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Russell Martin Turns On The Fans And Players Sunday, 8th Dec 2024 09:43 Russell Martin's after match comments after yet another defeat, this time to Aston Villa, saw him blame everyone but himself including the fans and the players, this was a game when the supporters finally snapped. No one not even Russell Martin can say that the Southampton supporters have not been patient, although many last season expressed discontent at the type of game that Russell Martin was employing and they saw many games were points were thrown away due to soft goals conceded, they backed the manager. They have continued to back him this season, despite the poor form although there has been criticism of Martin on social media, at the games themselves it has been muted, although at times fans have voted with their feet in the closing stages of yet another defeat, their has been little vocal criticism, or visual signs of discontent.
But that all changed slightly at Villa and although the travelling supporters did not turn on their team or manager during the game, the rumblings of discontent were out in the open. But as the Red & White Army headed home, those on social media saw reports of Russell Martin's after match interviews and they did not like what they read. Martin was scathing of the supporters regarding the goal conceded when speaking to the BBC: "We played out and got pressed just before that- so then it makes Joe Lumley go long and it gets a cheer from our supporters and we concede within 10 seconds, so yeah it is what it is"
Adam Blackmore the BBC man who covers all Southampton matches had this to say on social media. "RM shouldn’t have said it - #SaintsFc fans are allowed to be pissed off paying for and watching 12 losses in 15 games. " "I get he’s frustrated - we all are - for me, it’s the sort of thing a manager says when he knows the P45 isn’t far away …................….... " Russell Martin also openly criticised some of his players after the game, that is usually a no no for a manager: "I love Taylor (Harwood-Bellis) and I don't want to criticise him, but what happened can't happen, so you either smooth the game out and pass or defend and clear it and we do neither. "We don't have enough conviction or quality and decision-making in the final third at the moment. "I don't know what more I can give the players to make them believe or that extra spark." What the manager seems to be oblivious to, is that all of this is down to his own tactics, no one is claiming that possession football is not being played by most teams these days, but other teams play it to utilise their strengths and not their weaknesses and they know when to put their foot through the ball and clear it, too often we watch our team play it dangerously across our own box and we see the opposition holding back and waiting to pounce.
Joe Lumley was cheered because finally someone had done what was needed in a tight situation, so to have our own manager basically saying that we are getting what we deserve because we had dared to show dissent at his way of playing. These were 3,000 Saints supporters who drpve through a major storm with roads shut down and a rail system were trains were cancelled and many on those trains were unable to get back to Southampton until the early hours of Sunday morning due to cancellations. How dare he infer that the supporters were to blame for the goal, we have watched HIS team using HIS tactics repeatably play the same type of possession football and get the same results. We have watched him do it with absolutely no leeway appearing to have been given to his players, He says: "I don't know what more I can give the players to make them believe or that extra spark." If that is the case then that is telling both himself and the supporters something, it is telling me that it is time for him to go and as Adam Blackmore has said in his own mind he knows that himself.
If Russell martin cannot see something that most of those watching the games can see, then he has tunnel vision, he does not have the ability to assess his own shortcomings and address them, the problem is quite obvious we do not have the calibre of player in the squad to be able to play the possession football game to the level that he is insisting on. That being the case something has to change and from his after match comments he has confirmed that he cannot see what is going wrong, if he is unable to change his tactics to suit his squad, then I am sorry but the manager has to be changed. I think that this squad is not a great squad, but it is one that is good enough to stay up, stupid mistakes when trying to play out from the back and some lax defending has cost us dearly, I would estimate about 9-10 points and the table would look a lot different had we gained those points and not dropped them. Russell Martin deserves to be feted at Southampton FC & by the supporters for his work in getting Saints promoted, Nigel Adkins the last manger to gain us promotion has that respect from the supporters, he too had criticisms that his squad should have done better, but the fans could see he was an honest man who used his squad well.
Russell Martin does not have that respect, I have been saying for several months, that to stay up the manager has to adapt to suit his squad, he has refused to budge even an inch, his only changes are the constant changing of players in and out of the squad, that shows desperation, why does Sulemana get game time ahead of Sam Amo-Ameyaw for instance. It brings me no pleasure to say that I think surely this was Russell Martin's last match, perhaps it took Joe Lumley to do what everyone could see what was needed, put his foot through the ball sometimes, Lumley had nothing to lose he knows that when Aaron Ramsdale is fit he is out, he perhaps spoke for the squad, Russell Martin's comments showed that he now has nothing to lose, he is a dead man walking. All Photos Via Reuters Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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