The day is here for Russell Martin, due to obscure regulations on crowds at sporting events in Wales he won’t feel the full atmosphere of a packed Swansea City stadium, but his biggest football management day to date is here.
Martin hasn’t been a manager for very long, his playing days are also not that far behind him, but his belief in a system of playing will be tested to the full today. His Swansea City team take on Sheffield United in what is the game of the day in the Championship. Martin will be undeterred as preparations for tonight’s game have been planned all week. As he stated recently "It’s so intense when you’re thrown in at the deep end, going from a player to a manager, and then trying to bring an identity as well as getting the results needed is hard. The supporters are going to get bored hearing me say it but we are process driven. We’re not emotional about results. As a player, sometimes you have to sacrifice your own beliefs but now I’m in a position where I can influence other people and convince them that my way is the right way.”
And the process starts this evening at the Swansea.Com stadium.
There is a genuine ruthlessness about Martin, deep down he knows there can be no emotion in his strategy and decision making, there he is very correct. What happens before has happened, you can only affect the future through clear decision making. Martin speaks well, we have already seen and heard that, and that ability will be crucial to getting over his belief that what he wants to see on the pitch is right.
You have to believe him when he stated "If I wrote down a list of clubs that I’d like to work for in terms of culture and philosophy, then this club would have been listed near the top of a very short list for me,” he said. "It’s a strong culture, and the way people at the club just want to help you. It’s very similar to the way I see football. "I’ve played against this Swansea team throughout the years and they were always tough to play against. That’s what I hope we can be if we work hard together and give it everything. I can promise you we will do that.”
Russell Martin playing against the swans
You couldn’t see Russell Martin at the helm at Stoke City as an example, or even Cardiff City as they are today. He knows where football is best played, and from experience he knows where he should be as a manager to see it through.
On tonight’s exciting fixture he has made it clear "It’s going to be a tough game, there’s no doubt about it,” said Martin. But it’s also going to be an occasion that our players are looking forward to. Hopefully it’s a really loud, atmospheric stadium, which I’m sure it will be. "We will attack every game trying to do it our way, trying to be the team that dictates how the game goes. We’ll certainly try that no matter if we’re home or away. I think it’ll be a really good indicator of where we’re at, and how much we’ve progressed in the short period of time we’ve been here”
That’s for sure, we are going to see a Swansea City side tonight that will openly dictate the play, dominate possession and hopefully score the goals that come from that dominance. That end part of tonight’s game Martin can’t influence that much. The ability of a young player in front of goal when his chance arrives. They can work on it but we all know when crunch time arrives it’s down to the individual. Maybe preparation is key ?
Russell Martin agrees this is his biggest challenge as a manager "I think it will be our biggest challenge yet. The team that Sheffield United can put out will tell you that. The money that they’ve assembled the squad with will tell you that. But we’ve got a hungry group of players that are really desperate to show people how good they are, and they have a brilliant chance to do that on Saturday night. There’ll be a great crowd and it’ll be on TV as well, so you have to really embrace those challenges.”
Swansea City take on Sheffield United at the Swansea.Com stadium tonight with an 8pm kick off scheduled, and it’s LIVE On SKY TV.