Russell Martin - The Rise and Fall

 

We'll Always Have Wembley

It has seemed to be a case of when, rather than if, with regards to Russell Martin being sacked as manager of Southampton.  Any doubt over him being sacked probably left town after forty seconds of the game against Spurs at St Mary’s. If you wondered what a final straw looks like – that was it.  Before kick off, the Spurs game, had all the ingredients of a classic Russell Martin Premier League game.

Strange team selection with a player parachuted into the starting XI from absolutely nowhere – check
Some weird tactical set up – check
The best player from last week left out - check.  

The final damning thing that we saw against Spurs was the players not looking interested and looking for all the world like they were not playing for their manager anymore.  Whether they meant that to be the case or not we will never know.  There were no outward, shows of dissent towards Martin, probably because our players are the biggest bunch of soft arses that have ever been gathered together in one Premier League squad. The extent of our collective nastiness is that our captain, anointed by Russell, had a little pull on someone’s hair.

The last manager we had who was in anyway popular at any time, was Ralph Hasenhuttl and it’s always difficult to part ways with a manager who has done well at some point in the past. They go on a bad run and because you have memories of them doing well, you hope that they can turn it round but there comes to a point when it becomes hope rather than expectation. Ralph won 4 games out of his last 26, which compares favourably to Russell’s 1 game out of 16, but when you’re posting those kind of numbers, there is really only one way it’s going to go.

Like Ralph, Russell had credit in the bank from last season. He inherited an absolute shambles after our relegation of 22/23.  In the Championship he completely changed the style of play, rebuilt the squad and the bottom line is that at the end of the season we got promoted. Yes, that season wasn’t without issues but via the play-offs we achieved seasons aim of being back in the top flight,

So, back to last season and three wins and a draw out of the opening four games, then the first bump and four defeats in a row, including thrashings by Sunderland and Leicester. Twenty-two league games later with sixteen wins and six draws and we were in the automatic promotion places before getting a nosebleed and falling away, not being anywhere other than in fourth place for the final fourteen games of the season.  87 goals scored meant the games were always entertaining but the 63 conceded showed that there would be problems in the event of promotion.  Much was made throughout last season about our style of play, especially when it went a bit wrong and we gave away goals through trying to pass out from our goalkeeper. In the Championship, we got away with a lot because at the end of the day our players were generally better, than whoever we were up against. 

The bottom line is that it is about results and the playoffs brought more of them with West Brom being despatched over two legs including a remarkable game at St Mary’s that of course got us to Wembley and Leeds.  The win in that game and us getting promoted and the fact that we all had a brilliant day at Wembley, is the only thing that makes his departure in any way, difficult to process.  It was after all, only seven months ago that we did a number on Leeds United for the third time that season. I have frequently said that the day at Wembley was the best day that I have ever had as a supporter of Southampton FC and I go right back to the mid-70s. If you are old enough to have gone to the FA Cup final in 1976, then you are lucky enough to have witnessed the one game in our history that beats that playoff final. 

Farke-ing Great Day

So, on a wave of emotion, Russell vowed that we weren’t going to change at all for the Premier League and we would keep the same style.  Within a few games, it began to seem quite foolhardy to go into the season expecting to be able to play the same way and for it to turn out well.

Having won the playoff final and semi-finals by being pragmatic, Russell went into this season with the same mindset and thought that we could somehow be cleverer than anyone else.  Because of the adaptation to win the playoff games against West Brom and Leeds, I was optimistic that he would learn on the job in the Premier League.

In the first three games of the season we had the most bizarre tactical set up with two strikers playing on the wings and no one in the middle. There was no way that this way of playing was ever going to score any goals because there was never any player in the penalty area.  The wingers never got in there and nor did the midfielders.  Our lack of attacking threat and the problems we have playing out from the back, was shown in the very first game when we had an hour against a Newcastle team with ten men, gave a goal away and then lost 1-0. We should undoubtedly have won this game.  The next two were a pathetic performance against Nottingham Forest at home with no shots and then Brentford where we gave away two goals and scored with our first shot on target in the 91st minute.

An international break and then signs of life were shown against Manchester United when we played well for half an hour, missed a penalty and then gave up.  Ipswich at home saw us throw two points in the bin in the 95th minute by not defending a corner and falling victim of a horrible deflection.  One point from the opening five games and at least five points left out there.  The signs of life in the last two games took us to Bournemouth away and Russell really made an mess of things when we again sent the team out with no striker because he was scared of what Bournemouth had and were beaten pathetically by 3-1.  'Bravery' is one of his buzzwords but there was none of that on display here. Three down at half time, he abandoned his plan for the game and we got a goal back and then passed it about for forty minutes, creating nothing, when the attitude should have been to put Bournemouth under pressure, get another one and make it interesting.  Instead of that we turned down chances to put the ball in the box and went back to the goalkeeper.

Arsenal away saw us take the lead but then not adapt at all and give away a goal straight away and we also got our first taste of dodgy VAR decisions as Arsenal ran out 3-1 winners. For me, the nadir was Leicester at home. Two up and cruising he made a series of diabolical substitutions with every single one making us worse and playing into Leicester’s hands and that, combined with some more crap from VAR meant we threw that game in the bin and ultimately lost in the last minute. This was an absolute rabbit in the headlights performance from Russell where as far as things we can control was concerned (not the VAR), it was all on him.  For me, he probably should have gone after this game but the dodgy VAR call kind of meant it wasn't 'entirely' his fault.

A narrow 1-0 defeat at Manchester City seemed like a moral victory and into November and an actual win, at home Everton.  We got over the line by having a bit of luck on our side but no one could really begrudge that.  Next up against Wolves, we absolutely had to capitalise on the fact that we had three points the week before and that Wolves hadn’t won yet. It didn’t help again as we had a perfectly good goal disallowed by VAR but once that happened, we did absolutely nothing, zero shots and slumped to an abysmal defeat.

It was a major surprise that he survived that and was still in the dugout for a 3-2 home defeat against Liverpool where again, we could point at VAR but again we gave goals away.  Then an away draw at Brighton where we could definitely point at VAR but that was as good as it got because after that came a trio of abysmal performances. We had not been thumped by anyone all seasons but we got tanked 5-1 by Chelsea at home which was unsurprising giving the players we had unavailable but no such excuses for a limp, 1-0 defeat away at Aston Villa where once again we didn’t have a shot on target.  Then came Tottenham and the opening few minutes.

This Season in Picture Form

Yes, VAR decisions going against us didn’t help and we may have had a few points more but would it ultimately have made a difference?  We still would have given away all those goals from playing suicide ball at the back and we still would have largely had no goal threat. You’d be hard pressed to find someone to argue that it was suddenly going to change round.  There was a chance it would after the United and Ipswich games and then there was another chance after Everton but those moments weren't grabbed.  It was always a case of a small step forwards, followed by a colossal stride back.

Russell has not been helped by the recruitment in the summer which was simply not good enough especially in attacking areas. However, it has to be remembered that he had a hand in that recruitment, which has basically left us with a bloated squad of Championship level players. On a good day we have six or seven that are good enough for the Premier League bottom half, so any manager would struggle to keep this lot up.  However, as manager you have got to find a way to get the best out of the players at your disposal and when you play in a polarising style and it doesn’t work in terms of results, questions are always going to be asked.

Russell Martin proved himself to be a good manager at Championship level with players who were also good at Championship level. Stepping up to the Premier League is another thing entirely though and like a number of those players, he was found wanting. You can’t always do exactly what you want to do all the time, and when the conditions change, you have to change with them because what works before might not necessarily work now. He never seemed to get that, and we will only know if he’s learned if he lands at another Premier League club. 

At his core, Russell Martin the person, seems like a really decent guy. You only have to look at the work he does through his foundation to give opportunities to disadvantage people to see that. He has decent principles and though of course, this is an opinion not shared by all, personally I love that he wasn't interested in talking about the then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak when he was asked about his presence in the ground.

He speaks very well and has courage of his convictions. Every time he is interviewed, he comes across well, unless he is being prickly after a defeat. The fact that he speaks well and the fact that he would obviously interview well, will certainly mean that he is not out of work for very long though he is going to have to make bad VAR decisions and substandard players do a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to explaining away this season. Russell’s professional pride would’ve been dented but he will be okay for sure.   In all seriousness, I don’t think he’s going to fail upwards like Vincent Kompany did with a similar brand of football, because Kompany had that stellar playing career to fall back on which will always give you managerial opportunities, even if you don’t deserve them. Russell’s achievements last season will get him in the room when clubs are interviewing and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if we come across him in the Championship next season. 

In the future, when I look back on the tenure of Russell Martin, what I will think about is the day at Wembley. My dad started me on the path of supporting Saints as soon as I was old enough and he took me to my first ever game, in April 1976. Fast forward 48 years and the old man is 79 years old and I managed to get him a ticket to go to the playoff final and he along with myself and my son had the best day ever.  It would’ve been a great day regardless, but the fact that we won and got the result, elevated it massively. That’s the thing. You can enjoy a game up to a point regardless of the result, but football ultimately is about winning. You can trust the process and think about the long-term all you like, but football is about winning, and 1 win out of 16 is a pretty sure sign that it’s not going to change any time soon.

Russell’s strength is his belief in what he is doing and it’s also ultimately his weakness and his undoing. I admired him in a way for sticking to his guns but it was fanciful to think that it was going to work at the start of the season and it was certainly fanciful in the extreme to think it would work as the defeats and the mistakes and the lack of goal threat continued into the season. The boards respect for him for getting us promoted meant that they didn’t make this decision earlier and the fans respect for the job he did last season, meant that there wasn’t much toxicity inside the ground until the abomination that was the first half against Tottenham.

As a fan, I really wanted it to work for Russell Martin but we have reached the point where it absolutely was obvious that it was not going to and so a parting of the ways was absolutely inevitable.  If we were out of the relegation zone, like Leicester were when they sacked Steve Cooper, I would think it was ridiculous to sack him and even now, it's a shame but 5 points out of 48…. it had to happen. It's happened too late to save this season in all probability.

I mentioned Ralph Hasenhuttl at the start of this as a comparison as a manager who had some success with us but then it went pear-shaped. Ralph at least tried to divert from the style that he preferred, when it became obvious that it wasn’t working anymore. Yes, it didn’t work but at least he tried. Russell Martin never even tried it to change and the small tweaks that he did do were never going to be enough to turn this around. I hope our next manager is not completely wedded to one style of football because you need to be adaptable in the quest for results.

I hate the triumphalism amongst fans, that follows when a manager who did achieve something for us, loses his job.  It’s understandable if a manager has been useless since day one (and we’ve had a few of those) but that’s not in this case.  Many had an agenda against Russell from the start which I never understood, given the utter shambles that had had immediately preceded it.  He used what he had at his disposal last season and got us promoted.  At the end of the day, along with Lawrie McMenemy, Russell Martin is the only Southampton manager to have won a really meaningful game at the national stadium.  Thanks for last season Russell Martin – we will always have Wembley against Leeds - and good luck with whatever you do next.