It has now been well over a month since the news broke that Russell Martin was the man for Southampton FC, yet here we are five weeks later and we still do not have the announcement that the new man is in charge, but that is about to change.

The fact that Saints are still without a manager a month after the Premier League season ended is the subject of much debate on social media, some Saints supporters see this as yet another reason to berate the club and claim that it shows how Sport Republic are in disarray.

The truth is the opposite, with key figures in the everyday running of the club such as Martin Semmens and Toby Steel now gone, Sport Republic is already appointing new men in key positions, Jason Wilcox as Director of Football for instance and he has been working behind the scenes to revamp the footballing side of things.

But it is the new manager who is the subject of much debate and why he has not yet been appointed.

The simple truth is one of compensation, Southampton & Swansea could not agree at just when Saints cease to become a Premier League club.

As has been oft reported, the Swans have a release clause in Russell Martin's contract that says that if he leaves for a Premier League club then they receive around £1 million, but if it is a Championship club then the amount is around £400,000.

Saints hoped Swansea would play ball and accept that once it was mathematically impossible for Saints to stay up, that would be the moment and the Swans think otherwise.

Indeed they are trying to contend that the initial approach was made with Saints in the Premier League so they should receive the full amount, that holds little water, talking does not equal appointing a manager.

Southampton were hoping that last Thursday after the Premier League AGM would be the day they could appoint their man, but it seems that Swansea still disagreed with that, now to make sure there can be no dispute it seems that Saints are waiting for the English Football League AGM to be completed and the Championship fixture lists to be published.

That seems to be the moment when Swansea City will have no cause to claim that Southampton FC is a Premier League club.

It could be said this has benefitted neither club, I would say that it is Swansea who have suffered most, back in May when Saints approached Martin, the Championship season was over and he was about to go on holiday, of course he would be normally be speaking to the club about players etc, but in essence he was doing little.

So by delaying the inevitable all Swansea have done is pay his wages for a month and for that matter those of his coaching staff, I'm not sure what the figure would be, but I suggest that it would be six figures, if Swansea had played ball then they would have at least eaten into the extra £600k they have been trying to get from Saints and been a little bit better off.

From a Saints perspective the situation is similar as it would have been had they had been able to appoint Martin back in May, with everyone on holiday in the playing squad there was little for him to do other than speak with Jason Wilcox about who he wanted to bring in etc.

The truth is that it won't be until early July after loyalty bonus's have been paid, that transfer business will start and the club will start to see which players are going to be the subject of serious offers and which aren't, but none of this is really in the managers control anyway.

From a Southampton perspective Russell Martin hasn't done much less for the club by not being appointed than he would have been able to have done had he been appointed.

Just about the only difference would have been the obligatory press picture being released of him holding the shirt and a short statement in which he would say some nice things about Southampton FC and promise a Promotion push for the coming season.

The press picture and statement have both been done for weeks it is only a question of when they will be released and it seems that moment is fast approaching, once the Championship fixtures have been released then Swansea will have no grounds to claim we appointed Martin as a Premier league club, it is all about the small print, but that is the route that Swansea have taken and at a time when the club will need to pull in it's belt saving £100k or so is not to be sniffed at.

So I would suggest that the wait is nearly over, at 9am the Championship fixtures will be released, the press release for Russell Martin won't be too far behind.

Photo: Action Images

Boris1977 added 08:41 - Jun 21 Two bald men fighting over a comb springs to mind. The message that I read here, and based on sports reps recent history of bad decisions is they were not willing in pay an additional £600, 000 to get their man. Considering the millions they'll receive from parachute payments this looks cheap and represents sports rep as a dogmatic inflexible organization. They continue to exist on their corporate bubble which is perplexing and not reassuring for long suffering fans.

1

DellBoyWally added 12:18 - Jun 21 I just can't get excited. OK, I know the names of those being listed as leaving (according to journos "in the know"!) But incomings according to those same "wise men"? Starting with the manager, my first, and subsequent, response was "who?" And that goes for every player with whom we've been linked. What was wrong with going for a proven manager? Offer the job to Graham Potter with a big bonus for first time rebound and guarantee of 2 years in the PL with a further bonus for keeping us up in that time. Job done! Instead we go for.......some guy from Wales (NOT WALES LINKS AGAIN!!!) who has worse stats than Nuthin Jones!!!! I wish Sport Repulsive would stop with "potential" and instead go for "proven". Especially with the manager. You can bring in players with potential once there is a core of experience. We saw what happened when we lost that core in the PL. If they follow the same pattern in the Championship I dread what might happen.

1

DellBoyWally added 12:22 - Jun 21 To cover my back over political correctness I have not come across a woman reporter offering speculation regarding Saints. The only "wise woman" of late has been in Black Adder!!
-2

Letissier2398 added 14:18 - Jun 21 The problem may well be that Swansea believe they are entitled to the full £1 million compensation, as we most defiantly made the approach and probably made a verbal offer to Russell Martin whilst we were still a Premier League Club , Probably a lot of legal activity going on behind the scenes re; when the approach was made and whether a verbal contract was in place - otherwise it would have been announced by now

-1

derbydog added 15:01 - Jun 21 You banged on last year about nothing will happen until July 1st when bonuses (note no apostrophe) are paid. This is incorrect. Plenty of transfers are being announced with contracts signed now. Just like any other contract, such as buying a house, the contract can be agreed and signed at any time. For various reasons such as the bonuses you mention the contract might be dated July 1st but there is no need for clubs to sit on their hands and wait until July 1st to do business.

3

Blogs 31 bloggers

Port Vale Polls