Southampton manager Russell Martin has delivered an update on his future on the south coast, with Sport Republic's current stance regarding his position also revealed.
How have Southampton started the season?
In the Championship, Martin’s side have had an extremely mixed start to the new campaign having secured three wins, one draw and suffered four defeats from their opening eight games, meaning that having taken ten points from a possible 24, they find themselves 15th in the table, as per Sky Sports.
Speaking on the ‘What The EFL?!’ podcast, EFL pundit Adrian Clarke claimed that the St. Mary’s outfit won’t be able to achieve promotion this season should the 37-year-old remain at the helm and that he believes he will be sacked before the end of the campaign.
Unfortunately for the Saints, life isn't set to get any easier with their next two second-tier fixtures being a home match against also recently relegated Leeds United followed by a trip to face Stoke City at the Bet365 Stadium, so it's vital they pick up as many points as possible.
Is Russell Martin leaving Southampton?
Speaking to The Athletic, Martin was asked whether Sport Republic are understanding of Southampton's current position and if he still has their full backing.
As quoted by Football League World, he replied: “I think so, yeah. There’s been a lot gone on. They’ve made huge changes in the football club. Listen, we shouldn’t have lost the amount of games we have but I don’t think they expected a magic wand.
"Yesterday I said the club has embarked on a journey and what I meant by that was with us [coaches] as well, not the players, with Jason, the chief exec, so many new people, a different way of behaving — all that stuff you don’t see when you’re not there every day.
"And when you’re trying to do something really different, I don’t think that is ever easy. It’s a time to be really brave, for everyone to stick together, to get through it together. Or you don’t. That’s football.”
What is Russell Martin's record at Southampton?
Since joining Southampton back in July, Martin has only secured three victories from nine games and is averaging just 1.11 points per match, via Transfermarkt, but it’s not just his side’s performances in the league that have been concerning.
During the first round of the Carabao Cup, the south coast outfit bowed out following a shock 3-1 loss to League Two side Gillingham, so due to a result that nobody would have expected, they have also lost one of their roads to potentially securing some silverware away from the second tier.
The Brighton-born coach still has another three years remaining on his contract, but as it stands, it’s unlikely that he will last that long in his job unless he is to rapidly turn the club’s form around and get them back in the race for promotion with the aim being to jump back up to the top-flight at the first time of asking.