After what was perhaps the worst 45 minutes in Southampton FC history, at least at St Mary's, the Saints hierarchy took swift action in the aftermath of the debacle and sacked Russell Martin.

Southampton FC had dithered over the last couple of months and give Russell Martin every chance to adapt his tactics and play to his squads strengths and no his weaknesses, indeed many would say far too long, but they were quick to act after the abysmal performance against Tottenham Hotspur.

The statement reads as follows.

"We can confirm that we have taken the difficult decision to part ways with our Men’s First Team Manager, Russell Martin.

Going into the start of the season, we all knew the challenges that we would face this year as we readjusted to life in the top flight, competing in the best and most competitive league in the world.

However, the reality of our situation is clear. The board have supported Russell and his staff and been open and transparent regarding our expectations. We have all been on the same page in recognising the urgency of needing results to improve.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Russell and his staff for all the hard work and dedication they have given the club on and off the pitch over the last 18 months. Everyone connected with Southampton FC will always have fantastic memories of last season, especially the Play-Off Final win in May.

Current Under-21s Manager Simon Rusk will take charge of the team on an interim basis until we announce a permanent replacement.

Behind the scenes, we are encouraged by the continued development of talent coming through our Academy. We are proud of the contributions our young players are making and are confident this will remain a source of strength and pride for everyone associated with the club.

We are also deeply grateful for the continued support and positivity shown by our fans. We are witnessing first-hand the significant gap between the Championship and the Premier League, but your understanding and passion, even when results have not been what we all want, continue to drive our long-term commitment to the club."

Most Southampton supporters will be pleased, but they will also feel some sorrow, after all Russell Martin did lead the club to promotion, but to be blunt few will feel sorry for Martin himself, he was the architect of his own downfall, stubbornly refusing to change his tactics, even after it was clear to everyone that they were not working.

U21 coach Simon Rusk will now take over on an interim basis, you would hope that the board have already identified and sounded out potential successors, after all this hasn't just taken us completely by surprise.

All Photos Via Reuters

mattthelegend added 07:38 - Dec 16 Can we trust SR to make the right decision, as their track record so far is pretty poor?
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davidargyll added 07:52 - Dec 16 As many of us have been saying for a long time, but unfortunately at least a month if not three months too late. But Thank God it has now happened. But frying pans and fires come to mind now as to who they may approach. If Rasmus (W)Ankersen is behind the selection process we will no doubt get yet another “up and coming manager from the sixth biggest league in the world”. In other words yet another cheap no-hoper from the Championship. Because, at the moment and on past evidence, the Board just do not seem to get that, if you want to play in the big boys’ playground, you have to at least try play like the big boys do…

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JoeEgg added 08:27 - Dec 16 Apart from the stubborn arrogance of Russell Martin, the most frightening happening from last night was the performance of individual players hand picked by Martin to win matches in the Premier League. If those were our BEST eleven players on the pitch last night then heaven help ANY new manager. Embarrassing and totally pathetic.
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davidargyll added 08:29 - Dec 16 PS “We are witnessing first-hand the significant gap between the Championship and the Premier League” This is interesting… perhaps this is a hint that they really do have ti try and get a top (PL or equivalent) manager…
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Fisk27 added 08:30 - Dec 16 The fact RM made Sulemana scapegoat for his own poor tactical choices and made it even worse with Wood and the fact he left before the 1st haf was over is sackable alone. What an arrogant t¤%t he turned out to be. However I don't understand anything of SR's strategy, why didn't they sack RM before the City game and the new one would have had 2 weeks to work with the group! I see Danny Röhl is mentioned and then we are at it again, Nathan Jones 2.0. Yes he's up and coming and has done great at Sheff Wed but he don't have the experince needed to conduct a club in the PL! (Yes I know he was AM under Ralph but that was a very brief spell and AM is not the same as being a manager). What a circus of a club we are at the moment!

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kenis added 08:31 - Dec 16 Who next? Not gonna get potter or moyes or anyone who sees themselves as a premier league manager. So need a seasoned mercenary who doesn’t care about their CV / whose reputation outlives this job. Benitez or the like?
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Staycalm added 08:56 - Dec 16 The question now is "Will SR want a Manager who tells them the home truths". That we don't have a bad team.....for The Championship but are seriously weak for the PL. You only have to look at the likes of Adam Armstrong. Thrives in the Championship and has failed to be an effective striker twice at PL level. Be very surprised to get an stablished name in charge but will live in hope!

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beynali73 added 08:58 - Dec 16 Hopefully Sports Republic will be next out of the door. They've got the majority of the footballing decisions wrong since they arrived ie. not funding Ralph a replacement for Ings, not buying an experienced CB, buying a load of speculative mediocrity at the beginning of the relegation season, sticking with poor shattered Ralph far too long, getting in Nathan Jones and then when we went down repeated the same process of buying mediocrity again and employing a mediocre manager and arguing with Swansea over £1 million compensation for the clown. Sports Rep are lower league spivs in more ways than one. The only downside of last night is that we were embarrassed by spuds - I'd have preferred that Fulham got the football genius the sack but he's gone - now we need to lose the other cancer in the club. COYRs

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bryanK added 09:01 - Dec 16 I have no sympathy for Russell Martin in any shape or form. His style of football has been awful and expecting players who are below premiership standard was totally insane. As we all agree Sports Republic have left matters too late (the Bournemouth game was the right time) now we can only hope someone can come in and at least restore some pride in the remaining 22 games. Finally everyone bangs on about last year my view was that any manager with the squad we had would have obtained promotion. Remember we were warned by his previous clubs supporters.what to expect and they were not too far off the mark. I feel sad for my one and only club.

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IanRC added 09:06 - Dec 16 At last. Not that it made any difference to the result but the referee and VAR was again incredibly biased missing a clear handball on the edge of the spurs penalty area and failing to disallow their goal after the clear foul on KWP. Performances were dreadful, why did Downes let a player stroll past him and why did Manning not track the tosser Maddison for the first goal. Complete failure to compete after that. Martin’s decision to remove Sulemana was laughable, at least he has some pace unlike Armstrong who was dreadful. Our delivery from set pieces was consistently dreadful. The shame is you could see Fernandes and Dibling becoming frustrated. Really need to bring in a quality manager and persuade Tyler to sign an extended contract.

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blubberboy added 09:08 - Dec 16 Hard to see where we go from here. I was generally of the view that changing the manager at this late stage would, in the long run, be counter-productive but after two such woeful home performances the club would have looked ridiculous had they NOT sacked him. The question is will they now gamble on another young manager with no PL experience or bring in a Big Sam-type figure on a short-term 'Keep us up' deal which will cost a fortune, be doomed to failure and will leave us in disarray again at the end of the season? Hard to see many other viable options right now unless SR have some masterstroke up their sleeves, which I very much doubt. Bracing myself for a bumpy ride.

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davidargyll added 09:10 - Dec 16 PPS. My spies(!) tell me that the reason why RM was not given the Spanish Archer much sooner was because, at a Board Meeting a few weeks ago, Dragan Solak - who wanted him out - was outnumbered by Ankersen, Kraft et al. Such are the inherent difficulties of owning, as opposed to running, a business..
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Scootyman added 09:14 - Dec 16 Let’s all look on the bright side eh? At least he’s gone and I’m guessing in a few weeks, Wayne Rooney will be looking for another job looking at the Championship table. Oh….wait!
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DPeps added 09:31 - Dec 16 My years of supporting Saints has taught me that fans have to be careful what they wish for. I sincerely hope I am wrong but my prediction is that changing the manager will make little difference. As others have said, we have too many championship level players who will make errors at this ruthless level, regardless of what style of football they are told to play. Personally I hope we go for Danny Rohl. Seemed to be the talent behind Ralph H and has worked wonders at Sheffield Wednesday. Crucially, knows the championship. I understand the concern over his lack of experience but I'll end with another cliché: beggars can't be choosers!

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davenbennett added 09:32 - Dec 16 Agree with others, few months too late. Need PL/Cship experienced manager. I would be radical. Who is going to be in Cship next year? Sell who we can this window, like KWP, H-B, Fernandes, Downes, Ramsdale, and very reluctantly, Dibling. Get rid, if can't sell, loan, Stephens, Sulemane, Archer, Aribo, BDD, end Cornet/Ugo loans. Bring back Charles. Use £ to build Cship winning squad. Bring on Amo-Ameyaw, O'brien-Whitmarsh. Keep Onuachu. Keep Fraser, Lallana. No value anyway! No idea if Stewart/Larios will ever play again. Play McC until Bazunu fit. The worst thing about Martin is because of him, we are going to lose Dibling and Fernandes. Also got to blame SR. Won't buy unless have resale value. So missed out on likes of Wood. A few good buys in crucial area's, and we could have been mid table. And failurecto use Onuachu. He's a good player, but Martin just don't like old style strikers. Wanted to play like Man C. But ignored they actually got a big striker in Haarland! They don't use 'false 9s' like he did with Sulemane last night. We're down, so it's now about getting back up, and staying up next time.

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Bowlercow added 10:31 - Dec 16 So who next ? For me Rohl or Knutsen Neither has Pl experience but that level of coach isn't going to come here Whoever it is will be gettinging slaggeded off by the ball watching fans on here within a few mayches
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Staycalm added 10:35 - Dec 16 They should make Jo Tessem the Interim Manager, supported by Fanny Benali. Jo sees all the problems, almost before they develop and Franny won't let them get away with a half hearted display!
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IanRC added 10:50 - Dec 16 Davidargyll, if true let’s hope Dragon sacks the useless Ankersen and possibly Kraft too.
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ItchenNorth added 13:02 - Dec 16 I've seen a lot of vitriolic comments all over the Internet about Russell Martin but little acknowledgement of what he did for this club. Yes he had to go and yes maybe it should have happened a few weeks ago but we should also reflect on what we've seen in the last 12 months as supporters. I for one will always remember that incredible 25 game unbeaten run. That unreal night at St Marys in the Playoff semi final vs West Brom where the team delivered for us in that atmosphere to give us what was probably the best night St Marys has ever seen. And then there was The Championship final, which is one of the best, if not the best day I've had as a Saints fan for 40 years. Yes time was up, but thank you Russ for some great times.

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Jesus_02 added 23:20 - Dec 16 We have a weaker team that finished bottom when the Ralf Out brigade forced the owners hand . Ralf was a decent manager who had managed to survive on scraps. Russel Martin has managed to maintain morale despite us have a maximum of 5 premiership quality players when everyone is fit. We don't even have that now , we now go into a cup tie with the youth manager in charge of a leaderless an over achieving championship side against the champions elect. Better start the Christmas drinking early because this is going to be messy

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