Russell Martin

[Miltonaggro]

57 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Sports Republic continue to oversee our managed decline into a bang average Championship team (at best), whilst continuing to hire pups as head coach/manager. They are the new version of Venkeys, or not far off the Pozzo family.

The current manager is a con. He overseeing a squad that is very expensive, very deep and easily good enough for a strong charge at top 2. This squad is in dire form, has the worst defence in English professional football, and his team selections are just odd.

Yet despite all of that, fans are being called entitled for daring to be a bit unhappy about it all, with some even part blaming fans for the mess.

 

You know Sport Republic/Martin are in the mire, as their biggest psychopathic fan on here, Manji, is quiet about it all.

In a nutshell. The loyal fanbase are the ones able to rely on notions scar tissue and long memories. Perhaps the club ‘intelligentsia’ should take heed once a decade.  

[saintant]

I'm beginning to suspect that RS realise themselves how utterly incompetent they are. They'll never admit it of course but even they can't be so stupid that it hasn't dawned on them by now. As such perhaps they have decided to stick with RM because he is the type of yes-man who won't question them or rock the boat and, if they were to sack him, they'd only replace him with someone of a similar ilk. Could it be that they appoint managers on the basis that they are submissive and will not seek to challenge the constant poor decisions made by SR? I accept this sounds like total madness - it probably is but I'm just trying to fathom out what is going on at our great football club.

[Challenger]

13 minutes ago, saintant said:

I'm beginning to suspect that RS realise themselves how utterly incompetent they are. They'll never admit it of course but even they can't be so stupid that it hasn't dawned on them by now. As such perhaps they have decided to stick with RM because he is the type of yes-man who won't question them or rock the boat and, if they were to sack him, they'd only replace him with someone of a similar ilk. Could it be that they appoint managers on the basis that they are submissive and will not seek to challenge the constant poor decisions made by SR? I accept this sounds like total madness - it probably is but I'm just trying to fathom out what is going on at our great football club.

I think it is just a case of naivety, however to continue in this manner may signify something else.

[Oldandtired]

Apparently RM ‘believes the owners understand the situation’.

 

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/23811065.russell-martin-believes-southampton-bosses-understand-situation/

 

If they understand that playing this type of football this season will be a write off, and are prepared to accept that, well, words fail me. He must be one smooth talking con man.

Edited 26 September, 2023 by Oldandtired

[revolution saint]

14 minutes ago, saintant said:

I'm beginning to suspect that RS realise themselves how utterly incompetent they are. They'll never admit it of course but even they can't be so stupid that it hasn't dawned on them by now. As such perhaps they have decided to stick with RM because he is the type of yes-man who won't question them or rock the boat and, if they were to sack him, they'd only replace him with someone of a similar ilk. Could it be that they appoint managers on the basis that they are submissive and will not seek to challenge the constant poor decisions made by SR? I accept this sounds like total madness - it probably is but I'm just trying to fathom out what is going on at our great football club.

This is one of the reasons that I'm not calling for Martin to go - just don't trust SR to get a decent replacement in (and we're getting less attractive every game). 

Only hopes I've got are that we manage to get a win from somewhere that instils a bit of confidence in the players and we can go from there.  It's still a decent squad for the Championship and at some point you'd hope that will tell.

The other hope is that Ross Stewart comes in and starts banging goals in - that will make a huge difference.  We're not creating that much but should still be scoring more and, again, a bit of confidence could make a world of difference.

[Toussaint]

1 minute ago, Oldandtired said:

Apparently RM ‘believes the owners ‘understand the situation’.

 

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/23811065.russell-martin-believes-southampton-bosses-understand-situation/

 

If they understand that playing this type of football this season will be a write off, and are prepared to accept that, well, words fail me.

I think he's hoping rather than believing they understand, all sounded a bit desperate to me. I can't see Dragan buying it one bit, you don't get to where he is by being gullible and or tolerating piss poor performance by those you have entrusted with your money.

[Roo1976]

10 minutes ago, Toussaint said:

I think he's hoping rather than believing they understand, all sounded a bit desperate to me. I can't see Dragan buying it one bit, you don't get to where he is by being gullible and or tolerating piss poor performance by those you have entrusted with your money.

we got relegated with him in charge...................and 3 managers since.

[Toussaint]

9 minutes ago, Roo1976 said:

we got relegated with him in charge...................and 3 managers since.

Dragan? 

[Lord Duckhunter]

1 hour ago, Oldandtired said:

Apparently RM ‘believes the owners understand the situation’.

 

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/23811065.russell-martin-believes-southampton-bosses-understand-situation/

 

If they understand that playing this type of football this season will be a write off, and are prepared to accept that, well, words fail me. He must be one smooth talking con man.

He’s a right old pony merchant isn’t he?

This is fucking sloppy shoulders pure & simple.
 

“It’s a different way of behaving, which people don’t see if you’re not there every day, of course. The club had a huge disappointment last season and has embarked on a different journey.”

 

As for the players retreating when we scored, whose job is it to ensure they don’t? Last time I looked it’s the bloke stood on the line, not the blokes who managed and played last season.
 

Fucking stand up and accept some responsibility you Lego headed twat. 
 

 

[Dman]

What grates me the most is the way Martin talks as if his system is tried, tested and successful elsewhere, when it absolutely isn't. 

If he'd been a real success with MK and had over achieved with Swansea, I'd trust the process, but hes been bang average everywhere he's been. 

[Fan The Flames]

"The club had a huge disappointment last season and has embarked on a different journey.”

But ending up in the same destination.

[hypochondriac]

3 minutes ago, Dman said:

What grates me the most is the way Martin talks as if his system is tried, tested and successful elsewhere, when it absolutely isn't. 

If he'd been a real success with MK and had over achieved with Swansea, I'd trust the process, but hes been bang average everywhere he's been. 

Yes. "I wish I could show yiu my ex players who have been there and come through the other side" what finishing mid table and lower? Martin has no track record of significance to point to. I think if he managed to keep the job then he'd improve on our position for next year, the problem is it would probably be from lower mid table to upper mid tale. 

[aintforever]

8 minutes ago, Dman said:

What grates me the most is the way Martin talks as if his system is tried, tested and successful elsewhere, when it absolutely isn't. 

If he'd been a real success with MK and had over achieved with Swansea, I'd trust the process, but hes been bang average everywhere he's been. 

After watching the Middlesbrough game I got the impression the players know the system is doomed to failure and are just hastening it's demise.

[Fan The Flames]

The thing about the whole situation is the double knock for me. It had all dried up with Ralph, so we had to part ways. I understood the management wanted to gamble with Jones, I didn't rate it and I was really pissed off that it turned out to be as shit as we all thought.

Then the fact that that poor judgement was followed up with another shit appointment has multiplied my anger towards the club.

The buzz at the beginning of the season showed that the support was there, ready to go. We just needed a considered appointment to harness this and push forward and we would have been patient and behind them. Instead we got another gamble, a cuckoo snakeskin oil twat and the fan bases support has fallen over a cliff. That's why we are so pissed off, our anger has been squared and there is little hope for a quick resolution.

[Doctoroncall]

27 minutes ago, aintforever said:

After watching the Middlesbrough game I got the impression the players know the system is doomed to failure and are just hastening its demise.

It felt the same to me. The trouble with this approach the players have to fully buy into and forget about everything else for it to become more natural.
 

As to the four steps to learning, the players are very much stuck in stage 2 with the last, stage 4 not even in sight!

[spyinthesky]

At least when RM was at Swansea their fans had goals to witness at both ends.

The goals for number seems to have dried up as the goals against are going up big style.

[saintoaks]

I would actually commend RM if he admitted to himself and his staff that his current tactics are just not working and decided to play a different style that suited the players better. None of us want to see another manager change and he has come across ok at the start of the season. We will see saturday/tuesday but unfortunately i dont think it will happen !!

[notnowcato]

1 hour ago, aintforever said:

After watching the Middlesbrough game I got the impression the players know the system is doomed to failure and are just hastening it's demise.

Yeah, after going one up they all thought whoops, what the fuck are doing here??  Retreat!!  Remember the plan lads, stick together.

[Mr X]

Ralph had definitely lost interest in us and didn't have any more ideas how to get us out of the rut we were in it, it was time for him to go (if only we had got the right man in then) but Jesus he's not as bad as any of the last three disasters we've had since and that's coming from a critic of Ralph.... shows how far we've fallen 

[once_bitterne]

When he's sacked his leaving present will be given to him by club staff passing it back and forth between themselves 462 times before going to give it to him and dropping it on the floor.

It's what he would have wanted.

[FarehamSaintJames]

24 minutes ago, Mr X said:

Ralph had definitely lost interest in us and didn't have any more ideas how to get us out of the rut we were in it, it was time for him to go (if only we had got the right man in then) but Jesus he's not as bad as any of the last three disasters we've had since and that's coming from a critic of Ralph.... shows how far we've fallen 

I think the reason he lost interest was based on Joe Shields coming in and Rasmus Ankersen’s Football Manager stats generator.

He was so used to having a working relationship with Martin Semmens, and JS coming in and having a gung-ho scattergun approach when it came to transfer probably didn’t align with his.

It must be difficult getting on board with someone who is essentially coming in and buying whoever and hoping that something sticks; whilst also not fancying some of them I imagine.

DCC didn’t seem like a RH signing. Nor did Joe Aribo or Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

I’m sure he wouldn’t preferred the up and coming type of player but my guess is he’d never heard of the likes of Mara; and probably had no interest in the like of Larios, Edozie and Lavia - all the Man City/Joe Shields link.

Ultimately, he was forced to cobble a team together through someone else’s direction.

Edited 26 September, 2023 by FarehamSaintJames

[Wade Garrett]

2 hours ago, aintforever said:

After watching the Middlesbrough game I got the impression the players know the system is doomed to failure and are just hastening its demise.

Won’t be the last time players down tools to get a manager the bullet.

We should be used to it down here.

[aintforever]

1 hour ago, notnowcato said:

Yeah, after going one up they all thought whoops, what the fuck are doing here??  Retreat!!  Remember the plan lads, stick together.

Think it was more like, after the inevitable defensive fuck-up which led to the equaliser, there was a collective 'what's the fucking point' attitude.

[pimpin4rizeal]

22 hours ago, verlaine1979 said:

Question is - with the resources and squad the club has, what should be par performance after 8 games? I'd argue that losing more than we've won on a four game losing streak and having comfortably the worst defensive record in the league is well below par. If we were sitting in sixth with a mixed back of results, I doubt anyone would be complaining and we'd for the most part be optimistic about potentially stringing together a run that would get us up alongside Leicester et al.

So then you look at the quality of performances and ask yourself if we've just been on the end of an unlucky series of results, with good performances not getting the points they deserve?

On the basis of those quantitative and qualitative criteria, we're nowhere near where we expected to be, and so far the quality of performances is trending down rather than up.

Something is very wrong, and from listening to him, it's not clear to me that Martin knows what it is or how to fix it. If he wants to play the possession game he's coaching, he needs the players to be so much more mobile than they currently are. Possession teams are in almost constant motion, while our players (with a few exceptions) are static, waiting for the ball.  It's so glaringly obvious, but all Martin talks about are bravery and individual errors, which have nothing to do with our lack of movement.

I suspect he has a fundamentally superficial understanding of the game he's trying to play, along with a superficial understanding of the quality of players at his disposal (hence why Aribo, who has spent his whole career playing in the UK, is more trustworthy than Alcaraz, who hasn't). I'll be astonished if he has the capacity to turn this around.

This is it, with the squad at his disposal I think the par has to be challenging for automatic promotion and at the moment he’s falling well short, player wise we have easily some of the best in the league and the only real weak points are goalkeeper and strikers still but even the strikers you can argue AA and adams have hit 20 plus goals each in the league before.

I think the trouble with this possession style football is it gives the opponents a lot of time to organise themselves defensively and then when they break hit us outnumbered.. even Spain we have seen struggle against weak teams who just set up to defend and counter this.

at the moment you gotta say we are suffering because of martins tactics and he looks totally all in on this philosophy so will be stubborn to change.:all his excuses sound a bit ridicolous and why do they only effect us ?

[gurru991]

On 25/09/2023 at 08:46, badgerx16 said:

 

 

When will Leicester and Leeds start their rebuilding phase ?

Leicester had 12 players leave & 10 players come in in the Summer. That was their rebuild

Edited 26 September, 2023 by gurru991
context

[Gloucester Saint]

23 hours ago, Sheaf Saint said:

FWIW, this was precisely my thought process when people started calling for Nathan Jones to be sacked after 4 or 5 games. It didn't take much longer to realise that no amount of time was going to turn him into a competent PL manager though.

I'm not seeing anything from Martin, either in his team selections and tactics or in his post match interviews, that gives me even a glimmer of hope that our current situation will improve under his leadership.

This is the thing, the injury time goals covered over the cracks but Sunderland was a deserved 5-0, Leicester Bazanu kept it to 4 but should have been 7, Ipswich hit the woodwork and missed two total sitters so that should have been 4-0, and Boro missed a number of 3 on 2s and even a 4 on 1 at only 2-1. To not even be competing is dreadful and the club is going to sink into League two or worse in the next 3-4 years if someone doesn’t come in, take charge and get football basics in place. Philosophy can follow when the back four is screened, CMs can tackle, full backs have shape and the team defends and attacks as a unit. None of which we’ve seen for over 18 months. 

[adrian lord]

The use of the word “journey” in any context that does not involve travel is a very bad sign. 

[badgerx16]

58 minutes ago, gurru991 said:

Leicester had 12 players leave & 10 players come in in the Summer.

No wonder they are struggling 😉

[trousers]

At least Russell Martin has led us to the top of one table...

 

 

Edited 26 September, 2023 by trousers

[gurru991]

49 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

No wonder they are struggling 😉

I think picking up Willy Caballero as a coach may have saved the day !!

[Long Shot]

It’s ok. Nick Illingsworth has just found out what’s been going wrong. Apparently it’s all the fans fault as we keep “hounding out” the managers. Check out his latest rant on the UI website and then castigate yourself. 

[Miltonaggro]

51 minutes ago, trousers said:

At least Russell Martin has led us to the top of one table...

 

 

The not giving a shiny shite table! 

[hypochondriac]

56 minutes ago, trousers said:

At least Russell Martin has led us to the top of one table...

 

 

When was our red card? 

[Toussaint]

5 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

When was our red card? 

Aribo was booked twice  for being too shit against Ipswich. 

[LeBizzier69]

7 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

Won’t be the last time players down tools to get a manager the bullet.

We should be used to it down here.

Trouble is, our players haven’t picked up the tools in the first place.

[saintant]

2 hours ago, Long Shot said:

It’s ok. Nick Illingsworth has just found out what’s been going wrong. Apparently it’s all the fans fault as we keep “hounding out” the managers. Check out his latest rant on the UI website and then castigate yourself. 

Yes, all those managers we hounded out and who were immediately snapped up by other clubs. I see where he's coming from.

[saintant]

2 hours ago, trousers said:

At least Russell Martin has led us to the top of one table...

 

 

Must be for kicking the ball away or back chatting to the ref because our lot don't put in enough meaty tackles to warrant yellow cards.

[Dark Munster]

8 hours ago, Toussaint said:

I think he's hoping rather than believing they understand, all sounded a bit desperate to me. I can't see Dragan buying it one bit, you don't get to where he is by being gullible and or tolerating piss poor performance by those you have entrusted with your money.

It seems he was gullible enough to have teamed up with that snake oil salesman Ankersen. Just one look at his website should've been enough to scream out to him that he's a complete chancer and fraud. How have Brentford done since he's left? Very well, thank you.

At the very least last year's shit show should've dispelled any doubts about Ankersen's credentials as a complete loser. But here we are, with yet another disastrous hipster manager appointment, with Wilcox seemingly his yes man there to now take the blame.

Over to you Dragan.

[Toussaint]

10 hours ago, hypochondriac said:

When was our red card? 

Sulemana

[Sheaf Saint]

12 minutes ago, Toussaint said:

Sulemana

Which was then rescinded because it was ridiculous.

[Toussaint]

13 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Which was then rescinded because it was ridiculous.

I’m just making the assumption that is the red card referred to.

[Wade Garrett]

11 hours ago, Long Shot said:

It’s ok. Nick Illingsworth has just found out what’s been going wrong. Apparently it’s all the fans fault as we keep “hounding out” the managers. Check out his latest rant on the UI website and then castigate yourself. 

He writes a lot of bullshit on that site.

[ashnats]

10 hours ago, saintant said:

Must be for kicking the ball away or back chatting to the ref because our lot don't put in enough meaty tackles to warrant yellow cards.

If you're playing a high line and losing the ball a lot, you are liable to get a lot of "professional" yellows for pulling people back when being attacked on the break.

[hypochondriac]

1 hour ago, Toussaint said:

I’m just making the assumption that is the red card referred to.

So the table isn't correct then. 

[John B]

On 24/09/2023 at 19:57, Andy Hill said:

So many crap players even at this level -  not sure even the great Sir Alex would get any sort of tune out of them. 

Agree with you

 

Saw this on the Internet which I fully agree with too

Southampton had the worst window of all the relegated sides as their talent pool was raided.

Romeo Lavia, Tino Livramento, James Ward-Prowse, Nathan Tella, Mohammed Salisu, Moussa Djenepo, Mislav Orsic, Armel Bella-Kotchap, Duje Caleta-Car and Paul Onuachu all left the club, with the first five being for huge fees.

In response to this exodus and transfer kitty boost, only Shea Charles and Ross Stewart were signed for fees, with Ryan Manning and Joe Lumley joining for free.

The rest were loans for youngsters but the point is, this isn’t good enough, Leicester lost most of their stars but rebuilt completely and now look set to get promoted.

[Sheaf Saint]

15 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

So the table isn't correct then. 

Well, it's correct in that we have had one red card shown in a match so far. Whoever compiled that table either isn't aware that it was subsequently overturned, or they have just chosen not to take that into account.

[Crab Lungs]

Sick of managers blaming it on the last person and the last and the one before that. 
 

You’re a manager. It’s your fiefdom. You knew the situation and remit when you took over. Fucking sort it.

[Turkish]

I just read on another forum that if we lose to Leeds on saturday we will have a lower points total after 9 games than we have in the 2008/09 season.

Checked it and it's true, we had 11 after 9 games. We have 10 after 8 now. The season we got relegated in 23rd place. We were we were skint, had to rely on playing a team of kids, not because it was some grand plan to be the Man City of the south but it was because it was all we could afford. The year we signed Tommy Forecast, Anthony Pulis and our star signing was the "world class" Ryan Smith. We had Portleviet in charge or the Dutch clown as he became known.  lose on saturday this team will have made a worse start. 🤣

[ally_uk]

The man needs to take accountability and ownership and say that the system / style of play just isn't working. 

Put the ego to the side and drop this possession based tika-taka at the back which will ship us goals time and time again. 

Either go back to a more basic / traditional approach and eliminate this whole need to dominate possession. We are not Man City! and never will be in the same class.

We are fielding a midfield of similar players such as Smallbone and Downes. Where is the directness the creativity and driving runs into the box? 

Oh that's right we have a player called Alcaraz who is one of the best players in the squad technique wise left out in the cold. 

The insistence and stubbornness to continue to play this possession based Man City model will ultimately cost us a chance of promotion.

The southampton fans have already worked out it is ineffective.

Swansea fans previously knew it was ineffective. 

So it clearly doesn't work and isn't going to be the key to us achieving promotion. 

So what is the actual point of playing this way? Am I missing something here ? 

If Russell lacks the capability to switch things up and doesn't understand that our current setup can be undone easily by the opposition pressing... 

Then I'm sorry but the man is out of depth and needs to go.

I would actually give him until the international break if we are serious about any chance of Premiership football next season then we need to be more reactive! 

Unless Sports Republic are happy for us to just float around the championship to develop a "project" and heal the " scar tissue " 

 

Or whatever nonsense their mouth pieces / puppets will spout.

 

I've seen enough already lads 

 

 

[hypochondriac]

1 hour ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Well, it's correct in that we have had one red card shown in a match so far. Whoever compiled that table either isn't aware that it was subsequently overturned, or they have just chosen not to take that into account.

I thought the table was measuring a disciplinary record? Since it was overturned it shouldn't count towards that.