Russell Martin

[Gloucester Saint]

1 hour ago, Midfield_General said:

Neil Van Wanker

[CB Fry]

2 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

Everyone's apart from Leeds and Leicester's. Ipswich had momentum and a far superior Manager.

So we just about achieved par then. Someone needs to tell Lighthouse who thinks we achieved some kind of footballing miracle.

Amazing how much weaker you think we were against a team we beat home and away and in the biggest match of the season.

[Farmer Saint]

32 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

So we just about achieved par then. Someone needs to tell Lighthouse who thinks we achieved some kind of footballing miracle.

Amazing how much weaker you think we were against a team we beat home and away and in the biggest match of the season.

Yeah, which is what I've always said - I think RM did the job he should have - 4th place. Many have said we should have got automatic, and I disagree.

RM clearly had Farke's number, I agree, and he should be commended for that. He did a good job to get us that 3rd promotion spot against a superior team.

Edited May 23 by Farmer Saint

[trousers]

1 hour ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

333 pages on a bloke we sacked 6 months ago. Fuck me, Martin's ego will be loving this if he read it.

If only he had some sychophants posting on here who could feed such information back to him...

[Smirking_Saint]

2 hours ago, Farmer Saint said:

See, that's where I wholeheartedly disagree. A Armstrong ahead of James, yes, Downes ahead of Kamara, KWP ahead of Byram on the left, and then that's it. Maybe Bednarek or THB ahead of Rodon, but also maybe not.

Who would you have Stu and Manning ahead of, or would you take KWP over Gray?

Bednarek over Rodon but realistically I don’t think there is a lot between THB or Ampadu

KWP ahead of Gray, I don’t think Byram was hugely better than Manning and Firpo was awful

Stu better than James, Armstrong better than Piroe but probably stretching that one

[Holmes_and_Watson]

6 hours ago, Farmer Saint said:

Not sure who I'd have in the Saints team ahead of these TBF:

 

Both 'keepers stats were poor, but at least Baz offered a lot to RussBall, so I'd pick him.

Although KWP is better at RB, I'd keep Gray, and put KWP at LB.

Bedders would get in. Ampadu over THB, but not massively so. You could switch Ampadu for Gruev and have THB in defence.

I'd take Downes over Kamara, Stu over Rutter and Adams over Piroe. Probably AA over James really, as overall AA offered more to the team in the Championship.

Struijk and Gnonto would be close, and Leeds had Spence on loan for a bit too.

But that's Baz, KWP, Bedders, Downes, Stu, Adams and AA.

[Disco Stu]

On 23/05/2025 at 12:51, Farmer Saint said:

Not sure who I'd have in the Saints team ahead of these TBF:

 

The same Leeds team we beat 3 times on the bounce last season? I wouldn't be judging that team until we see how they perform in the Premier League.

I don't think much of their forward line particularly. We outscored them last season and, this season, their top scorer is Piroe who certainly isn't Premier League quality. Given they've posted big losses over the past 2 years, I don't know what their PSR situation is like but reports suggest they'll be quite restricted in the summer much like we were. Similarly to us, they'll also have to splash out just to keep their first team together as Solomon, arguably their top performer this season, is on loan from Tottenham. Daniel Levy won't make it cheap.

I'm really not convinced that Leeds will do any better than last year's Champions, Leicester, especially with Farke as their manager.

Edited May 25 by Disco Stu

[Whitey Grandad]

On 22/05/2025 at 10:23, warsash saint said:

I am no Russell fanboy but that comment is hilarious!!

Really?

It was nothing special and we gained nothing on our rivals. Please answer me this. Which is better, 30 draws or 15 wins and 15 defeats?

[Dusic]

44 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Really?

It was nothing special and we gained nothing on our rivals. Please answer me this. Which is better, 30 draws or 15 wins and 15 defeats?

Its the longest run without losing in the long history of the club. Like in 139 years we hadn't done it before, so yeah "nothing special".

[Whitey Grandad]

22 hours ago, Dusic said:

Its the longest run without losing in the long history of the club. Like in 139 years we hadn't done it before, so yeah "nothing special".

Does anybody care? (apart from you 😉)

[Whitey Grandad]

22 hours ago, Dusic said:

Its the longest run without losing in the long history of the club. Like in 139 years we hadn't done it before, so yeah "nothing special".

Over the season,

Leicester W31 D4 L11 +48

Ipswich.   W28 D12 L6 +35

Leeds W27 D9 L10 +38

Saints W26 D9 L11 +24

Leicester finished 10 points above us and Ipswich 9.

You seem to be awfully proud of a lot of draws. This is not ten pin bowling where the sequence of results give you more points. Move a couple of our 11 defeats into the middle of that 'run' and see how many points we lose. This may come as a shock to you but, the sequence of results does not affect your points total!

[Lighthouse]

23 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Really?

It was nothing special and we gained nothing on our rivals. Please answer me this. Which is better, 30 draws or 15 wins and 15 defeats?

But it wasn't half and half though, it was 16 wins and 6 draws. Also, why does your perception of it change based on other teams games we had no say in? If we win our first ten games of next season, do you not know if that's good or not, without first checking that Leicester and Sheff Utd didn't win nine games?

[Whitey Grandad]

1 minute ago, Lighthouse said:

But it wasn't half and half though, it was 16 wins and 6 draws. Also, why does your perception of it change based on other teams games we had no say in? If we win our first ten games of next season, do you not know if that's good or not, without first checking that Leicester and Sheff Utd didn't win nine games?

My question is a general point. Winning instead of drawing is worth three times as many points, as we all know. 

You're ignoring the other 24 games. Plus conveniently dismissing the two losses either side of the run. I repeat, the fact that there wew no losses in the middle of this run is not significant. We also had runs of losses.

Any perception of it does not reference any other teams.

Winning the first ten games is good irrespective of what other teams do. In your example we would be at least two points ahead of these rivals. 

[Smirking_Saint]

I think Russell is a very good coach that unfortunately is, at times too stubborn for his own good, he isn’t the first and won’t be the last… there’s a group of them atm… Martin, Kompany, Amorim… that seem to want to play there way regardless of the damage it does

Im very grateful for what he did for us last season but, his reluctance to stray from his MO, even a little, and the club giving him more autonomy in the transfer market than he deserved put an early and somehow final nail in our coffin

 

[Fabrice29]

8 hours ago, Smirking_Saint said:

 Kompany, Amorim… that seem to want to play there way regardless of the damage it does

Quite a few league titles between those two btw. Feels like a pretty solid reason why you’d want to play your way. 

[Turkish]

Saw my Leicester mate today he’s absolutely gutted they’re getting him and me telling him he’s stubborn arrogant cock who tried to play like prime Barcelona with Jack Stephens almost sent him over the edge 😂😂

[gurru991]

10 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Saw my Leicester mate today he’s absolutely gutted they’re getting him and me telling him he’s stubborn arrogant cock who tried to play like prime Barcelona with Jack Stephens almost sent him over the edge 😂😂

I don't know any Leicester fan that wants the twat.    

[LiberalCommunist]

I'd like everyone to be a little more respectful to Russell Martin, at least until he's put pen to paper. 🙂

[Football Special]

6 hours ago, gurru991 said:

I don't know any Leicester fan that wants the twat.    

I think he'll do a decent job for you in the championship 

[coalman]

7 hours ago, gurru991 said:

I don't know any Leicester fan that wants the twat.    

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

[Gloucester Saint]

2 hours ago, Football Special said:

I think he'll do a decent job for you in the championship 

He probably will, but depends on their finances and any points deduction. If they get a significant deduction then they will have ground to make up like Pardew did in League 1. 

[Matthew Le God]

14 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

He probably will, but depends on their finances and any points deduction. If they get a significant deduction then they will have ground to make up like Pardew did in League 1. 

A transfer embargo alongside a point deduction would make things interesting!

[Gloucester Saint]

Just now, Matthew Le God said:

A transfer embargo alongside a point deduction would make things interesting!

Do you think they’d impose the former? The EFL are pretty peeved with them.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

2 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

A transfer embargo alongside a point deduction would make things interesting!

A more fitting punishment would be that he only sign players from us.

[Matthew Le God]

1 hour ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

A more fitting punishment would be that he only sign players from us.

That would do for me! 

[S-Clarke]

1 hour ago, Gloucester Saint said:

If they get a significant deduction then they will have ground to make up like Pardew did in League 1. 

You know that this will drag on and on and on and on. It was said on promotion they were going to get screwed over points wise, then that was all cleared.

You'll probably hear nothing more of it and they'll still be able to buy. PSR is just nonsense and I don't think it's worth adhering to really, not to the level we do anyway. It's so easy to wiggle out of.

[Saint86]

1 hour ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Do you think they’d impose the former? The EFL are pretty peeved with them.

I think there is a pretty good chance that Leicester will get a transfer embargo myself.

[Gloucester Saint]

4 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

I think there is a pretty good chance that Leicester will get a transfer embargo myself.

It might be more difficult to play the PL and EFL off against each other this time, but I share @S-Clarke’s pessimism at their track-record. 

[AlexLaw76]

1 hour ago, S-Clarke said:

You know that this will drag on and on and on and on. It was said on promotion they were going to get screwed over points wise, then that was all cleared.

You'll probably hear nothing more of it and they'll still be able to buy. PSR is just nonsense and I don't think it's worth adhering to really, not to the level we do anyway. It's so easy to wiggle out of.

I read a bit the other day that Leicester were pushing for a points deduction this season, which would of course come with a financial hit.

 

 

[Cabrone]

12 hours ago, gurru991 said:

I don't know any Leicester fan that wants the twat.    

You know for someone who is a bang average champ manager to have had a crack at Saints and now Leicester makes him a lucky son of a female dog.

You can expect fitness levels to drop, lots and lots of meaningless passing, favouritism, stubborn adherence to one dimensional tactics, scar tissue, brave performances and lots of word salad post match.

[miserableoldgit]

17 minutes ago, Cabrone said:

You know for someone who is a bang average champ manager to have had a crack at Saints and now Leicester makes him a lucky son of a female dog.

You can expect fitness levels to drop, lots and lots of meaningless passing, favouritism, stubborn adherence to one dimensional tactics, scar tissue, brave performances and lots of word salad post match.

I think that one of the biggest annoyances in his post match interviews was when, after you had just watched an absolutely dreadful performance, and he kept on about "exciting moments" in the game....

[kitch]

Is it confirmed yet? Please, please, PLEASE let it happen 😆

[Smirking_Saint]

 

14 hours ago, gurru991 said:

I don't know any Leicester fan that wants the twat.    

After hounding out Cooper for RVN I think its best to sit this out

[gurru991]

2 hours ago, kitch said:

Is it confirmed yet? Please, please, PLEASE let it happen 😆

Please, Please, PLEASE Noooooo !!!!!!

[Midfield_General]

Blimey - they really don't want him do they 🤣

https://www.foxestalk.co.uk/topic/137307-russell-martin/#comments

If he does go there then he'd better start well, because if he doesn't then that could turn extremely toxic, extremely quickly. 

'#WelcomeRylan' and 'Poundland Ant Middleton' made me laugh

Edited May 26 by Midfield_General

[LGTL]

3 hours ago, Cabrone said:

You know for someone who is a bang average champ manager to have had a crack at Saints and now Leicester makes him a lucky son of a female dog.

You can expect fitness levels to drop, lots and lots of meaningless passing, favouritism, stubborn adherence to one dimensional tactics, scar tissue, brave performances and lots of word salad post match.

And don’t forget blaming the fans when the inevitable shit hits the fan.

[St. Ciervo]

My heart sings with this news. 25-26 season looks to be the best ever!

[gurru991]

3 hours ago, Smirking_Saint said:

 

After hounding out Cooper for RVN I think its best to sit this out

Even though RVN was awful it still doesn’t make Firing Cooper a bad decision. We were getting relegated with Cooper but needed to replace with a Dyche or a Moyes.
Martin will complete the Triple for us. Three terrible choices in a row !!

[Dark Munster]

9 hours ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

A more fitting punishment would be that he only sign players from us.

Even better, forcing them to take Rasmus "If it ain't broke consider breaking it" Ankersen off our hands.

No points deduction necessary with that penalty.

[Smirking_Saint]

14 minutes ago, gurru991 said:

Even though RVN was awful it still doesn’t make Firing Cooper a bad decision. We were getting relegated with Cooper but needed to replace with a Dyche or a Moyes.
Martin will complete the Triple for us. Three terrible choices in a row !!

I think any of us would of struggled and I don’t see how the three this year are going to do any better

Short of any of us doing a Forest and chancing it I just think the financial disparity caused by PSR is just too great

Personally thought Cooper had you playing ok, competitively wise… RVN was an awful appointment, as was Juric

[gurru991]

2 minutes ago, Smirking_Saint said:

I think any of us would of struggled and I don’t see how the three this year are going to do any better

Short of any of us doing a Forest and chancing it I just think the financial disparity caused by PSR is just too great

Personally thought Cooper had you playing ok, competitively wise… RVN was an awful appointment, as was Juric

It will depend on how much money they can spend and how well they spend it but the Odds are against them 

[Weston Super Saint]

50 minutes ago, gurru991 said:

Even though RVN was awful it still doesn’t make Firing Cooper a bad decision. We were getting relegated with Cooper but needed to replace with a Dyche or a Moyes.
Martin will complete the Triple for us. Three terrible choices in a row !!

Welcome to our world!!

[Toussaint]

11 minutes ago, Weston Super Saint said:

Welcome to our world!!

I think our record is safe

mad Nate- dud

Selles - dud

Russ - dud, albeit with a dead cat bounce and a fair wind in the championship 

Juric - dud

Rusk - gatekeeper 

 

they only have 3 duds in a row, that’s if you believe Cooper was a dud. 

 

 

[BarberSaint]

I think Leicester should look at it this way:

 

Points deduction, fine, transfer embargo - no hope of going up, possibly down; who's the most deserving 'manager' you can think of to oversee that?

[coalman]

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)

[trousers]

5 hours ago, Midfield_General said:

Blimey - they really don't want him do they 🤣

https://www.foxestalk.co.uk/topic/137307-russell-martin/#comments

😂

[Fabrice29]

9 minutes ago, coalman said:

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)

What don't they know?

[Gloucester Saint]

2 hours ago, Smirking_Saint said:

I think any of us would of struggled and I don’t see how the three this year are going to do any better

Short of any of us doing a Forest and chancing it I just think the financial disparity caused by PSR is just too great

Personally thought Cooper had you playing ok, competitively wise… RVN was an awful appointment, as was Juric

PSR is pure nonsense. Almost getting to the stage with the newly promoted clubs needing a golf style handicap in August in the first season. 

[Smirking_Saint]

20 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

PSR is pure nonsense. Almost getting to the stage with the newly promoted clubs needing a golf style handicap in August in the first season. 

Was never about ‘financial security’ and always about maintaining the ‘elite’

Its fucking shit… not that I really have an idea how to solve it from a sports integrity POV… I always thought you could have a bond that the owners have to put up at the value if 6-12 months expenditures but can see the infinite spending just further pushing the prem away from the rest

[Smirking_Saint]

2 hours ago, gurru991 said:

It will depend on how much money they can spend and how well they spend it but the Odds are against them 

I doubt they could spend enough, us three spent what we could and were still miles off