Southampton slumped to an embarrassing 5-0 defeat against Sunderland last weekend, with Mason Holgate among those responsible.
Mason Holgate joined the south coast side on loan from Everton last week and made his debut against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
The 26-year-old was seen as at fault for two of his sides goals conceded, this prompted supporters to react negatively.
However Russell Martin has jumped to the new Saints signings’ defence.
“It’s my fault for playing Mason so early, he’s only been here for a week,” he explained to the Daily Echo.
“I actually thought he would handle the atmosphere a lot better than some of the other options we had there.
“Shea Charles can feel a bit aggrieved to not start today for sure. That’s on me completely,” Martin admitted.
He then concluded that:
“Mason has got a great mentality and it’s our job as a coaching staff to make sure he improves, me included, but he will be totally fine.
“I hope the social media stuff doesn’t influence the players. It really fluctuates from game to game. It’s my job to support players and help them through any moments.”
Holgate will bounce back
Despite this poor debut we full expect Holgate to prove his doubters wrong, he is a quality defender after all.
His Premier League knowhow and leadership will come in very handy for Southampton once he settles into the club.
Coming into a new club is never easy, but we think that next time out, Holgate will be a lot better and in the long run he will be a net positive.
The issues don’t start and stop at Holgate however, with far more requiring attention from Martin before the next game.