Russell Martin was sacked by Southampton at the weekend. Alas, a club legend has revealed the biggest downfall in Russell Martin's era at Southampton.
Well, that's it, Saints fans - The end of an era. Russell Martin was sacked by the club, after the humiliation against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday evening proved too difficult to contend with.
There will be some supporters who argue the decision came too late. Certainly, the Southampton owners shot themselves in the feet by allowing the Martin era to extend as far as losing 5-0 to Tottenham.
While we don't want to bang on about losing to Spurs, we'd be remiss not to mention that Spurs are having an awful season by their own standards. Therefore, to be hammered by an out-of-form and inconsistent side only makes Martin look worse.
Southampton’s biggest legend predicts why Russell Martin was sacked
Posting to X (formerly Twitter), Matt Le Tissier has commented on the Southampton decision to sack Russell Martin. He praised Martin for his work at Southampton and wished him well for his next journey. However, he does feel like the Saints failed to adapt to playing in the Premier League under his guidance.
In his own words, Le Tissier said: "It was a great watch last season under Russell but if we’re honest we got away with the way we played because of the quality of the opposition at times, always thought we’d need to adapt our style of play a little bit with the upgrade in the standard of opponent in the PL but sadly we didn’t. Wish Russell all the best in his next venture."
It is fair to say that this is the most common criticism of Russell Martin. Indeed, his inability to divert away from his system is what cost Southampton, so the club had no option but to part ways with him.
Sacking is a decision which other relegation-battling sides made before Southampton, with Steve Cooper being fired by Leicester a few weeks prior and Gary O'Neil being fired by Wolves a few hours prior.
Look, it's not nice for Southampton to make the decision. Russell Martin is one of the most likeable managers we've had in a long time and even now, it's hard to look at him with any disdain. Nevertheless, it was a decision which had to he made.
Now, Southampton are in a horrid position, However, Saints fans will feel like they have every reason to be confident between now and the end of the season, with a new manager in charge.
Matt Le Tissier is no stranger to voicing his opinion. However, he does have the impact of making Saints fans be silent to listen to him whenever he voices his footballing opinion. No player has left the impact on Southampton that he did, after all.