Today sees Russell Martin facing the biggest test of his managerial career, if he loses to Ipswich Town his position at St Mary's will be very much on the line, few managers lose the first five games of a season and survive.

Russell Martin goes into his fifth Premier League game of the season with the Sword of Damocles hanging over him, all of last seasons achievements count for nothing, having got Saints back into the top flight, his job now is to keep them there and he hasn't made a good start with questions being raised about team selection, tactics and favouritism.

But if reports are to be believed the board at Southampton already have a shortlist of names that they would be looking at, should they need to replace Martin, this is in itself not a surprise, after all most clubs will have such lists should a manager depart.

But the name that is top of the list won't excite Saints supporters, according to footballinsider247 the top target is John Eustace of Blackburn Rovers.

They also go on to claim that it won't just be simply about results, they say that the Saints board are also concerned about the tactics employed, especially that of passing the ball around at the back in every situation, one that has seen a number of errors this season, with literally every goal conceded coming from players being caught on the ball or passing it in tight situations.

Eustace might not be a big name, but the Southampton hierarchy are said to be impressed with his credentials.

He started his playing career with Coventry City and played in the Premier League 47 times, after that he would only grace the top flight again once, that on loan at Middlesbrough, but he played a lot of games in the First Division & Championship for Stoke, Watford & Derby.

His managerial career started at Kidderminster Harriers in 2016 and he had a spell at QPR as assistant manager and also as caretaker, where he kept them in the Championship in the final 7 games of the season.

During that time he was also assistant for the Republic of Ireland, before joining Birmingham City as manager in July 2022 and in his first season he guided the Blues to their highest points total for 7 years.

But that counted for nothing, in October 2023 Birmingham after a good start to the season were in 6th place and looking to be in the fight for promotion, but Eustace was sacked and replaced by Wayne Rooney, this was folly and as we know it would lead to Birmingham being relegated two managers later at the end of the season.

Eustace joined Blackburn in February 2024 and his work there, losing just 6 games of the 24 he has presided over, including 3 wins and 2 draws out of 5 games this season that sees them in 3rd place going into this weekend, has led to Southampton considering him as a replacement should Russell Martin lose another game or two.

Some will not see this as a great replacement, there will be calls for David Moyes or even Graham Potter, experienced Premier League manager, I have to say I think they will have a point, after all Eustace has only managed less than 100 games as a League manager and his last experience even as a player in the Premier League was over 20 years ago. he may be an up and coming manager, but does he have the experience necessary for the fight we are now in ?

Photo: Action Images

TissLeGod added 08:47 - Sep 21 If they do replace, has t b
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TissLeGod added 08:49 - Sep 21 If they do replace it has to be with a proven Premiership manager. Why replace with a lower league manager.This is Martins squad so needs proven manager.
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Colburn added 08:51 - Sep 21 The fight we are now in? We’ve played 4 games!! Sure we need to change results and I agree that Martin looks like he is struggling to know how to attack the opposition but if we win today, will the same be said of McKenna? 5 games in, no win, only 2 points? I do have concerns but when you think we’re not up to speed yet, this seems worse than the knee jerk reactions you accused fans of with Ralph when he had lost 9-0 twice.. Favourtism indeed extends to this website and the pen of the majority of articles. As much as there’s aspects I don’t like about Martin, you have to give him a proper chance to show what he can do with a fit and ready squad which was only assembled fully one game ago! I don’t see how this article is helpful, again, you are trying to disrupt the club and stir people up when we need everyone pulling in the same direction to survive in this league. 4 games in is not enough time to make a fair judgement despite the poor start, we dominated against quality United players last week until the penalty and we have all seen improvement.

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davidargyll added 09:06 - Sep 21 Goodness me I hope this is a nonsense, because frying pans and fires come to mind… I do think RM is not capable of keeping us up but, all the same, another Championship manager? Oh pur-lease…! That said, I get it that the number one criterion for all business owners is not to lose money. At the moment the £120m+ the club will earn this season will go a long way to offsetting the total net outlay on players this season. To which the payoff for RM - which would presumably come out at around £5m - needs to added. So we get relegated, we lose a number of players for whom we recoup let’s say £30m-odd. Plus the parachute payment(s) et voila, SR are not much out of pocket, if at all. But, if they were now to go for a high profile manager, he might cost £5m-10m a year and the cost of firing him if unsuccessful would be a lot higher. In other words, it seems that SR believes that RM is getting the most out of this squad and a big name would not be guaranteed to do any better. And it therefore makes more economic sense to line up a cheaper “good prospect”, hence the idea of choosing Eustace over a much higher profile name, ie the whole thing is financially-based. Sad, but that is today’s world.

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saintmark1976 added 09:14 - Sep 21 Not your finest hour Nick to be honest. There’s a time and place to show an article such as this and less than Seven hours before the kick off of any home match is undoubtedly the wrong time. Particularly given the importance of today’s fixture to the Club its manager and supporters. In life timing is everything, and today as Colburn has previously noted, you have got it badly wrong.

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kevleykeegle added 09:35 - Sep 21 So much trash is being written about RM - all with vague talk about sources. How disappointing that you’ve decided to add to the outside noise.
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Block8 added 09:44 - Sep 21 There are very few clubs in the PL that don't have a contingency plan, manager wise & this is being widely reported. Which is how Nick picked it up. I have been, as many others have, critical of our style of play but every so often, the first 30 minutes against Utd for example< we looked good. We all saw last season that RM was able to learn from his mistakes as the season progressed & I'm hopeful that will be the case this season too. I personally feel we have some talent in this side and if we were to just pass and move a bit quicker, take the risks in the opposition half and not our own we have a good chance of staying up. But the strikers need to be given some decent opportunities, with crosses and balls into a less crowded box, by moving the ball quicker. There is little doubt that RM has a good footballing brain but he needs to be less rigid in his thinking and allow a little leeway within his footballing principles. For me he stays!

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WestSussexSaint added 09:50 - Sep 21 This is the same board whose previous in season managerial change shortlist was headed by Nathan Jones. You can be impressed with all the stats but do they fit the club, can they cut it at PL level and can they get a tune out of the players without ripping up the squad and starting again. Personally I don’t think RM is going anywhere just yet even if we lose against Ipswich. He has earned the right to get to Christmas at least.

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davenbennett added 10:32 - Sep 21 I think Martin os a bad manager in that he just doesn't learn. Tippy tippy or die is his way. Or the highway. Bringing in a Championship manager is just preparing for next season. Sacking Martin will cost money better spend on improving the squad. Said before, buy 3 or 4 1st teamers, not 11/12 for squad. If Martin can just get off his high horse and modify his 'suicide soccer' approach, we could still stay up. But will his ego allow that? And buy a proper No.9, better than Stewart, Big Paul! In meantime, try BBD there. So, Martin, change or go.

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HythePeer added 10:51 - Sep 21 It's a bit churlish to blame this author for publishing this story. It's already been reported in the Press elsewhere.
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Bowlercow added 11:06 - Sep 21 Our board members who used to be at Brentford are statistics mad Our stats ie possession XG goals etc are good so I don't see them sacking RM for a while yet Someone needs to look at our defensive set piece coach To many goals conceded from cornerst
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Flamingbankers added 12:34 - Sep 21 "The fight we are now in? We’ve played 4 games!! Sure we need to change results and I agree that Martin looks like he is struggling to know how to attack the opposition but if we win today, will the same be said of McKenna? 5 games in, no win, only 2 points? I do have concerns but when you think we’re not up to speed yet, this seems worse than the knee jerk reactions you accused fans of with Ralph when he had lost 9-0 twice.. Favourtism indeed extends to this website and the pen of the majority of articles. As much as there’s aspects I don’t like about Martin, you have to give him a proper chance to show what he can do with a fit and ready squad which was only assembled fully one game ago! I don’t see how this article is helpful, again, you are trying to disrupt the club and stir people up when we need everyone pulling in the same direction to survive in this league. 4 games in is not enough time to make a fair judgement despite the poor start, we dominated against quality United players last week until the penalty and we have all seen improvement." The truth hurts but one day you'll have to live with it or die failing. I think that's a fair report - conjecture is part of Nick's job let alone the fan's prerogative. Hassenhutl should have been sacked because of two 9-0 losses in consecutive seasons, that was an absolute embarrassment and disgrace for the club and the fans, whilst he also used a pathetic, useless system that failed ( admittedly we brought in a lot of inadequate players - SR's fault). Martin's system is clearly doomed to failure and relegation seems inevitable with Martin's current approach. Nick's simply making us aware of the possibilities if Saints lose their next few games. As someone else said, SR's prerogative is to staying the Premier Division. Hopefully they can avoid this by sacking Martin - unless he manages to see the light and change his ways ( we may still not survive with the players we have). I have followed Eustace's managerial career and he does indeed seem to be effective at his job where ever he's been which couldn't be said for Martin when we signed him. We must be realistic fighters not a delusional losers and frankly, I've had enough and want us to have a fighting chance, and a competent approach, to staying up this year. I'd be happy with Potter, Moyes or Eustace- at least they appear to have some common sense and football nous. Let's see. I bet if we don't gain any points in the next few games, a lot of the 'folks' on here will be calling for Martin's head instead of bleating about giving him a chance.

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LondonSaint76 added 14:02 - Sep 21 This story first appeared at roughly the same time on two websites - one of which was also running another Saints story linking Crystal Palace with a ‘swoop’ for Tyler Dibling!?!- yes, Palace plotting g to swoop for Dibling!! The author may as well have been Hans Christian Andersen so in all honesty I’m not losing any sleep tonight win, lose or draw… I am going 1-0 Saints on the UI Prediction League (having got last week spot on 🙂⚽️)

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kenis added 08:48 - Sep 22 I hope all the talk of Martin out is nonsense. Disappointing result yesterday but performances have been good and improving. Only the Forrest home game performance left me really disappointed, even against Brentford it was silly mistakes, a set piece and lack of ability to take chances when dominating that lost us the game, and I don’t think the manager can be fully to blame for the mistakes or lack of taking chances. So many of the players and this squad have been put together becuase of and for Martin, it would be silly to change to someone with a different playing style anyway. Keep the faith, even if we lose the next three if the performances are there, the cohesion between staff and players is there, we need to stare down the press noise. Re assess at the November international break and plan for January. I’d still keep him as changing manager when in relegation zone almost never works anyway. I would like to see him get Tall Paul and ABK closer to the first team though. Tall Paul has scored goals everywhere else apart from our dreadful relegation team, he has to want it and earn it though.

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chinesetakeaway added 09:01 - Sep 22 It's time to bring in Graham Potter. Ideal manager for a club this size (BHA) and with something to prove. Yesterday was the same old sh*t show. Waiting 90 minutes for the inevitable equaliser and so many unconverted chances in front of goal. Ipswich had much more desire and team spirit.
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