Lee On Solent Saint

Downes out then. Aribo in.

Right. Manning was binned off by Martin even in the Championship, so quite why he has suddenly been deemed good enough to start in the PL is a mystery. Bit of a clue though, it's not because of any of the reasons you stated.

Martin was running out of bodies to chuck into the starting eleven.

Hardly said anything offensive, just questioned where the joke was in his supposed "funny" post. A few posters get dog shit abuse in other rooms/threads, but I guess that's perfectly ok depending on who you are and who is dishing out the said dog shit abuse?

Replies and comments on this thread getting removed seems to be a common occurence these days. I thought this was supposed to be a discussion board.

Is there a joke in there somewhere? Must have missed it.

I get that. But Martin takes it to a whole new level.

Why? Makes me want to throw up. The shite he spouted about Armstrong after the weekend was particularly cringeworthy.

Sure. Pick out one game and focus on that. Am sure you enjoyed your day in Sunderland and Leicester just as much last season.

That has to be the most craziest thing I've read on here in a long time.

Plymouth are making them look like Real Madrid at the moment.

Absolutely this. He is a club employee, hired to get the best results possible for the football club. Not the best results possible for Russell Martin. The two should go hand in hand, but they don't. Ergo, the best possible results for the football club, put Martin in a better light.

Martin's love in with Armstrong on the Saints App today. Honestly makes me want to throw up.

So, we were........lucky then?

I think for me, the issue is Martin's in game management. I get the impression, especially in our earlier games, that subs were made for all the wrong reasons. I get that we have a large squad, and every player thinks he should be playing, but it seemed in some games that Martin was determined to get certain players on just to get them on the pitch. That would work if you had like for like players, but the drop off in quality we have on the bench from the pitch is pretty stark. It certainly had a detrimental effect in the latter stages of some games. Also, the amount of changes in one go doesn't help the team either, just creates a bit of confusion for five minutes or so as they all adapt to different shapes etc. Am hoping that as the season goes on, if he is still here, that just because he can make subs, doersn't mean he needs to.

Not for me. Woefully short at this level. The ironic thing is, he scored yesterday with probably the most difficult chance he has had all season.

Think when you are a keeper in that position you need to make a split second decison. You could say that had he stayed on his line, Harrison would have scored. The fact that he came bulldozing off his line, may have just put him off.

Yep, I'll enjoy the win. Good to finally get one, however it came about. The real acid test will come at Wolves next week, huge game for both teams. I hate the term relegation six pointer, but I guess that is what it is.

The point is, if Fraser doesn't come on, the offence for the penalty doesn't happen. Taylor was the most obvious sub in that game. Am not suggesting he is a walking red card, so no idea where you get that from. Am not sure what point you are trying to make, a sub can have a bad moment, a sub can score an own goal so its pretty likely that a sub can influence a game just as much as a starter can. The only reason we wilited against Leicester was because of Martin's in game management, a fact that was largely universally agreed with on the match thread, apart from the Martin fanboys that is.

No. It was the subs and the in game management that cost us that. If Fraser doesn't come on, he's not in a position to committ the tug back on Vardy. Presumbly you can grasp that? I'd be willing to bet that Taylor, if he had come on like he should, would not have been in that situation. You can piss and moan about the ref as much as you like, but its only hiding behind the inept decision making in that game.

Not really sure fine margins were in play against Leicester. That defeat was down to Martin and his bizarre subs.

It was a game we could easily have lost on another day. Ramsdale was the difference in the end. The save from Keane was top drawer, even then we had a huge slice of luck with the ball deflecting off Ramsdale and onto the post via Keane again. Another day, that goes in because of the deflection. Credit to Armstrong, was a tidy finish from a difficult chance, he misses easier ones. All in all a welcome three points, but such as the fine margins are, we could easily be sat here talking about another defeat.

It was a game we could easily have lost on another day. Ramsdale was the difference in the end. The save from Keane was top drawer, even then we had a huge slice of luck with the ball deflecting off Ramsdale and onto the post via Keane again. Another day, that goes in because of the deflection. Credit to Armstrong, was a tidy finish from a difficult chance, he misses easier ones. All in all a welcome three points, but such as the fine margins are, we could easily be sat here talking about another defeat.

He wanted to put his best team out against City, so he could lap up all of Pep's praise.

Is there an echo in here?