Russell Martin

[badgerx16]

Out of interest I have just calculated the league table for the period of our fabled unbeaten run. We got 54 points from those 23 matches., during which time Leicester got 57 points from 24 and Leeds 53 from 24, so effectively we didn't close the gap to them at all. We did, however close the gap to and overtake Ipswich.

[Harry_SFC]

14 minutes ago, The Curse of St Mary's said:

His inconsistent selection policy must cause some disharmony amongst the squad plus the fact we have a bloated squad in midfield and attacking positions. To drop Adams today was senseless. He could have dropped him after Boro game and no one would have questioned it. For me his two biggest failings are his blind faith in Bazuna and his obsession with shoehorning Stephens into the side. 

We all know AA it's totally useless upfront. Why did he drop Adams? Ridiculous decisions yet again from the manager.

[The Kraken]

12 minutes ago, RedWillie said:

Can someone do a 'since Stephens has been shoehorned back in' type of analysis as I can't be arsed and I've a feeling it coincides with our shite performances.

It’s close but we’d gone off the boil two or three games before Stephens got his place back. He was actually on the bench for a lot longer than I remembered. He started in a draw against Norwich then was dropped again. We lost against Bristol and Hull, then he got his place back against Millwall (which we lost). Since that Millwall game our form has been LWWDLD. The three games before that were LWL.

[danjosaint]

We need the arrogant prick to go now as he will fu** the play offs by trying to be to clever, something he clearly isn't 

[Lord Duckhunter]

We look over coached to me. No spontaneity & for all the talk of being “brave” the players are just sticking to the “process”, there’s nothing brave about that. If you’re not going to blamed for giving the ball away mincing around at the back, it’s not brave to mince around at the back.  I know teams are coached to death nowadays, but we’ve taken it to the extreme. There’s absolutely no deviation from the formula, which means you’ll eventually get found out. 

[Chez]

31 minutes ago, Harry_SFC said:

We all know AA it's totally useless upfront. Why did he drop Adams? Ridiculous decisions yet again from the manager.

I'd of gone with Adams, but to be fair he's been shite. The enter forward position has been a weakness. RM can share a little of the blame, but AA and Mara were already here are `his' striker has been missing all season.

[ally_uk]

Get Cooper in ASAP 

[Convict Colony]

11 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

We look over coached to me. No spontaneity & for all the talk of being “brave” the players are just sticking to the “process”, there’s nothing brave about that. If you’re not going to blamed for giving the ball away mincing around at the back, it’s not brave to mince around at the back.  I know teams are coached to death nowadays, but we’ve taken it to the extreme. There’s absolutely no deviation from the formula, which means you’ll eventually get found out. 

on the blackburn commentary they said we break the first line of the press and then too many times turn around and pass back.

 

[Fabrice29]

38 minutes ago, The Kraken said:

It’s close but we’d gone off the boil two or three games before Stephens got his place back. He was actually on the bench for a lot longer than I remembered. He started in a draw against Norwich then was dropped again. We lost against Bristol and Hull, then he got his place back against Millwall (which we lost). Since that Millwall game our form has been LWWDLD. The three games before that were LWL.

Win against West Brom in the middle of those weren't there? With Stephens shoe horned in at left back from memory producing a MOM display.

 

[The Kraken]

12 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

Win against West Brom in the middle of those weren't there? With Stephens shoe horned in at left back from memory producing a MOM display.

 

Yes, my mistake. He started against West Brom, an excellent 2-0 away win. Then he was on the bench for the next game, a defeat to Hull. Then regained his place against the following game in the home defeat to Millwall.

[Harry_SFC]

Russell Martin has passionately defended Jack Stephens and his role for #SaintsFC.

“I hope that by the end of the season he will be appreciated for what he is, instead of looking at him as a centre-half who isn’t playing there." 

But he is a centre half Russell? Stephens has been playing ok but this isn't about how good he is, it's about how him playing in this made up role has totally unbalanced the side. Martin is just so defensive.  

[SambaMaverick]

Why does he talk about him like he's some sort of god? He's worse than fucking average ffs

[badgerx16]

Statistically, JS is only better than Holgate;

https://footystats.org/clubs/southampton-fc-146#

Defenders Conceded / 90 min

James Bree 0.75

Taylor Harwood-Bellis 1.05

Kyle Walker-Peters 1.11

Jan Bednarek 1.15

Jack Stephens 1.39

Mason Holgate 2.48

[Convict Colony]

30 minutes ago, Convict Colony said:

on the blackburn commentary they said we break the first line of the press and then too many times turn around and pass back.

 

Russell Martin: "I was pleased with the defensive side. I am really disappointed with the creativity and attacking flow. It was not there today. When we broke the press, we had a lack of aggression to drive with the ball - it was too slow."

[badgerx16]

Just now, Convict Colony said:

Russell Martin: "I was pleased with the defensive side. I am really disappointed with the creativity and attacking flow. It was not there today. When we broke the press, we had a lack of aggression to drive with the ball - it was too slow."

Says the bloke who stood on the sidelines shouting instructions, and had his halftime team talk to sort things out.

[Fabrice29]

I was Stephen's biggest critic in the summer and was perplexed we'd given someone who had consistently shown himself to not be good enough a place in the squad let alone the captaincy, but it's quite obvious he's not the problem ffs  

[Galway saint]

1 minute ago, Convict Colony said:

Russell Martin: "I was pleased with the defensive side. I am really disappointed with the creativity and attacking flow. It was not there today. When we broke the press, we had a lack of aggression to drive with the ball - it was too slow."

RM can either produce a seat of the pants game ( huddersfield, birmingham, ipswich) or a dull turgid game ( huddersfield away, blackburn away).

he seems incapable of consistently delivering a team that controls and wins games. the last time we achieved that was WBA.

 

[Whitey Grandad]

5 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

I was Stephen's biggest critic in the summer and was perplexed we'd given someone who had consistently shown himself to not be good enough a place in the squad let alone the captaincy, but it's quite obvious he's not the problem ffs  

But he’s taking up a place that could be better used by somebody else.

[Galway saint]

3 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

But he’s taking up a place that could be better used by somebody else.

I’d play stephens in goal if he has to play 

[RedArmy]

1 hour ago, The Kraken said:

It’s close but we’d gone off the boil two or three games before Stephens got his place back. He was actually on the bench for a lot longer than I remembered.

Did he not keep bringing him on for the sake of it in those games though? Or is my memory playing tricks. 

[FarehamSaintJames]

RM doesn’t help himself. That’s the problem. Team selections most of the last six or seven games have been very questionable.

These are the things that are the different between top two and just one of the others.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

19 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

But he’s taking up a place that could be better used by somebody else.

Am not a fan of Stephens by any stretch, not his fault he is getting picked to play ahead of players more suited to a specfic position. He's hardly going to turn around and tell Martin to fuck off if he asks him to play full back. This is a weakness of Martin, he told Blackmore today that he wanted to see AA play up top to see what he can do. If he doesn't know that AA can't play as the focal striker after 40 odd games, there really is an issue with his managment .

[Wade Garrett]

9 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Am not a fan of Stephens by any stretch, not his fault he is getting picked to play ahead of players more suited to a specfic position. He's hardly going to turn around and tell Martin to fuck off if he asks him to play full back. This is a weakness of Martin, he told Blackmore today that he wanted to see AA play up top to see what he can do. If he doesn't know that AA can't play as the focal striker after 40 odd games, there really is an issue with his managment .

Did he really say that?  Fucking incredible.

[AlexLaw76]

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/24236250.russell-martin-launches-passionate-defence-jack-stephens-role/

Martin is doubling down even harder on it - weirdo

Edited April 6 by AlexLaw76

[Lee On Solent Saint]

1 minute ago, Wade Garrett said:

Did he really say that?  Fucking incredible.

Yeah, unless I misheard, but don't think I did. Apparently AA has been in his ear about playing up top, so he gave him the opportunity. Notwithstanding the other opportunties he has given him in other games of course. 

[markr27]

Not only is Jack a central defender, turned central-midfielding left back, he seems to be looked at as the main playmaker in the side as well now, at least on today's evidence.

 

Edited April 6 by markr27

[Lee On Solent Saint]

5 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/24236250.russell-martin-launches-passionate-defence-jack-stephens-role/

Martin is doubling down even harder on it - weirdo

70% possession today, 2 shots on target. It really fuckin works Russell. 

[AlexLaw76]

Just now, Lee On Solent Saint said:

70% possession today, 2 shots on target. It really fuckin works Russell. 

He also highlighted how "Brave" Jack is on the ball.

 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

2 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

He also highlighted how "Brave" Jack is on the ball.

 

Its total nonsense, being brave is about sticking your head in amongst a ton of flying boots, competing for tackles, blocking shots and leaving absolutely nothing out on the pitch. Its totally not about sideways and backward passing in front of your keeper and back four, or thinking you have re-invented football. 

[Wade Garrett]

26 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/24236250.russell-martin-launches-passionate-defence-jack-stephens-role/

Martin is doubling down even harder on it - weirdo

Martin is a gaslighting cunt.  Absolutely full of fucking shit.  The quicker they fuck him off the better.  

[Saint Gifford]

To be fair he is a ok mid table Championship, L1 manager as most have said. 
 

I’m all for finding the next Pep, Jose, and so on and so on. 
 

But was RM ever going to be the next cool, hip, and most importantly successful manager that SR wanted. 
 

Table says it…….

 

 

 

 

 

[notnowcato]

4 hours ago, Harry_SFC said:

We all know AA it's totally useless upfront. Why did he drop Adams? Ridiculous decisions yet again from the manager.

Maybe because there isn’t a cows arse big enough for Che to hit with his banjo??

 

 

[Harry_SFC]

Just now, notnowcato said:

Maybe because there isn’t a cows arse big enough for Che to hit with his banjo??

 

 

We all know Adams can't finish. But we also know AA can't do half the things that Adams can in that central position.

Why move AA when he scores more goals from the right? It makes absolutely no sense what so ever. 

[notnowcato]

Honestly, this place is hilarious. 
 

Clean sheets win play offs or so we’re told. At the start of this season there were plenty on here saying that play offs was the minimum deliverable, I was one. 

[notnowcato]

1 minute ago, Harry_SFC said:

We all know Adams can't finish. But we also know AA can't do half the things that Adams can in that central position.

Why move AA when he scores more goals from the right? It makes absolutely no sense what so ever. 

Che’s game has been poor recently. 

[S-Clarke]

2 minutes ago, notnowcato said:

Honestly, this place is hilarious. 
 

Clean sheets win play offs or so we’re told. At the start of this season there were plenty on here saying that play offs was the minimum deliverable, I was one. 

I wouldn't go celebrating a clean sheet against Blackburn too much. They're not great at all and we did then 5-0 at home only a few months back. We didn't need to defend amazingly as it was such a piss poor game from both sides.

If we'd have come under any form of concerted pressure today I can almost guarantee we'd have let at least one in. Blackburn hardly huffed.

[Harry_SFC]

2 minutes ago, notnowcato said:

Che’s game has been poor recently. 

He was poor against Middlesbrough but thought he was good against Ipswich.

There was no need to drop him today. 

[ally_uk]

Here is a thought if you are to play Stephens play him in correct position.... 

Not fucking rocket science is it 🤣

[S-Clarke]

Stephens is an odd one, as individually he's done absolutely nothing wrong and I feel a bit sorry for him. 

The issue we all have is the 'shoe-horning' and overcomplicating of his role. He's a CB, or a full back at a push/in an emergency. Martin seems to be imagining that he's some sort of Pirlo/Iniesta in how he can use the ball in the middle, but it's bollocks. He's perfectly decent on the ball, but so is Downes, Charles, Smallbone, Aribo - you know, players who are actual midfielders.

I don't know what problem he is trying to solve with this weird floating role.

[Verbal Kint]

5 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Stephens is an odd one, as individually he's done absolutely nothing wrong and I feel a bit sorry for him. 

The issue we all have is the 'shoe-horning' and overcomplicating of his role. He's a CB, or a full back at a push/in an emergency. Martin seems to be imagining that he's some sort of Pirlo/Iniesta in how he can use the ball in the middle, but it's bollocks. He's perfectly decent on the ball, but so is Downes, Charles, Smallbone, Aribo - you know, players who are actual midfielders.

I don't know what problem he is trying to solve with this weird floating role.

No need to overthink it, it's just Martin trying to copy Pep, which is a style that can work when every player in your team is a 50 million + player. We're trying to do it with the likes of Jack Stephens and Ryan Manning

[Roo1976]

4 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

Russell Martin: "I was pleased with the defensive side. I am really disappointed with the creativity and attacking flow. It was not there today. When we broke the press, we had a lack of aggression to drive with the ball - it was too slow."

its been too slow for the last 4-5 seasons,maybe were waiting for Portshite to catch up from div 1 so we can play the local derbys...god help us.

[notnowcato]

40 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

I wouldn't go celebrating a clean sheet against Blackburn too much. They're not great at all and we did then 5-0 at home only a few months back. We didn't need to defend amazingly as it was such a piss poor game from both sides.

If we'd have come under any form of concerted pressure today I can almost guarantee we'd have let at least one in. Blackburn hardly huffed.

Who’s celebrating??  We’ve conceded against poorer teams than Blackburn. 

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

Rather like the Twitter poster who responded to the official Saints message "See You Next Tuesday" with:

Yeah, C U Next Tuesday, Russ!

Inject some urgency in to our players, Russ, then we'll be more behind you. At the moment, you're losing a lot of that grace you'd built up with our unbeaten run.

 

[pingpong]

1 hour ago, S-Clarke said:

I wouldn't go celebrating a clean sheet against Blackburn too much. They're not great at all and we did then 5-0 at home only a few months back. We didn't need to defend amazingly as it was such a piss poor game from both sides.

If we'd have come under any form of concerted pressure today I can almost guarantee we'd have let at least one in. Blackburn hardly huffed.

Well, considering how the Ipswich commentators word was gospel on here when they said we don't know who we are playing each week, you'll be pleased to hear that the Blackburn commentators said that it was Blackburns best performance of the season.

[CB Fry]

12 hours ago, badgerx16 said:

Out of interest I have just calculated the league table for the period of our fabled unbeaten run. We got 54 points from those 23 matches., during which time Leicester got 57 points from 24 and Leeds 53 from 24, so effectively we didn't close the gap to them at all. We did, however close the gap to and overtake Ipswich.

Indeed - broadly speaking we were 11 points behind Leicester at the beginning of October and we were still 11 points behind them 20+ games later during the days of those people twatting on about Leeds (who we were 1 point behind) beating Leicester to help our own triumphant charge to the League title.

Edited April 7 by CB Fry

[AlexLaw76]

The perfect picture for the situation we are in

[austsaint]

14 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

The perfect picture for the situation we are in

Calling for captions.

[badgerx16]

24 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

The perfect picture for the situation we are in

 

9 minutes ago, austsaint said:

Calling for captions.

"And Iii-ee-i will always lo-ove you-oooo, I will alwa-ays lo-ove you".

[AlexLaw76]

20 minutes ago, austsaint said:

Calling for captions.

 

35 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

The perfect picture for the situation we are in

[Farmer Saint]

40 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

The perfect picture for the situation we are in

Manager and Captain getting on shocker #Martino