There has been a lot of words typed on the internet about Russell Martin and his tactics, but is this just the reason as to why we are doing badly in the Premier League, last season there was a clear evidence that his player selection is not what it should be.

With the squad Southampton had last season in the Championship, we should have been promoted automatically and not through the play offs, or at least made a decent fist of challenging for the top two positions.

Most supporters would put the blame on the tactics, but in hindsight as we watch the manager struggle to find his best side and clutch at straws such as Paul Onuauchu, I would say that just as big an issue is that the manager just can't seem to be able to spot talent when it stares him in the face.

Of course the main evidence is that is his continued selection of Jack Stephens in the Premier League and his shoe horning into the side as happened last season, but the truth is it runs deeper than that.

One clear piece of evidence in that is the emergence of Shea Charles, at the beginning of last season Charles came into the side and looked a real find, yet he soon found himself out of favour and he started just 15 games in the Championship plus another 17 as sub.

In the summer he was allowed to join Sheffield Wednesday on loan, yes there were some valid reasons for that, it was about game time perhaps, but given the performances that Charles has put in for the Owls and the leadership qualities shown that has seen him captain the Northern Ireland team this week, why did Russell Martin not see these qualities himself and keep Charles rather than ship him out on loan.

Another case was the decision to send Sam Edozie out on loan to Anderlecht, what was the point in that unless you were going to upgrade and sadly so far this season Cornet has not even overtaken the number of Premier League appearances that Edozie made before leaving, both have appeared just twice.

Edozie has not found the consistency that his talent could achieve, some would point the finger at the player himself and of course there is some blame to be apportioned there, but I would say that the system is as much to blame.

There are more examples of those being allowed to leave both permanently and on loan, but it doesn't just stop there, in his team selections both last season and this, Martin has had a tendency to favour some players, ignore others and then chop and change all but his favourites.

This shows not only a lack of good judgement in terms of player selection, but also a lack of faith in his own judgement, on the surface for most of the time Martin appears calm & collected, but occasionally that veneer is stripped back and he has found himself being booked and suspended, very few managers actually get suspended for totting up 3 bookings in a season, that is far too many losses of control.

This is worrying, I have no problem with passion, but on this occasion it shows that Martin is frustrated, but he is getting frustrated because he is unable to get his team to win games, but that has often been down to his own team selections and substitutions and of course the tactics, he cannot see that he is part of the problem and not the solution.

He is unable and indeed unwilling to compromise his own tactics for the best of the team, questioning whether he actually accepts that our woes this season are anything to do with him is another worry.

So the fact that Shea Charles is flourishing at Sheffield Wednesday at the same level as he played under Martin last season, is perhaps clear evidence that Russell Martin is not only a sound judge of talent, but that he is unable to get the bet out of his players both individually and as a team.

He is putting square pegs in round holes, he is unable to adapt his system to fit the quality of players that he has to hand.

How quickly Shea Charles has gone from a bit part player at St Mary's to top notch performances at Hillsborough and an International Captain, is clear evidence that many of our squad are being supressed and not being allowed to flourish.

Southampton's chances of survival in the Premier League diminish week by week, something has to change, either Russell Martin has to adapt and change the way that his side apply his possession football game, or it is the manager that has to change.

All Photos Via Reuters

dirk_doone added 10:18 - Nov 20 A lot of reports today that he's a January transfer target for Arsenal. So, I guess we'll find out how good he is when he gets there.
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JoeEgg added 10:48 - Nov 20 Clearly Martin will live or die by his possession based football, and in the Premier League his stubbornness will be his own downfall and sadly, the team's as well. Martin would prefer to persevere with his favourites, or those that will play his system. Who knows how many of the now abandoned player purchases would have made it under a different manager? Sports Republic have missed the last opportunity to make a managerial change and we will not only lose our place in the Premier League, but also many footballers who could have been successful and achieved their full potential at Southampton.

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kingolaf added 10:54 - Nov 20 Manager has to change, along with the ridiculous footballing philosophy of the board. Our possession game will never be good enough to survive in the Premier League. Martin is a one-trick pony that is getting found out every week. He has to go. If he doesn’t leave, it will be the supporters that do, with me at the front of the queue. Not spending a small fortune every season watching the garbage Martin is serving up.

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Bowlercow added 11:15 - Nov 20 Yet another swipe at a man who got us promoted and deserves a PL season How can anyone not on the inside know how well a player fits the system required or even how he blends with the rest of the squad. Your judgement is based purely on results.
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Jesus_02 added 11:37 - Nov 20 Shea has bags of potential however its worth noting that Wednesday are 15th. We need to be realistic, RM got us promoted at the first time of asking , if you would have preferred us to stay mid table and play Shea and Edozie more that's you preference. Im getting a bit tired of this "RM is stubborn and not changing his tactics" as well. Do we have the players to play percentage hoof ball? Do we have the clinical attacking players to play on the counter? Im not sure we do

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mascott514 added 11:38 - Nov 20 I think there’s a lot of 20/20 hindsight in this. I don’t recall anyone thinking a loan was a bad idea. Credit should go to Sheffield Wednesday for bringing him on and NI also. Maybe he gets recalled in Jan - but this should be a positive story not another dig to RM Well done Shea! COYR
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SaintPaulVW added 15:40 - Nov 20 Not sure you can really lay into Russell Martin for continuing to pick Jack Stephens. Every manager we have had has picked him! There must be something about Jack that we 'civilians' just don't see. Shea is thriving but he's playing in League 1. Think more of our young players would do far better with proper developmental steps rather than the odd 10-20 minutes now and again in the PL.

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SaintPaulVW added 15:42 - Nov 20 Apologies Championship not League 1
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onetowatch added 16:21 - Nov 20 Sorry Jesus and Mascott, certainly not hindsight, I and many other, have posted several times mentioning SC. His physicality along with his composure and distribution are key characteristics in ensuring he will have a successful career. Last season I was continually dumbfounded last season when WS was FDs CM partner with SC sitting on the bench time and time again. I thought then, RM does not recognise real talent. He keeps the ball well, uses it well, tackles, and looking at the assists he has been involved in this season, he's comfortable in trying to get the ball forward before, simply keeping it. Your incorrect Mascot, aa lot of us thought the loan idea was a poor one....

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IanRC added 17:16 - Nov 20 Club is being shockingly badly run by Sports Republic and sadly Martin’s continued presence is just a symptom of this.
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Block8 added 09:59 - Nov 21 I'm not so sure that the decision to loan him was a bad one. In all honesty he looked a little short, in my opinion, whenever he played and had a lot to learn. He is now doing that under a very good coach and it was noticeable how much our from dipped under ralph when he left us! Same with Edozie though but he is another who will improve with more game time and bit part playing is of no benefit. More importantly and something some on here have highlighted is the poor choice of squad replacement. Why on earth we resigned Fraser is astounding to me, I honestly don't think I've ever seen him take anyone on? And as for the forwards panic buying and quantity over quality has left us with a massive squad of limited ability and value, overall. This may or may not be the managers fault depending on who sanctions the signings. It seems strange to me that RM's strategy requires players with a high technical ability and yet we sign workman like players and he seems to pick a team with a high work rate perhaps because of this. Not sure Le Tiss, in his prime, would have got into this team?

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