After the announcement at lunchtime today that Ruben Selles will not be manager of Southampton FC next season, the media are reporting that the club have agreed terms with Swansea City manager Russell Martin and an announcement is imminent.

Whoever has been linking the new that Saints are going to appoint Russell Martin as their 4th manager within 7 months has been a busy bee over the past week.

Now with the news that Ruben Selles is going to be leaving the club after the game against Liverpool on Sunday, comes further media speculation that Russell Martin and his current club Swansea City have agreed the terms of the deal and that it could be announced within hours.

This is bad from a Southampton perspective, we could go into the Liverpool with not just one manager at the club but two and that would cause much mirth in the footballing world in general.

Surely it would have been better to stand Selles down before announcing him as the manager, Martin is said to be about to sign a 3 year contract at St Mary's and as some media outlets speculate, be unveiled within hours.

This would be bizarre, if Martin is announced then I truly hope that Ruben Selles is given the dignity of being allowed to step down from Sunday's game against Liverpool

I also hope that Martin doesn't take charge and they leave it in the hands of the current coaching staff rather than unveil Martin to the fans on Sunday.

He will not receive a saviour's welcome, his track record in football is not good enough to excite the fans who will see it at best as a left field appointment and at worst the pessimists will have a field day and use this as a stick to beat the club with claiming that it is yet another cheap and badly thought out appointment.

The truth is probably somewhere in between, I fear the club is too far down the line now to delay this announcement, whatever side of the fence you sit on regarding Sport Republic, they do not seem to show themselves as people that think carefully about what they are doing and the ramifications of that.

Sunday against Liverpool will be a fraught day for Saints fans, it will not be the day for a lap of appreciation from the squad, nor will it be the day for supporters to show that they are not enamoured with the new manager before he has even got his foot in the door.

Photo: Action Images

Centurion added 15:48 - May 24 I would imagine Russell Martin will be kept scarce. At least he can get to work straight away.
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obelisk added 16:07 - May 24 Unlike Nick I'll be giving the new chap at least a couple of pre-season friendlies before declaring him not to be good enough for bottom-of-the-table-by-a-long-way Southampton FC.
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Ifonly added 16:20 - May 24 "it will not be the day for a lap of appreciation from the squad" It could be if they provide rotten vegetables for the fans to throw. That would be a highlight of the season.
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Centurion added 16:40 - May 24 Anyway, I expect Martin will need 2 or 3 seasons to rebuild ready for a promotion or play off campaign. I hope everyone is patient.
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DellBoyWally added 16:41 - May 24 Onwards and.....?????? All we can do is return next season, back the team and see what transpires.
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SaintPaulVW added 18:44 - May 24 I'm as sure as I can be that: Selles won't be in charge on Saturday, and, Martin will be appointed but watch from the stands as a caretaker looks after us for the day. That would seem sensible. Selles is just there ATM in case there is a bump in the road on the negotiations to appoint Martin. Plus, Martin is on a hiding to nothing if he is in actual charge on Sunday.

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ItchenNorth added 18:59 - May 24 Get a grip
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YosemiteSaint added 19:02 - May 24 Martin's hiring is the latest in a string of signings that illustrate how enamored we are of the Championship. Now, at long last, we actually get to go to that magical place. :-/
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LordDZLucan added 19:17 - May 24 Russell Martin on the face of it is a strange appointment. If the fans are to get behind him Sports Republic need to set out their reasons for choosing him and quickly. An answer along the lines that his name popped out of Rasmussen Anderson’s mythical black box will not cut it. I fear the next fans revolt is not far off!
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pintsizedsaint added 19:28 - May 24 My word! Russell Martin (if announced before weekend) isn’t going to be paraded around the Stadium! Feels actually quite honourable to allow Selles opportunity to say goodbye to the fans. How many managers actually get that chance. Appointing new manager as incoming DoF comes in means we hit ground running. Allows Martin to assess squad and have say in who goes etc.

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pintsizedsaint added 19:28 - May 24 My word! Russell Martin (if announced before weekend) isn’t going to be paraded around the Stadium! Feels actually quite honourable to allow Selles opportunity to say goodbye to the fans. How many managers actually get that chance. Appointing new manager as incoming DoF comes in means we hit ground running. Allows Martin to assess squad and have say in who goes etc.

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pintsizedsaint added 19:31 - May 24 By the way, some of the comments on Martin remind me of the hysterical comments we made when Atkins was sacked and some unknown chancer called Mauricio Pochettino was put in charge…
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Ifonly added 19:35 - May 24 I think the speculation that Ruben will step aside for Sunday is wrong. I bet Ruben takes charge on Sunday whether or not Martin is announced in the interim. Ruben has nothing to lose by taking charge. If he loses, that's just what everyone expects. He can then say goodbye having seen out his contract with dignity. If, on the other hand, he gets some kind of result from the game then he finishes on a high and he improves his record. It's a win-win for him and a much better look than appearing to go off in a huff just because he wasn't reappointed. That would be a bad look for future employers. Russell Martin won't want to take the game (if he's got any sense) so one of the other coaches would have to. It would just look like Ruben had left the club in the lurch. Certainly if I was him, I'd want to be in charge for the game. I'd smile, clap the fans, give a brief wave goodbye and then go and look for the next lucrative contract.

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Centurion added 21:26 - May 24 I can't believe some of the posts ! Writing off Russell Martin before he has even begun! He deserves a chance and also we need to give him time. Lets face it, he has a lot to sort out.
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SanMarco added 12:59 - May 25 This isn't an exciting appointment but we must give the guy a chance. If Selles wants to do Sunday then let him and leave RM in the wings - if he doesn't then let Selles' deputy do it. RM can be 'introduced' in the first pre-season match. I think the negative posts are coming from those who had persuaded themselves that we would get a big name. A manager we have not/barely heard of pours a bucket of cold sick over that. We musn't blame Martin (or Selles, or even Jones) for the perceived inadequacies of SR. We must (through gritted-teeth for some) welcome him and hope he is up to the job. Us booing him from the start will help no one other than the other 23 teams next season...

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dirk_doone added 14:32 - May 25 It's interesting to see what they had to say about him on the Swansea fansnetwork 2 months ago: https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/swanseacity/news/59809/russell-martin-%E2
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Ifonly added 15:29 - May 25 dirk, that's an interesting article. The line that stands out to me is: "What Russell Martin has is a clear vision for his squad, a clear way to play and a distinct ethos in how that will happen. The issue as many now see is he doesn’t have the players capable of doing that" That's what I fear he will find at Saints too. There's no doubt that style can be successful if you have a squad full of Man City players, but what if you don't?

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Monksway added 08:45 - May 26 I think Sunday is a periferal issue, the last match of a horrible season. Everybody will simply go through the motions or not go at all. My question to SR is how following the data has led to the appointments of Nathan Jones and Russell Martin , managers with radically different approaches to winning football matches. What data are they using and who is interpreting it! I suspect this commitment to possession football might change when we find that the few current players that can pass the ball accurately under pressure are the ones that will need to be sold.

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SaintPaulVW added 10:43 - May 26 Any idea on how many actual hours?
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barry_sanchez added 06:22 - May 27 Russell Martin sounds like a shite shampoo brand from Home and Bargain, they're both cheap and do the job to a degree but no to satisfaction, why do the club try so hard to be shit and so low aspirational.
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Boris1977 added 09:05 - May 27 If Russell Martin is eventually dropped into the management role we'll have little choice but to support him as far as possible but which ever way it's turns out he's being offered a promotion in terms of job opportunity and it's not his fault that he's been identified as the man by sports direct. Whatever our own thoughts on him most people would agree that it's difficult to have faith in any decisions sports direct make hence the nervousness and realistic (or depending on your point of view negative) feeling about it. I've just read an article on Coventry's revival after years of miss management by, among others sisu, who were linked to us before Marcus stepped in and saved us and and set us on a path to stability and success - which has been undone with each bad decision over the past half decade or so. I hope something clicks within the club over the next season or so but I can't help but think we'll be down here for a while based on sports directs inability to correct mistakes and even worse repeat them. I do not think sports direct will do what sisu did to Coventry as they are two very different organisations but we're going to experience something of a contrast with our time in the premiership and I'm not sure it's going to be particularly enjoyable under the current owners tenure. COYRs

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