Southampton sacked manager Russell Martin on Sunday evening, just over an hour after losing 5-0 to Tottenham Hotspur to extend their bottom spot in the Premier League.
“As the season began, we all knew the challenges we would face this year as we adapted to life in the top flight, competing in the best and most competitive league in the world.” part time job. “But the reality of our situation is clear: the board has been supportive of Russell and his staff and has been open and transparent about our expectations. We are all on the same page in recognizing that we urgently need to improve results.”
Saints have been the Premier League’s punching bag since winning promotion to England’s top flight with five points so far this season. They have won just one of their 16 games, conceded 36 goals and only 11 of them. But they lost to Spurs on Sunday. It was their biggest margin of defeat this season and forced some supporters to leave St Mary’s Stadium as soon as Pape Matar Sarr scored in the 25th minute to give the visitors a 4-0 win. That wasn’t the only sign of trouble Sunday. Martin replaced Kamaldeen Sulemana in the 15th minute, shortly after Tottenham had taken a 3-0 lead thanks to an assist from Dejan Kulusevski.
Despite the success Martin had with the team last season, the writing seemed to be on the wall for Martin once the final whistle blew. Southampton finished fourth in the Championship before gaining promotion via the play-offs and were one of the second’s top scoring teams with 87 goals during the regular season.
Martin’s commitment to the style of play popularized by many of the sport’s top teams may have been his downfall. Southampton’s possession-focused approach of playing from behind worked in the Championship, but the quality of his players compared to the rest of the Premier League was ultimately disastrous. Mainly this has resulted in a porous defense, but it has also left the Saints unable to replicate their high scoring habits from last season.
The manager defended his approach in pre-match remarks on Friday, but admitted the goal total was “embarrassing”.
“I get criticized (as does Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou) for being stubborn and all that stuff, but if you believe in something and it takes you a certain way with your life, it’s crazy to stray too far from that.” Martin said, according to the BBC: “I can’t speak for him, but we are adapting too. We are adjusting our form, our approach, our personnel, but we have the same consistency about what is important to us and we have the same game concept. We can’t stray too far from this. Otherwise, we become nothing. Everyone is quick to criticize these days.”
Southampton’s Under-21s manager Simon Rusk will replace Martin as the club searches for his permanent replacement. Martin was the second manager to join Wolves at the time and be released from the Premier League. Gary O’Neill.
