Russell Martin knows he will be judged on results with Southampton in the Premier League and with three losses from three there is already plenty of outside noise.
Southampton play a very possession-focussed style under Russell Martin in which you often need to be perfect for it to pay off.
Unfortunately, so far Southampton have been far from perfect, making countless mistakes in their own defensive third to condemn Martin’s side to three defeats upon their Premier League return so far.
Alex McCarthy’s howler gave Newcastle United a 1-0 win on the opening day, whilst there were a catalogue of errors in Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to Brentford.
Martin is not a manager who will waver from his principles – after all they are what has got him to the Premier League in five years as a manager – but he knows he will have to live and die by the sword with Southampton this season.
There has been no shortage of criticism from pundits and ex-players already this season, with Richard Keys the latest to jump on Martin’s style.
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Richard Keys criticises Russell Martin for Southampton style
Keys was the face of Sky Sports’ coverage of the Premier League from its inception in 1992 but has spent the last decade working for Qatari broadcaster BeIn Sports.
A divisive figure who never minces his words, Keys has been discussing the latest weekend of Premier League action via his blog where he was very critical of Martin and compared the 38-year-old to Vincent Kompany.
Keys said: “A quick mention for Russell Martin, who reckons his suicidal approach to the game would be ‘questioned less if I was foreign’. No it wouldn’t Russell.
“Wise up man before it’s too late. Saints remind me of Burnley last season – who were, of course, managed by a foreigner. He too insisted he wanted to play the ‘right way’. He too got spanked most weekends and his team were all but down by Christmas.
“I said then Vincent Kompany’s approach was a season long interview for a better job. Burnley fans reared up in his defence. But I right wasn’t I? His mate Guardiola played him into Munich – and Burnley went down. He got what he wanted and he didn’t care a jot about Burnley.
“I’m not saying Martin is auditioning, but he’s heading for the exit door if Saints don’t change.”
Martin needs to make Southampton tweaks rather than wholesale changes
Martin knows what he has seen from his Southampton side so far this season has not been good enough.
However, the Saints boss will not feel this is simply down to the chosen style of play and more so the inability to execute it properly in the opening weeks of the Premier League.
What is needed is not a complete overhaul of all the work Martin has done for the past year but small tweaks to put things right.
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So far, Martin has trusted the players that got Southampton promoted, with only three new faces starting against Brentford and two against Newcastle and Nottingham Forest.
With an international break, Martin now has two weeks to work with his players and we could see a change of personnel as well as tactical tweaks against Manchester United on September 14th.