Russell Martin has the difficult task of trying to manage a large Southampton squad whilst seeking to find a winning formula in the Premier League.
Southampton have struggled since their return to the top flight, with Russell Martin yet to record his first win as a Premier League manager.
The Southampton boss has struggled to balance trusting the players that earned promotion last season and integrating the 14 first-team players signed in the summer.
After seven Premier League games Martin’s side have only avoided defeat once, as they drew 1-1 with Ipswich Town in the fifth league match.
Martin’s position has started to come under scrutiny and the first game back after the international break is a huge one at home against Leicester City.
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Russell Martin admits Adam Armstrong ‘frustrated’ at Southampton
Martin placed his faith mainly in players that were at Southampton last season to start the new campaign but has since had to be ruthless to try and turn the tide.
One victim of this has been forward Adam Armstrong, who scored 24 goals and provided 13 assists as the Saints were promoted last season.
Armstrong has not started since the 3-1 defeat away at Brentford in the third league game of the season and Martin has now spoken on the 27-year-old’s situation.
Martin told the Daily Echo: “It’s probably been a bit hard on him because we signed Cameron Archer and Ross Stewart had come back fit.
“Arma [Armstrong] played predominantly on the right for us last season, pretty much all season. Ben Brereton Diaz plays wide left, Arma plays wide right.
“Paul Onuachu and Ross are very similar profiles so in case you need them at some point and then you have Cam [Archer]. It’s like they’re all very different.”
The Saints boss added: “Arma just needs to be patient and trust that we absolutely love him still and we know what he can do. There’ll be games where we really, really need him. And looking back, I should have put him on the pitch on Monday night at Bournemouth so it’s my fault, not his.
“I’ve told him that and he hopefully accepts that. Whilst being frustrated, he trained brilliantly and I know he’s ready for us whenever we need him.
“He’ll have a big part to play. It’s been a bit of a frustrating few games for him but that’s football. It’s never linear. It’s never a straight line.”
Armstrong not good enough for Southampton in Premier League
Armstrong was the hero last season as he scored the only goal of the 1-0 play-off final win over Leeds United at Wembley.
However, the striker is yet to score this season and fluffed a number of big chances in the early weeks of the season.
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History suggests Armstrong is not capable of making the step up to the Premier League, as he managed just four goals in two top flight seasons before Southampton were relegated in 2023.
There was a hope that the new-found confidence from last season would see an improvement this time around, but so far that has not materialised and perhaps it is time to accept Armstrong is simply not good enough to score goals at the elite level.