Do you not think that those players you listed would be key players for probably half the teams in the division? Again shows the comparative strength we have that we laugh at how **** they are I take your point on relegated players being on high wages, but they usually are better than players in the lower division as they have been signed to a PL contract in the first place
I take your point, but you appear to be forgetting the fact that many of the squad have been badly managed on and off the pitch for a couple of years now, culminating in the humiliation of relegation. They are only now beginning to be turned around from that, and Martin seems to be achieving what he was brought in to do. I’m now willing to give him, and Sport Republic, at least until the end of the January window to judge whether that turnaround is going to get us promoted.
Oh yeah I fully agree with the mismanagement last season, and Martin does seem to be turning the confidence etc around. I’m just not yet fully convinced it’s him doing it vs the talent of the players doing it. The number of late goals says to me it’s the talent rather than the manager, but I’m not advocating for him to be sacked just yet
I always give the players most of the credit when we win, and most of the blame when we lose anyway. He does seem to be getting them to play his way though, and as their confidence grows they are doing so with more fluency. Scoring more goals and conceding fewer is a self-perpetuating thing, and the confidence in the manager grows as well.
Pretty much, until he proves me wrong on my opinion of him (very possible) or we hit another run of form like we did earlier in the season. Im very much on the fence with him
Another way to interpret the late goals is that that the manager is making the right calls at the right time and that he has fostered a good team spirit and a backbone to the squad. In seasons past we would've dropped a lot of points after being pegged back but we are now getting results and the the fitness must be good as well to keep going strong at the end. Another reason might be that we are tiring teams with our possession game and taking advantage late in matches.
Fair play, I was concerned he wouldn’t be pragmatic at all once we hit the bad run and I was wrong. Truly turned it around, and how! Now unbeaten in 11 games (Sept 23rd!) Now on a 55% win rate from his first 20 games as Saints manager too…
He’s quality. All of the fears at the start of the thread - well he’s answered them all categorically.
Yesterday was definitely an Adkins-like Saints performance. Looking forward to the rest of the season with relish if that's the style of football we can expect to see.
With Saints currently on a 15 game unbeaten run, our best since 1950, how do people feel about Russell Martin now?
