Russell Martin has reflected upon the underrated player development aspects he fulfilled at Southampton amidst a few over exaggerated claims.
Although Russell Martin's Southampton days are a thing of the past, no Saints fan will be able to easily sweep away the memories of his tenure. For both good and the bad, the new Rangers coach will remain a highly debatable figure at St. Mary's.
Perhaps, Martin himself knows this and as a result, has put another food for thought discussion for the Southampton fan base. While addressing the Rangers fans, the Daily Echo quoted Martin saying: "The end product might not click completely overnight but we have to find a way of winning whilst building and we really accepted that at Saints."
I know, Martin has over exaggerated the winning part but the entire comment isn't controversial.
Will Still needs to imitate Martin's youth backing strategy
That's because placing trust on the youngsters shoulders has always been a central theme of the Scot's ideology, doesn't matter if it was the exciting Championship run or the not-so-exciting Premier League one.
Be it the finds of the season like Taylor Harwood-Bellis or homegrown academy graduates like Tyler Dibling, Martin never hesitated in tapping into the vast player potential pool. And this might better explain the gradual dip in form suffered by almost all of his Premier League mainstays, except Mateus Fernandes.
In hindsight, Southampton's Martin appointment was a masterstroke move considering the youth focused approach the club implements. Though the end could've been much better instead of a ton of Premier League humiliations, Martin has left a legacy in terms of squad building and talent scouting which the Saints must strive to keep intact.
Hopefully, they have seen shades of this Russell Martin traits in Will Still too while welcoming him to St. Mary's.