stick around next season, and who clearly is a better pick that Martin (all 3 combined is unlikely lets be honest), then i don't see what we gain in sacking him in a hurry to be honest. Even if it is a car crash season, adding more instability to the club isn't going to help us - as Benali said, what we need is stability again.

This is a load of disingenuous bullshit.

Loads of teams get relegated and as a result sell players, we were fortunate to sell players like Lavia and JWP for big money. All relegated teams have player churn.

We also spent big on players and wages for the division and kept Premier League players like KWP, Bednarek and others. We spent £8m on a striker for example, not hugely common in the second tier.

Plenty of other managers take a Championship team up in one season. Scott Parker, Kompany, Maresca, etc.

Let's not start pretending that Russell Martin achieved some miracle, we should have been top 3 on any metric, in any season, all day long.

Russell Martin does not deserve to stay. If SR want to be pig headed about it fine but he will not be popular and will get the shortest of shrift if by a miracle he is still in charge come August.

[Bakovnetski]

8 hours ago, Dark Munster said:

Boring Puel out!!

The start of the end when that happened....

[Bakovnetski]

4 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Which it was towards the end. Very boring.

Which in retrospect I can do for finishing 8th.

[Mr Nimbus]

I've defended RM more than most but it finally clicked with me after the Chelsea game.

The way he was so blasé about "giving away a couple of goals" blew my mind. It's almost certainly way too late for this season but I honestly believe we should have been way more competitive this year. 

His stubbornness to keep doing the same stupid things over and over again has us done for and I now can't wait to see him leave. 

[notnowcato]

47 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

This is a load of disingenuous bullshit.

Loads of teams get relegated and as a result sell players, we were fortunate to sell players like Lavia and JWP for big money. All relegated teams have player churn.

We also spent big on players and wages for the division and kept Premier League players like KWP, Bednarek and others. We spent £8m on a striker for example, not hugely common in the second tier.

Plenty of other managers take a Championship team up in one season. Scott Parker, Kompany, Maresca, etc.

Let's not start pretending that Russell Martin achieved some miracle, we should have been top 3 on any metric, in any season, all day long.

Russell Martin does not deserve to stay. If SR want to be pig headed about it fine but he will not be popular and will get the shortest of shrift if by a miracle he is still in charge come August.

I couldn’t agree more, no need to be so harsh on yourself though, we expect nothing less. Although your role as forum enforcer is in doubt with this admission.