I recently read a Burnley fan on social media suggesting that last season Vincent Kompany was more interested in maintaining his reputation for playing a certain style of football than he was in keeping his club in the Premier League, are we seeing that now at Saints ?

Burnley supporters were grateful to Vincent Kompany for taking their club back to the Premier League, but many feel that once in the top flight he preferred to play a certain type of game, rather than get his side to roll up their sleeves and dig in.

The Lancashire club of course went straight back down, but Kompany had maintained his reputation and his reward was to be appointed manager of Bayern Munich, something that surprised many people given his very short time as a manager.

Now it has been suggested that Russell Martin is following the same pattern at St Mary’s, like Vincent Kompany he is resolutely refusing to adapt his style of play and force his team to play his possession football game to a level that they are not capable of playing, exactly the same accusations that Burnley fans made at `Kompany.

So the big question is whether Russell Martin’s is putting Southampton FC and saving them from relegation as his first priority or whether he is pursuing his own agenda and now using the club as a stepping stone to further cement his reputation as a manager for the modern day game, who if he has the players could manage teams in the higher echelons in football.

Saints supporters may well say that is the case, if Saints go down with all hands, some will see Martin as a manager who has the right tactics, just not the quality of players and that he can do a job at a higher level.

Martin himself may feel that if he sticks to his guns then his reputation will be intact, whereas if he compromises his beliefs and the club still go down, then his own personal reputation will be in tatters.

Perhaps this is a bit of a conspiracy theory, but after the start that we have had,I can’t think of any other reasons why Martin should stick rigidly to his way of playing with no adaption of his tactics whatsoever, even though it must be blatantly clear to him that things aren’t working.

All photos via Reuters

Boris1977 added 09:03 - Dec 10 I don't think there is a conspiracy Nick he just isn't too canny. Aside from his adherence to a system that does not work look at his team selections and substitutions. Why have we played 3 keepers this season (apart from the injury), why do players come out from the cold then get dropped again, why do players who should start get benched and players who shouldn't be in the starting 11 regularly start. I just don't think he knows what he is doing. Which is bad for saints as the opposition usually do. Think the Bournemouth game when their manager said post match they knew what saints were going to do and therefore went into a quick 3-0 lead. I agree with the principle of not changing managers at every difficult period but we are breaking records for failure and it is difficult to see how the loop will break with SR and RM in charge. It would be helpful if the custodians of our club explained their rationale for what their strategy and mid term plans are, including why they are sticking with RM despite the lack of positive results and improving performances. COYRs

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Staycalm added 09:18 - Dec 10 Well as is said the definition of Madness is continuing to do the same thing time and again unexpecting a different outcome stop. Certainly an interesting piece, Nick. If this were true of course it also potentially gives SR the benefit of saying they believed in his strategy and the damage has now been done, so there is no point in throwing good money after bad in January. For this theory to work the manager also has to have an exit strategy before any damage to his reputation is done, as you say. There is very little jeopardy for a modern-day manager as their contracts are unreal compared to pretty much everybody else in society. Failure is rewarded as much as success. Where is the incentive to succeed??? All theory of course.

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Staycalm added 09:18 - Dec 10 ....expecting....
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Block8 added 09:42 - Dec 10 I think he is just intransigent bordering on stupid and has the arrogance to consider everyone else is wrong! So I don't think there is an ulterior motive, in layman's terms he's just a berk!
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Saintjonah68 added 09:57 - Dec 10 Jeez, I could have told you that last season.RM a true Narcissist will happily relegate Saints so he can maintain his rigid principles, then he will blame everyone else.He has always had a very poor defensive record as he and his team are not bright enough to implement his own tactics.Rasmus Ankerson and the board are as much to blame for allowing this to persist and employing him in the first place. We got promoted despite him not because of him.When we do sack him Rasmus will make yet another poor appointment. Dragan Solak needs to step in and remove Rasmus and others from the board at SFC but I fear this will not be possible.

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Jesus_02 added 10:21 - Dec 10 He isn't a former player of great renowned he doesn't have the contacts that Kompany has. There is no reward for him playing how he does. The truth is that we probably got promoted a year earlier than was expected, the 3 year deal was a clause in his contract. We didn't manage to shift a load of players so we couldn't get the player we wanted . The whole thing is a mess not just RM. I genuinely don't think we have the players to play a more direct game, I mean Adam Armstrong and Cameron Archer? Tall Paul plays 1 decent game and is injured. The recruitment policy and the rigid wage structure is what is killing the club we have reverted to the Rupert Low days of buying average money for 3 average midfielders none of which are good enough for he same outlay as one decent player. The whole thing is a mess, maybe if they actually conspired more we would be in a better place

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Dobbin60 added 10:30 - Dec 10 Nick he should’ve been sacked after the Bournemouth game, not just for the diabolical performance but more for what he said before the match. When asked by the sky presenter why he is persisting with style of play, he responded “ if I want to get to the top and achieve my ambition I have to continue playing this way. The presenter and pundits all agreed that he wants a top job!!!

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Number_58 added 10:51 - Dec 10 Kompany could walk in to most jobs based on his playing career alone. Not sure if playing a few times for Scotland carries that same sort of weight. I'm not defending RM but we've somehow acquired a painfully weak squad and I'm not sure if we'd be any higher up the table with a different playing style or a different manager. Not having a proven goalscorer is basically suicide. I really enjoyed last season, it's a shame that fans are starting to be so vitriolic towards the manager. Although he is being paid an absolute fortune and shagging Lucy Pinder, so f*ck him....

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SaintPaulVW added 11:09 - Dec 10 I think he's just in too deep. Too invested in his professed style to be able to seriously change now. Think he's still got the dressing room ATM. If that goes tho, he must go.
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Bowlercow added 11:52 - Dec 10 If you compare RM to VC are you also going to compare him with the other 2 managers who went up and back down in consecutive seasons? I don't believe that any coach playing any system would have kept us in the PL with this squad Look at it Ramsdale relegated twice before Stevens couldn't get a contract or many games on loan at Bournemouth Bednarek rejected at Villa Diaz failed in Spain Archer not wanted by his previous loan club KWP not bothered because he will leave for another PL club Who would want the job?

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simianmike added 15:04 - Dec 10 Yeah this has been pretty obvious since half way through last season. Its not a conspiracy theory by definition as a conspiracy involves a group of people. This is just RM putting his playing style in the shop window and not caring what it means for Saints. Whilst I agree that the squad quality meant 17th is probably the absolute upper limit for any manager, its definitely good enough to have more than 5 points after 15 games.

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bartley41 added 15:33 - Dec 10 Let's face it things will not change. RM will not change his style of playing, tippy tappy does not win matches, it's goals that count, not possession football. SR will not change Manager as they are not interested if we get relegated, they are all wealthy and are not interested in Football, so losing the TV income will not hurt their pockets.. The players still get paid vast amounts win or lose or even just sitting on the bench! Is no one bothered? It is us, the supporters who lose out we are not entertained or appreciated so what can we do?? .

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ItchenNorth added 20:49 - Dec 10 Nah. This is just your agenda, looking to stoke the fire by writing / believing this sort of rubbish.
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stmichael added 23:35 - Dec 10 Kompany had a Stella playing carreer as a leader a captain and serial winner.
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