coalman

Don't forget his ability to develop youth talent. Without Martin, Tyler Dibling would be just another 19 year old hanging around the training ground watching YouTube videos. People talk a lot about his style of football without properly crediting his man management and ability to develop players.

He was a good loan to help us get out of the Championship and provided the kind of direct threat we needed. We shouldn't have signed him permanently during the summer. Certainly should not have played him at wing back at any juncture this or any other season. Doubt he's the player to get us out of the Championship this time around. Disruptive or not it will be good if we can get him off our books.

Just once or every game? Where are they going to find enough nit picking pedants after they've emptied the forum of all of us? 😉

Scar tissue, innit? Coupled with the sincere hope of future schadenfreude. Normally I wouldn't care but this season has felt like a particularly brutal gaslighting session.

Which is what we all said after he joined us from Swansea when Swansea fans warned us of his dogmatic approach. He's had the Lineker PR interview to rewrite the narrative so there's no chance he isn't coming back determined to do it his way.

The celebration of mediocrity is the cultural legacy of Russell Martin. Still and Spors have their work cut out the purge us of that.

Having a transfer embargo might do them a favour with Martin. They'll be forced to play their kids (who the Leicester fans seem to be excited about) instead of letting Martin fill the team with dross. On their forum the one thing they thought might be good about him was his desire to play their kids (oh how little they know)

Surely you're forgetting the information that Nathan Jones and Russell Martin brought with them concerning players in the Championship? Oh wait, I see your point.

Didn't your lot start a chant telling him to "fuck off" or some such yesterday?

On the one hand - we've never seen Bazunu playing without the Saints defence in front of him. Ramsdale has looked suspect at many points this season simply because he's had to endure a shooting gallery. On the other hand - Baz has a tendency to push shots back into the danger area and a tendency to fail to save shots he should get to. I don't think he's as bad as his harshest critics make out here but also he's got some developing to do if he's ever going to be a top keeper.

Keep Ramsdale Sugawara Edwards Taylor Wood Wellington Downes Charles Ugochokwu (another loan would be great) Stewart Dibling Edozie Also slightly sad that Sam Amo-Ameyaw was sold to Strasbourg. Could be convinced either way on Sulemana (our wingers haven't really been given a platform to show their worth over the last season and a half). While Armstrong has scored a lot of goals in the Championship I think that, at best, he's a stop gap measure because he can't compete in the Premier League and we need to be building with that in mind. The entire first choice back 5 can just do one - they may have enjoyed their season as "ball playing defenders" but their collective inability to defend isn't a platform we can build on.

Thanks for the reasoned response. My fear would be that we don't carry forward the culture from this year into future seasons and for better or worse Lallana has been a part of that. The players all stated how much Russell Martin helped them too. There's a difference between being experienced and having influence and respect from the players and being a good coach. It's why I wouldn't want Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney or even Le Tissier coaching the team.

Curious what Lallana has done this season to make you think he should be kept on as a coach?

Fully expecting Jones to knock Still over and trying to teabag him if Charlton score against us next season.

Touche

this

No.

Don't forget the no look pass shortly after to give the ball away and invite Arsenal to attack again instead of clearing it.

I'm more interested in who we're shipping out. So many players who apparently "train well" and don't show up at the weekend that keep getting picked week by week.

Looking at today - we had the players to make a game of it in more matches than we did this season. Sure we'd probably still have been relegated but team selection and tactics have been as bad as I've ever seen across all three managers. We recruited so many players who never got a sniff who might actually have sweated for the shirt.

Story of our season. Some ok bits followed by a spineless capitulation in front of our own goal.

Let's, at least, give them the opportunity to pay for the privilege.

He's got some of the attributes of a really good player. He can pass and drift into space to give options. But only if the other side isn't in his face. As soon as the intensity goes up he's lost. For Martin's style of keepball he is pretty much perfect (hint hint Russ) but you can't play him in a holding midfield role.

The subs have made the difference again. Smallbone loses his man to rifle into the bottom corner.

So long Big Les. You were always better than Martin gave you credit for. Glad we got to see more of you in the second half of the season.