Russell Martin

[Farmer Saint]

3 minutes ago, Smirking_Saint said:

Armstrong, Downes, KWP, I think Champ wise at the time an argument could have been made for Bednarek

Yep, so clearly in that case we had a worse team.

[trousers]

26 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

You said it "measured up favourably", which in my book means better - otherwise you'd just say "measured up" to.

 

• "Measured up"

  means to be as good as something else or as good as expected, according to Cambridge Dictionary. 

   
• "Favourably"

  means in a way that is favorable, or provides an advantage or more chance of success, according to Cambridge Dictionary. 

 

Farmer Saint and MLG... never before seen in the same room together... make of that what you will....

P.s. I didn't realise selective quoting from t'internet was back in fashion.... I guess two can play at that game....

 

Edited Friday at 07:10 by trousers

[Farmer Saint]

9 minutes ago, trousers said:

Farmer Saint and MLG... never before seen in the same room together... make of that what you will....

P.s. I didn't realise selective quoting from t'internet was back in fashion.... I guess two can play at that game....

 

"Compared well" means above the standard item though?? I think you're making the same mistake...

"Compared well" suggests something is found to be satisfactory or good when measured against a standard or other item, or when compared to a similar thing. It implies a positive outcome or result from the comparison. 

Edited Friday at 07:19 by Farmer Saint

[tdmickey3]

23 hours ago, Give it to Ron said:

One of the reasons Cooper wasn’t popular was his link to Forest he was never going to be welcomed there.

He did get more points than RVN and Martin 🙂

Very low bar TBF

[trousers]

12 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

"Compared well" means above the standard item though?? I think you're making the same mistake...

"Compared well" suggests something is found to be satisfactory or good when measured against a standard or other item, or when compared to a similar thing. It implies a positive outcome or result from the comparison. 

Oh, go on then.... I'll relent on this occassion... 

 

[Farmer Saint]

6 minutes ago, trousers said:

Oh, go on then.... I'll relent on this occassion... 

 

What may be worthwhile is explaining why you disagree with the fact that I think last year's Leicester and Leeds team were better than last year's Saints team...be interesting to see @tdmickey3 try it as well, but he never backs himself so I doubt he'll do it this time either.

Edited Friday at 07:37 by Farmer Saint

[trousers]

17 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

What may be worthwhile is explaining why you disagree with the fact that I think last year's Leicester and Leeds team were better than last year's Saints team

My view is that there probably wasn't much difference in the overall quality of our respective squads. Certainly not of a significance that's worth arguing the toss about on an internet football forum anyway....

(And, in anticipation of the next line of enquiry in this interogation... no, I haven't based my view on any stats or science, just my gut feel / hunch, which could of course be wrong under scrutiny.... but I'm fine with being wrong... you should try it some time....  )

Edited Friday at 07:53 by trousers

[austsaint]

1 hour ago, Farmer Saint said:

You said it "measured up favourably", which in my book means better - otherwise you'd just say "measured up" to.

 

• "Measured up"

  means to be as good as something else or as good as expected, according to Cambridge Dictionary. 

   
• "Favourably"

  means in a way that is favorable, or provides an advantage or more chance of success, according to Cambridge Dictionary. 

Which players from the Saints squad would you have put in the Leeds and Leicester teams then?

Kreist almighty Farmer; there can’t be much happening on the estate at the moment.   I’ll have to clean out my old storeroom in search of my trusty old Oxford Dictionary to see if it’s worth having a semantic tussle with you.    

[Dusic]

Some of the stuff on this thread is ridiculous.

Simply put - he inherited a shambles, a pissed off, fractured squad and a demoralised fanbase.

He coached the specific styoenof play he was recruited for and following mostly wins (and a few draws and losses) and a club record unbeaten run, ended up in the playoffs. He then made changes which saw us unbeaten and winning a Wembley final.

Understand some elements not to everyone's taste but he did the job he was recruited for, a good job which ended in a successful season with a massive high - surely nobody can decry that?!

PL season has been a disaster for various reasons, some of which he is directly accountable for and some for which he isn't.

From a Leicester perspective if they were a PL side it would be an awful appointment. But they aren't. They are in the league that he has very recent experience of being promoted from (which many said should be a criteria for our appointment), will be experiencing similar conditions which he has experience of when he took over Saints (something that has been questioned of Still), and plays a style that they thrived on under Maresca last time in this league. I am pretty sure he will get them promoted which ia presumably the goal and then its up to them and him what they do.

 

Edited Friday at 08:55 by Dusic

[Lighthouse]

8 minutes ago, Dusic said:

Some of the stuff on this thread is ridiculous.

Simply put - he inherited a shambles, a pissed off, fractured squad and a demoralised fanbase.

He coached the specific styoenof play he was recruited for and following mostly wins (and a few draws and losses) and a club record unbeaten run, ended up in the playoffs. He then made changes which saw us unbeaten and winning a Wembley final.

Understand some elements not to everyone's taste but he did the job he was recruited for, a good job which ended in a successful season with a massive high - surely nobody can decry that?!

PL season has been a disaster for various reasons, some of which he is directly accountable for and some for which he isn't.

From a Leicester perspective if they were a PL side it would be an awful appointment. But they aren't. They are in the league that he has very recent experience of being promoted from (which many said should be a criteria for our appointment), will be experiencing similar conditions which he has experience of when he took over Saints, and plays a style that they thrived on under Maresca last time in this league. I am pretty sure he will get them promoted which ia presumably the goal and then its up to them and him what they do.

 

What I find odd about it is that nobody, no matter how well we recruit, will be saying we’re definitely getting promoted top two by default next season. Predictions will range from promotion all the way down to successive relegations, and everything in between, as they did two years ago. The whole ‘promoted in spite of…’ logic is only applied retrospectively.

[beatlesaint]

Christ, when you come on this thread and find definitions of expressions spelled out and GIF's of Dastardley & Muttley you know its getting desperate !!

[Smirking_Saint]

2 hours ago, Farmer Saint said:

Yep, so clearly in that case we had a worse team.

Well… no… and that doesn’t really tally up does it

[tdmickey3]

2 hours ago, Farmer Saint said:

What may be worthwhile is explaining why you disagree with the fact that I think last year's Leicester and Leeds team were better than last year's Saints team...be interesting to see @tdmickey3 try it as well, but he never backs himself so I doubt he'll do it this time either.

Nah, you're ok, I will leave you to lecture everyone with your "superior" football knowledge 

[Farmer Saint]

2 hours ago, austsaint said:

Kreist almighty Farmer; there can’t be much happening on the estate at the moment.   I’ll have to clean out my old storeroom in search of my trusty old Oxford Dictionary to see if it’s worth having a semantic tussle with you.    

I think there is quite a difference between saying that you thought our squad was better than Leicester and Leeds, than on a par - that's the point. My criticism of you was based on you thinking the team was better than those - because that's what you said. I would have been far more lenient if you said you thought they were on a par (although I would have still disagreed).

So you're saying the teams were on a par - I would suggest not, and would be interested to know which players of ours would have got into their first teams?

Edited Friday at 10:48 by Farmer Saint

[Fabrice29]

36 minutes ago, tdmickey3 said:

Nah, you're ok, I will leave you to lecture everyone with your "superior" football knowledge 

Deciding you won’t get into a discussion about football is probably one of the most knowledgeable things you’ve said on the subject to be fair. 

Edited Friday at 10:45 by Fabrice29

[Farmer Saint]

34 minutes ago, tdmickey3 said:

Nah, you're ok, I will leave you to lecture everyone with your "superior" football knowledge 

Yep, didn't think so.

I don't think I have superior football knowledge by any means, however I think I do have superior knowledge to those who think our team was better than Leeds or Leicester's last year. But I think most people on here would say that given that choice.

For instance, if someone said they thought Russell Martin was a better Manager than, say, Enzo Maresca, would you think you had a better football knowledge than them?

[Farmer Saint]

55 minutes ago, Smirking_Saint said:

Well… no… and that doesn’t really tally up does it

Ok, but it kinda does. If we're saying our team would only provide 3, maybe 4 players to the first team of Leeds and Leicester I would say that Leeds and Leicester had better teams, would you not?

Edited Friday at 10:47 by Farmer Saint

[tdmickey3]

24 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

Deciding you won’t get into a discussion about football is probably one of the most knowledgeable things you’ve said on the subject to be fair. 

Maybe but you should refrain with trying convince us you know what you are on about TBH,

all of it is based around your love for Martin that in turn takes away any objectivity

[tdmickey3]

34 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

Yep, didn't think so.

I don't think I have superior football knowledge by any means, however I think I do have superior knowledge to those who think our team was better than Leeds or Leicester's last year. But I think most people on here would say that given that choice.

For instance, if someone said they thought Russell Martin was a better Manager than, say, Enzo Maresca, would you think you had a better football knowledge than them?

 So you are denying your superiority claim, but it in the same sentence you say you do have superior knowledge..... 🤣

Its opinions mate, you just try to make yours out to be fact  

Edited Friday at 11:20 by tdmickey3

[Smirking_Saint]

30 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

Ok, but it kinda does. If we're saying our team would only provide 3, maybe 4 players to the first team of Leeds and Leicester I would say that Leeds and Leicester had better teams, would you not?

Well no, because we’re arguing about all three

I think we were better overall than Leeds, but worse overall than Leicester and low and behold that was evidenced in the results

Im not getting into it anyway as its very subjective, situational and very boring

For example Firpo/Piroe were crap last year and excellent this year.. conversely THB was very much one of the best CBs in the league last year and crap this year… football isn’t FM or Fifa, ability isn’t a set stat and is affected by a multitude of factors 

[Saint Garrett]

On 22/04/2025 at 13:39, Lord Duckhunter said:

I smell pony. You’ll be claiming Frazier, his mate, wasn’t his signing. Neither was Wood or Manning. 
 

He must be the only manager who was shafted in the window who then said “We’ve done good business this window,"

What a guy, most other managers drop subtle hints they’ve been let down, not Lego. Unique talent….

 

What's the problem with Manning? He was signed for the championship? I think he's actually been pretty decent this season at times.

Fraser? Wasn't he on a free? Got Prem experience, might not have worked out but you can see why we kept him on a cheap deal.

Wood? £3m? Don't think he was signed for this season ultimately. I think him and Edwards were signed for a combined £6m for next season in mind.

The fact we have been playing Sulemana and Onuachu this season, probably says everything you need to know about our recruitment.  And doesn't really if we're any good in defence/midfield, because we have zero threat going forward and no focal point to how we play, so the ball just comes back again. Irrelevant of manager we've been utter shite regardless of which one.

Outside of those that were here last season we signed:

• Ramsdale - been top drawer this season IMO.
• Fernandes - Cracking little player but can't do it on his own
• Edwards - signed for future
• Wood - signed for future
   
• Taylor - experienced LB, but not really sure why we signed him
• Lallana - experienced CM, but not really sure why we signed him
   
• Welington - half season, looks ok but nothing more than that
• Brereton Diaz - utter trash
• Archer - utter trash
• Sugawara - utter trash
• Cornet - utter trash
• Others that have gone to Goztepe - probably pointless signings

[Farmer Saint]

17 minutes ago, tdmickey3 said:

 So you are denying your superiority claim, but it in the same sentence you say you do have superior knowledge..... 🤣

Its opinions mate, you just try to make yours out to be fact  

 

18 minutes ago, tdmickey3 said:

 So you are denying your superiority claim, but it in the same sentence you say you do have superior knowledge..... 🤣

Its opinions mate, you just try to make yours out to be fact  

You said lecture everyone...as I said above, I don't have superior knowledge to everyone, but I do to those who think we had a better team than Leeds and Leicester.

[tdmickey3]

1 minute ago, Farmer Saint said:

 

You said lecture everyone...as I said above, I don't have superior knowledge to everyone, but I do to those who think we had a better team than Leeds and Leicester.

You think you have superior knowledge?   Again posting your opinion as fact. 

I do admire your self promoting though 😉

[Farmer Saint]

18 minutes ago, Smirking_Saint said:

Well no, because we’re arguing about all three

I think we were better overall than Leeds, but worse overall than Leicester and low and behold that was evidenced in the results

Im not getting into it anyway as its very subjective, situational and very boring

For example Firpo/Piroe were crap last year and excellent this year.. conversely THB was very much one of the best CBs in the league last year and crap this year… football isn’t FM or Fifa, ability isn’t a set stat and is affected by a multitude of factors 

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

 

[Farmer Saint]

8 minutes ago, tdmickey3 said:

You think you have superior knowledge?   Again posting your opinion as fact. 

I do admire your self promoting though 😉

Clearly this is all in my opinion. Sorry, didn't realise I had to explain that to you (although I probably should have guessed).

[tdmickey3]

4 hours ago, Farmer Saint said:

What may be worthwhile is explaining why you disagree with the fact that I think last year's Leicester and Leeds team were better than last year's Saints team...be interesting to see @tdmickey3 try it as well, but he never backs himself so I doubt he'll do it this time either.

 

11 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

Clearly this is all in my opinion. Sorry, didn't realise I had to explain that to you (although I probably should have guessed).

No need to explain at all, you don't need to justify it any more than I have to ,despite requesting I do...

All these attempts at claiming the high ground is taking its toll and confusing you, take a break

[trousers]

[Farmer Saint]

3 minutes ago, tdmickey3 said:

 

No need to explain at all, you don't need to justify it any more than I have to ,despite requesting I do...

All these attempts at claiming the high ground is taking its toll and confusing you, take a break

Eh? Not sure what you're getting at here. I was just asking you to explain your opinion on why you think our team was better than (or at least as good as) Leeds and Leicester's?

[Matthew Le God]

53 minutes ago, Smirking_Saint said:

football isn’t FM or Fifa, ability isn’t a set stat and is affected by a multitude of factors 

Which factors do you think aren't simulated in FM?

Edited Friday at 12:14 by Matthew Le God

[Colinjb]

2 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Which factors do you think aren't simulated in FM?

The ability of player to bloom late, such as Jamie Vardy or Ian Wright, is not done very well at all. Yes, it's an exception. But it's something I have never seen it simulate well.

 

[tdmickey3]

13 minutes ago, trousers said:

Sorry, just got off, the empty seat is mine 

[Matthew Le God]

15 minutes ago, Colinjb said:

The ability of player to bloom late, such as Jamie Vardy or Ian Wright

That is a feature that is simulated in FM.

Edited Friday at 12:34 by Matthew Le God

[revolution saint]

13 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Which factors do you think aren't simulated in FM?

Shrodinger's cat, Herzberg's theory of motivation, Quantum mechanics, and the illuminati

[trousers]

19 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Which factors do you think aren't simulated in FM?

Are relgious factors such as Ramadan included? 

Edited Friday at 12:33 by trousers

[Matthew Le God]

1 minute ago, trousers said:

Are relgious factors such as Ramadan included? 

No

[Colinjb]

10 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

That is a feature that is simulated in FM.

Cute.

Seen no evidence of it.

Personal life issues are not modelled for sure. Needing to attend funerals, birth of child. The effects of missing training due to that.

Edited Friday at 12:36 by Colinjb

[trousers]

Just now, Matthew Le God said:

No

I thought it was supposed to be realistic...?

[The Kraken]

Seems a bit of a weakness to just ignore Ramadan. Especially as the leagues now make allowances for stoppages in games so that players can take on drink/food at certain points.

[warsash saint]

F**k me - there have been some tedious threads on this board over the years & then there's this one!!

[revolution saint]

3 minutes ago, warsash saint said:

F**k me - there have been some tedious threads on this board over the years & then there's this one!!

What did you expect on a Russell Martin thread?  This thread perfectly mirrors his style of play.

[Smirking_Saint]

35 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Which factors do you think aren't simulated in FM?

I have zero interest in getting into a discussion with you MLG

[Smirking_Saint]

59 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

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

 

From out Championship season ?

Bednarek, Downes, KWP, both Armstrongs, Manning

Arguments can be made for THB and theres not a lot of change between Meslier and Bazunu

Sunmerville was exceptional, Rutter very good, Gruev very good, Kamara or Smallbone theres not a ton in it

[hypochondriac]

27 minutes ago, Colinjb said:

Cute.

Seen no evidence of it.

Personal life issues are not modelled for sure. Needing to attend funerals, birth of child. The effects of missing training due to that.

Caught masturbating in public and you see a marked dropoff in performance. 

[tdmickey3]

6 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Caught masturbating in public and you see a marked dropoff in performance. 

Confession ? 

[Midfield_General]

11 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Caught masturbating in public and you see a marked dropoff in performance. 

[Saint Scott]

1 hour ago, Farmer Saint said:

Eh? Not sure what you're getting at here. I was just asking you to explain your opinion on why you think our team was better than (or at least as good as) Leeds and Leicester's?

Football is primarily a results business.

We beat Leeds 3 times in the 23/24 season, that suggests we had a better team than Leeds, right?

Edited Friday at 13:23 by Saint Scott

[Lee On Solent Saint]

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

[CB Fry]

2 hours ago, Farmer Saint said:

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

 

Which Championship squad are you prepared to say Martin's was better than that season then?

 

[Farmer Saint]

25 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Which Championship squad are you prepared to say Martin's was better than that season then?

 

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

Edited Friday at 14:57 by Farmer Saint

[Farmer Saint]

1 hour ago, Smirking_Saint said:

From out Championship season ?

Bednarek, Downes, KWP, both Armstrongs, Manning

Arguments can be made for THB and theres not a lot of change between Meslier and Bazunu

Sunmerville was exceptional, Rutter very good, Gruev very good, Kamara or Smallbone theres not a ton in it

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?