Michael Reeves
It now looks almost certain that Southampton will be appointing Russell Martin as the man that they seem ideal to spearhead their hoped return to the Premier League next season with most news outlets reporting that he will sign on at St. Marys next week.
And with Jake Silverstein pretty much confirming it in a “chat” via Twitter we better hope that the club have their ducks lined up – or more importantly a new manager – or we risk another wasted summer trying to undertake yet another managerial search.
With ownership change expected in some format as well this summer and the farce that has been the start of Andy Coleman’s reign as Chairman then it has been a pretty rocky start to the summer break that is currently less than two weeks old.
Martin’s departure has been speculated for a few weeks but the speed at which it has developed this week appears to be slightly more than alarming. The comments from SIlverstein tell you just how far the two parties have been apart in any discussions that may or may not have taken place over a potential contract extension.
It is clear that the owners must have surely had some backing for Martin giving their insistence of sticking with him during a run of four wins in twenty four games but it’s also pretty evident that the backing is not necessarily from a financial viewpoint which undoubtedly has probably played a part in where we are right now and the desire of the manager to move onto pastures new.
The knock on effect of his seeming inevitable departure will also be felt this summer and place a huge question mark over the Swansea futures of the likes of Grimes, Piroe and Wood and certainly see the end of any hope that we may have gained another contract for Ryan Manning who will now surely leave us in a short period.
Whatever your feelings on Russell Martin and his process this is a pretty dismal situation to find ourselves in. We do it on the back of a January window where we spent absolutely nothing and with an ownership group some of whom are mute and some of which have very strange ways of enhancing their communication. Or, at the very least, very strange communication habits and use of words. “It’s just reality man” as Jake Silverstein seemingly likes to say.
The club has regressed badly under this ownership and the departure of Steve Cooper was often suggested as one due to a lack of support and it seems we have gone down that route again with Martin. Quite why anyone would want to come here and work under the conditions that we have in place is beyond me.
Nobody actually knows at the moment what the owners may have lined up by way of replacement but it would be incredibly remiss of them not to have a contingency plan in place for situations than this. Of course it could just be ‘contact Wayne Rooney’ given his connections with DC United or could we simply be considering an internal move or just a known name in Swansea because it seems inconceivable that we could attract anyone who is in a comfortable place at the moment?
For now though we sit back and wait for the official confirmation that could even come over the course of the weekend – could Russ even be in attendance at Brighton on Sunday as the Saints look to at least try and finish their season with some level of winning run no matter how short.
Once that move is confirmed then the search starts again with rumours no doubt set to start over this weekend but this is not what we needed this summer and the owners must take full responsibility for overseeing yet another pretty unsatisfactory period.
We’re in an almighty mess .Whatever fans thought of Martin the players seemed to have complete confudence in him .
It judt remains to be seen who comes in as manager and how long it takes .
This also provides our owners with a chance to sell more players .
So we have to reset once again . No doubt there will be people on the various forums who defend the owners an claim thi is life
Perhaps if they showed a bit of enthusiasm or even interest in the Swans and worked with the manager we might have a fighting chance of stability and keeping the man in control.
And who will the new man be ? He’ll come on the cheap whoever he is
This is the result of what can only be described as pathetic. The yanks are pathetic and the only interest they have is in how much they can take out of the club. This is not about how we feel about Martin, because there will always be differing opinions.
This situation we are in is related to a complete lack of interest from a bunch of people who have no feeling for the club. We could have made the playoffs this season, but for a dismal Januaty window. This so called board have been found out. Martin has openly stated that we need a commitment to sign players to push forward this season. This pathetic bunch of loosers have now been found out. They were hoping that Martin would be the fall guy and that would be that. Would they sack him, no Martin would take us into next season without any complaint.
Give Martin a Contract extention, no way. The so called board are now rubbing their hands together, adding more money to their bank accounts through a compensation payment from the Saints.
For those who remember the Tony Petty nightmare, they will know this is not about a manager, it’s about the very future of our wonderful Swans. We are in the hands of unscrupulous people who can only be described pathetic loosers.
What happened to Martin’s project then ? I seem to recall he & the club were fully committed to it ! Of course, if another club comes along and offers a better financial deal then coaches and players alike are likely to leave. I’ve never been a fan of Martin so not sorry to see him leave. The only issue for me is the disruption it will cause as he takes his colleagues with him. It would be nice to think we could quickly have Joe Allen appointed as player-coach to minimise the chaos that will likely occur otherwise. With his connections he should easily put together a coaching team that will.produce a better team than that created by Martin. Remember with MK Don’s and the Swans he has only been able to achieve mid table positions. The sooner we appoint the better or we are in for another average season !!
Joey Allen as new coach. Bring in stability this summer with the management fiasco. Keep some of our best players and on we go next season again..