Russell Martin

[Sarnia Cherie]

It's a mystery to me why any club wants RM. Don't they look at his previous attempts at management? The definition of insanity is doing something over and over again and hoping for a different result. 

[Saint_clark]

13 minutes ago, Sarnia Cherie said:

It's a mystery to me why any club wants RM. Don't they look at his previous attempts at management? The definition of insanity is doing something over and over again and hoping for a different result. 

You're forgetting how good he is at PowerPoint presentations. Wasn't even in the running at Rangers until he put on a little show for them.

[coalman]

2 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

You're forgetting how good he is at PowerPoint presentations. Wasn't even in the running at Rangers until he put on a little show for them.

Don't forget the low lighting kitchen interview with Leicester's favourite son, Gary Lineker. After which, Lineker proclaimed him a future England manager and he promptly chose Rangers over Leicester.

[CB Fry]

21 minutes ago, Sarnia Cherie said:

It's a mystery to me why any club wants RM. Don't they look at his previous attempts at management? The definition of insanity is doing something over and over again and hoping for a different result. 

I could be wrong but I think he got a team promoted from the Championship to the Premier League. So they could be looking at that.

[Gloucester Saint]

10 hours ago, CB Fry said:

If I was him and the choice was there, I'd have gone for the Watford job. Still in the Championship, you're guaranteed a nice little pay off within six months when they inevitably sack you and it's a basket case club, so he'd get another job after it anyway.

Leicester might work but a lot of pressure and a lot of scar tissue.

He won't get away with an equivalent result to the 0-5 kicking we got at Sunderland - Leicester fans won't be standing for that.

Great post but just had to do an MLG I’m afraid on the scoreline….

[Gloucester Saint]

9 hours ago, austsaint said:

Remember too, Baz was not only the best keeper in the championship, according to RM, but he was never happier than when Will Smallbone was on the pitch.

Will is probably a free agent this summer so could see a reunion. Too lightweight to play in a central two in the Champ but in L1 I could see a return of 15 goals from midfield. Be a hero with their fans - win, win. 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

2 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Will is probably a free agent this summer so could see a reunion. Too lightweight to play in a central two in the Champ but in L1 I could see a return of 15 goals from midfield. Be a hero with their fans - win, win. 

Will did really well under Russ in our promotion season. It would be an obvious one for them to continue that. 

[beatlesaint]

2 minutes ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

Will did really well under Russ in our promotion season. It would be an obvious one for them to continue that. 

Smallbone is too good for League 1, they’ll do well if they get him but I suspect Championship clubs will be looking at him as well.

[Gloucester Saint]

2 hours ago, beatlesaint said:

Smallbone is too good for League 1, they’ll do well if they get him but I suspect Championship clubs will be looking at him as well.

I broadly agree, Will is an established Championship midfielder if used at the head of a central three. However, playing for a favourite manager, favourite position, probably still on Champ wages for their first season back in L1, could be a ‘wouldn’t normally play at that level but club/manager’ like it was Harding and Fonte.

[Zorba]

21 hours ago, sockeye said:

Foxestalk making for good reading....  

LOL.. With their poll on if they'd take Tonda or not.. Which is a resounding NO!? Good luck with RM lads. 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

Why is this forum still obsessed with Martin? It's approaching 400 pages now. I don't get it. He's about as relevant to me as George Burley, Rubes Selles and Nathan Jones. 

[Midfield_General]

https://www.foxestalk.co.uk/topic/139479-martin-out/

[Holmes_and_Watson]

28 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Why is this forum still obsessed with Martin? It's approaching 400 pages now. I don't get it. He's about as relevant to me as George Burley, Rubes Selles and Nathan Jones. 

You leave my Burley, Selles and Nate Obsession threads alone! 🙂

As for Martin: He sets his philosophy stall out with his PowerPoint presentation.

I just like to see how it works, in practice, in the different clubs he finds himself at.

For example, Leicester had 10 players at the end of contracts and loans. So, he's lost Daku and Ayew. While their fans may have been happy to see the back of them, Martin's lost a couple of his likely attacking options. 

I'd genuinely like to see him work with Baz and Will. Two players who made that system click.

I'd like to see it with the likes of Mavadidi and Fatawu, to see how Martin could use them to unlock opponents quickly.

Things like that.

[James G]

Martin did ok with us because we had a superior team in the league. League 1 is full of teams who play low block, direct or counter attacking football. Even with a superior Leicester team, his team will give away silly goals and they'll probably make the playoffs at best like us. If they lose their good players then God help them 

Another problem is he blames players for his own faults, which is not good

[Lee On Solent Saint]

6 minutes ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

You leave my Burley, Selles and Nate Obsession threads alone! 🙂

As for Martin: He sets his philosophy stall out with his PowerPoint presentation.

I just like to see how it works, in practice, in the different clubs he finds himself at.

For example, Leicester had 10 players at the end of contracts and loans. So, he's lost Daku and Ayew. While their fans may have been happy to see the back of them, Martin's lost a couple of his likely attacking options. 

I'd genuinely like to see him work with Baz and Will. Two players who made that system click.

I'd like to see it with the likes of Mavadidi and Fatawu, to see how Martin could use them to unlock opponents quickly.

Things like that.

Fair enough. I mean, I can't stand the guy so don't really care too much what club he fucks over next, even if it is Leicester.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

2 minutes ago, James G said:

Martin did ok with us because we had a superior team in the league. League 1 is full of teams who play low block, direct or counter attacking football. Even with a superior Leicester team, his team will give away silly goals and they'll probably make the playoffs at best like us. If they lose their good players then God help them 

Another problem is he blames players for his own faults, which is not good

All very true. He didn't learn how to unlock any low block defences at Rangers, and has always been caught out defensively.

If he comes out at Leicester, not having thought about solutions, then Mary Shelley's Vestergaard iscin for a long season at the back.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

6 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Fair enough. I mean, I can't stand the guy so don't really care too much what club he fucks over next, even if it is Leicester.

This is an important point. It's an experiment I can watch from a safe distance. 🙂

[SaintsBarry74]

Not seen a single positive post about RM on their forums. They're absolutely fuming. 😄

[trousers]

29 minutes ago, SaintsBarry74 said:

Not seen a single positive post about RM on their forums. They're absolutely fuming. 😄

Not one? Every forum has a clutch of contrarians, surely...? 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

14 hours ago, Saint_clark said:

You're forgetting how good he is at PowerPoint presentations. Wasn't even in the running at Rangers until he put on a little show for them.

I had read that managers actually get third parties to put together the PowerPoint packs. Perhaps there's also third party data analysis to back up the manager's pitch.

I don't know if that applies to Martin, but I was very disappointed with the thought that it might not be all his own work. 🙂

[Whitey Grandad]

36 minutes ago, trousers said:

Not one? Every forum has a clutch of contrarians, surely...? 

If not I might have to join it 😊

[CB Fry]

8 hours ago, trousers said:

Not one? Every forum has a clutch of contrarians, surely...? 

Not really, no.

[Sarnia Cherie]

23 hours ago, coalman said:

Don't forget the low lighting kitchen interview with Leicester's favourite son, Gary Lineker. After which, Lineker proclaimed him a future England manager and he promptly chose Rangers over Leicester.

Lineker ought to be delighted that RM may be Leicester's next manager. 😀

[Patrick Bateman]

23 hours ago, coalman said:

Don't forget the low lighting kitchen interview with Leicester's favourite son, Gary Lineker. After which, Lineker proclaimed him a future England manager and he promptly chose Rangers over Leicester.

They are so bad, all of these low lighting set ups, bare low-power bulbs showing filaments, bit of brass or black metal work, some reclaimed wood stained dark ... come in for an interview, sorry it's so dark, don't walk into anything. 

[hypochondriac]

Martin will do well in league one with Leicester. They will dominate a lot of games which is when his football is more effective. He may even have a chance of performing will in the Championship if they get a bit of momentum. Longer term it fucks up the club though. The likes of THB and manning for us have taken ages to recover from what they were 'taught' under Martin. I'd never want to be go back to football like that again.

Edited Monday at 09:05 by hypochondriac

[Patrick Bateman]

4 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Martin will do well in league one with Leicester. They will dominate a lot of games which is when his football is more effective. He may even have a chance of performing will in the Championship if they get a bit of momentum. Longer term it ducks up the club though. The lies of THB and manning for us have taken ages to recover from what they were 'taught' under Martin. I'd never want to be go back to football like that again.

Don't forget he did the same with MK Dons and they only finished 13th in League One. I guess it depends on how many 'weak' teams there are this time round in that league that his style can dominate? Plus, Leicester aren't exactly a fit bunch of players, I can see a lot of last 20 minute mistakes. Will be interesting to watch what happens anyway. 

[hypochondriac]

1 hour ago, Patrick Bateman said:

Don't forget he did the same with MK Dons and they only finished 13th in League One. I guess it depends on how many 'weak' teams there are this time round in that league that his style can dominate? Plus, Leicester aren't exactly a fit bunch of players, I can see a lot of last 20 minute mistakes. Will be interesting to watch what happens anyway. 

MK Dons aren't exactly a powerhouse of football though at that level. Leicester will be one of the big boys in that league and should be able to bounce back over a season or two. 

[sadoldgit]

15 hours ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Why is this forum still obsessed with Martin? It's approaching 400 pages now. I don't get it. He's about as relevant to me as George Burley, Rubes Selles and Nathan Jones. 

It is like the hot girlfriend who delivers on all front but then lets herself go and you are glad to see the back of her but there is always that nagging doubt that she will turn into a hottie again with someone else down the line.

[Pamplemousse]

Hopefully RM can convince Leicester's board to part with a significant sum for Bazunu

[Pengi]

2 hours ago, Pamplemousse said:

Hopefully RM can convince Leicester's board to part with a significant sum for Bazunu

Ten pence?

[coalman]

2 hours ago, sadoldgit said:

It is like the hot girlfriend who delivers on all front but then lets herself go and you are glad to see the back of her but there is always that nagging doubt that she will turn into a hottie again with someone else down the line.

I'd say it's more like the ex who used to tell you it was all your fault, never took the blame and said the only reason you were upset was because you were too stupid to understand how brilliant they are.

Though the truth is that watching Martin's dogmatic approach meet reality head on again with increasingly poor outcomes is incredible car crash telly.

Edited Monday at 11:51 by coalman

[saintant]

2 hours ago, Pamplemousse said:

Hopefully RM can convince Leicester's board to part with a significant sum for Bazunu

Well he constantly sang his praises and sneered at anyone who dared question Bazunu's very limited goalkeeping talents. Put your money (or maybe Leicester's money) where your mouth is Russboy.

[beatlesaint]

1 hour ago, saintant said:

Well he constantly sang his praises and sneered at anyone who dared question Bazunu's very limited goalkeeping talents. Put your money (or maybe Leicester's money) where your mouth is Russboy.

I dont think we'd be wanting a ridiculous amount, just get him gone ffs.

[StrangelyBrown]

On 08/06/2026 at 08:59, hypochondriac said:

Martin will do well in league one with Leicester. They will dominate a lot of games which is when his football is more effective. He may even have a chance of performing will in the Championship if they get a bit of momentum. Longer term it fucks up the club though. The likes of THB and manning for us have taken ages to recover from what they were 'taught' under Martin. I'd never want to be go back to football like that again.

His football was also fucking boring most of the time. Sometimes we'd play like prime Barcelona and it would be exciting, but most of the time it was tedious messing around for the sake of it with wingers only passing the ball backwards hoping to spring a trap that would lead to a goal.

Martin's football very nearly stopped my lad watching football even when we were winning most of the time because it was so dull.

I genuinely feel sorry for Leicester fans especially the young ones who won't realise it won't last forever.

[Oh no Mick Mills]

34 minutes ago, StrangelyBrown said:

His football was also fucking boring most of the time. Sometimes we'd play like prime Barcelona and it would be exciting, but most of the time it was tedious messing around for the sake of it with wingers only passing the ball backwards hoping to spring a trap that would lead to a goal.

Martin's football very nearly stopped my lad watching football even when we were winning most of the time because it was so dull.

I genuinely feel sorry for Leicester fans especially the young ones who won't realise it won't last forever.

The 23/24 season under Martin,  Saints championship games produced more goals per games than any other club.

Don't you remember 5-3 Huddersfield, 4-4 Norwich, 5-0 Swansea plus getting smashed by Sunderland and Leicester by 5ers! 

I'm no Martin fan ,  an utter disaster in the Prem , way too dogmatic and egotistical, but there is a lot of revisionism on here regarding him. 

Imo the Championship season was fun and I have great memories of that season. 

I think he'd be decent at a big club like Leicester down in L1. 

 

 

[Midfield_General]

Is it possible that given how most of the rest of the game has moved on from possession at all costs, and after his chastening experience at Rangers, he’s used his time away to reflect and maybe evolve his approach?

There aren’t many who are still sticking to the pure, old school, death by a thousand passes tiki-taka any more. 

Even Pep has been mixing it up and going more direct more often this season. PSG move it through the lines and attack with speed. Bayern are all about wingers creating for an old fashioned centre forward. Arsenal focus on set pieces. Liverpool fired Slot for his team being too slow and ponderous. 

The elite have evolved past slow, possession-based build up. I wonder if he’s been paying attention to that. 

Edited 13 hours ago by Midfield_General

[SotonianWill]

37 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

Is it possible that given how most of the rest of the game has moved on from possession at all costs, and after his chastening experience at Rangers, he’s used his time away to reflect and maybe evolve his approach?

There aren’t many who are still sticking to the pure, old school, death by a thousand passes tiki-taka any more. 

Even Pep has been mixing it up and going more direct more often this season. PSG move it through the lines and attack with speed. Bayern are all about wingers creating for an old fashioned centre forward. Arsenal focus on set pieces. Liverpool fired Slot for his team being too slow and ponderous. 

The elite have evolved past slow, possession-based build up. I wonder if he’s been paying attention to that. 

But one could say the same about Martin’s move to Rangers; he’s taken the dogmatic relegation, maybe he’s had a bit of time to adapt his approach.

 

Nah. 

[coalman]

49 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

Is it possible that given how most of the rest of the game has moved on from possession at all costs, and after his chastening experience at Rangers, he’s used his time away to reflect and maybe evolve his approach?

There aren’t many who are still sticking to the pure, old school, death by a thousand passes tiki-taka any more. 

Even Pep has been mixing it up and going more direct more often this season. PSG move it through the lines and attack with speed. Bayern are all about wingers creating for an old fashioned centre forward. Arsenal focus on set pieces. Liverpool fired Slot for his team being too slow and ponderous. 

The elite have evolved past slow, possession-based build up. I wonder if he’s been paying attention to that. 

If history has taught us anything it is that the lesson he has learned will be that he should have commited more fully to his philosophy. Or to put it in Martin terms - he wasn't brave enough.

[saintant]

9 minutes ago, coalman said:

If history has taught us anything it is that the lesson he has learned will be that he should have commited more fully to his philosophy. Or to put it in Martin terms - he wasn't brave enough.

His philosophy of possession football is all he knows, he is a one trick pony and not a particularly good one. He continually repeats that he'll never change and I think that's because he's a poor coach who has no other methods. From what I've seen he's made a living out of convincing clubs that success will come from his way of playing and it's all a bit of a con. Russboy is not great at coaching possession football and just uses it as a smokescreen to make himself seem credible and talk his way into jobs - to be fair to him his snake oil salesman approach has worked and earned him a lot of money, mainly for being paid off on contracts cut short. It amazes me that he may be about to get another job in football. Fair play to him for continuing the con. Hopefully he'll take Bazunu off our hands.

[Midfield_General]

Leicester forums seem to think it's pretty much done on a 3+1 year deal and will be announced this week. 

Also on a very big wedge, if rumours are to be believed. Leicester board feel they have to work hard to 'attract' him, so they're offering top whack for Championship level, let alone L1. 

If so, you've got to take your hat off to him really. Given that his seven year career reads one notable success, two unmitigated disasters and a lot of mid-table mediocrity, the man is certainly gifted at talking a rich sucker out of his money. 

Edited 10 hours ago by Midfield_General

[beatlesaint]

I really cant work out how this will play out. Either most of the teams in League 1 will hit it long and have a striker run past RM's troublesome almost non existent defence or they'll get so bloody bored watching pass-pass-pass-pass they'll end up comotose and let a few in at the other end. 

[saintant]

27 minutes ago, beatlesaint said:

I really cant work out how this will play out. Either most of the teams in League 1 will hit it long and have a striker run past RM's troublesome almost non existent defence or they'll get so bloody bored watching pass-pass-pass-pass they'll end up comotose and let a few in at the other end. 

It'll be much the same as his spell at Rangers. Teams will play a low block and wait for the inevitable mistakes that come their way as Leicester try to play out from the back. Coaches know what to expect from a Russboy team, there are no surprises so easy to plan how to beat them.

[AlexLaw76]

2 minutes ago, saintant said:

It'll be much the same as his spell at Rangers. Teams will play a low block and wait for the inevitable mistakes that come their way as Leicester try to play out from the back. Coaches know what to expect from a Russboy team, there are no surprises so easy to plan how to beat them.

Leicester will comfortably finish top 2, if not win the league.

Martin, for all his faults, is pretty experienced and when he has better players and can be a team of flat track bullies, he will do well.

[Midfield_General]

Given Leicester's financial situation, you'd think that they're going to need to try and offload a lot of their more expensive players (if they can), and replace them with cheaper, 'bottom half of the Championship / top of L1' -level alternatives.

It's going to be genuinely fascinating seeing what he asks League One defenders, in particular, to try and do. With us and Rangers, the centre halves were expected to be the passing fulcrum of the whole system - continually showing for the ball, playing with their heads up, bringing it out of defence and finding the accurate pass to feet into midfield to start the build-up. They were also expected to receive the ball under pressure and play when being pressed.

Jan Bednarek (75 caps for Poland) and Jack Stephens (156 Premier League appearances) struggled with it, albeit against better opposition. But how is some League One lump going to adapt to that? 

Edited 11 hours ago by Midfield_General

[RedArmy]

I hope Leicester fans are prepared for a manager that is happier to lose playing his way than grind out an “ugly” win.  

[saintant]

1 hour ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Leicester will comfortably finish top 2, if not win the league.

Martin, for all his faults, is pretty experienced and when he has better players and can be a team of flat track bullies, he will do well.

We'll see I guess but I don't think they'll finish in the top two.

[Midfield_General]

Also Gilly, who he's worked with in every job, has said he's staying at West Brom so he'll need a new no.2. 

Edited 8 hours ago by Midfield_General

[Oldandtired]

3 hours ago, saintant said:

 Hopefully he'll take Bazunu off our hands.

🫰🫰🫰🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[Lord Duckhunter]

6 hours ago, Oh no Mick Mills said:

Imo the Championship season was fun and I have great memories of that season. 

It wasn’t “fun” at all. Even the easy victories were pretty tedious, even when we banged a few in,the 28 passes between the back 4 & keeper that preceded it were draining. I’ve seen 3 promotions from the 2nd tier  & that was far and away the most boring. Even this great unbeaten run of Lego’s was boring on the whole. Contrast that with last seasons end of season run, different gravy that was.

Edited 7 hours ago by Lord Duckhunter

[franniesTache]

1 hour ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

It wasn’t “fun” at all. Even the easy victories were pretty tedious, even when we banged a few in,the 28 passes between the back 4 & keeper that preceded it were draining. I’ve seen 3 promotions from the 2nd tier  & that was far and away the most boring. Even this great unbeaten run of Lego’s was boring on the whole. Contrast that with last seasons end of season run, different gravy that was.

How can anyone slag off the scintillating unbeaten run that saw us start it in fourth and end it in fourth?