Dugout watch: Southampton
Ahead of Blues' match against Southampton in the Sky Bet Championship, BCFC.com has charted the career of the opposition's manager.
Russell Martin and Co. await Wayne Rooney's team at St Mary’s on Saturday 28 October, kick-off 12.30pm, live on Sky Sports. Birmingham City's Manager previously faced the fellow 37-year-old eight times during his playing career between 2011 and 2016, whilst they represented Manchester United and Norwich City respectively. The pair also shared the touchline twice in the 2021/22 season when Derby County and Swansea City bosses, where Martin showed support for Rooney, saying "he doesn’t seem to act like a superstar or have a huge ego, I think if he had then he would’ve walked away by now..." when referring to the Rams facing administration.
Preceding his spell in South Wales, Martin was given his first opportunity in the hot seat at Milton Keynes Dons, where he took over as permanent first-team manager from the departing Paul Tisdale in November 2019. He had joined the Buckinghamshire club as a player earlier that year but opted to swap roles, overseeing a 19th-place finish in a Sky Bet League One campaign which was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was at the Dons where the former Scotland international first installed his widely applauded possession-based style, which saw his team score a goal after registering a 56-pass move in March 2021, setting a new British record. During that term, only Manchester City and Barcelona tabled a higher average possession in Europe, with Martin’s team also accumulating the most touches inside the opposition’s box in the division. The Brighton-born manager took the club to a 13th-place finish before Swansea requested to speak to him during the close season.
Negotiations concluded in August 2021, with Martin crossing the border just six days before the season’s curtain raiser, signing a three-year deal and taking his backroom staff with him. It did not take long for him to acquaint himself to the fierce rivalry with Cardiff City, in which neither team had completed the league double in a single domestic season. This 110-year record fell in April 2022, as Swansea beat the Bluebirds 0-4 in the Welsh capital, to accompany their 3-0 home victory earlier that campaign. Martin hailed the special occasion as the "best moment he’d had as a manager". His team finished in 15th place but he took the Swans higher last season, closing 2022/23 in 10th.
Cutting his contract short by a year, Martin was appointed manager of Southampton in June. His outfit beat Sheffield Wednesday 1-2 in the first game of this season, ending Saints' nine-match opening day winless run. His tradition of operating possessional tactics shined through once more, with the South Coast club setting a Championship record of 477 successful first-half passes. Martin’s men will head into Saturday’s lunchtime clash against Blues fifth in the table.
The man from East Sussex began his 16-year career as a player within Brighton & Hove Albion’s youth academy but left by mutual consent in early 2004 to join tier seven side Lewes. Humble beginnings down the English football pyramid turned to good fortune when Martin was picked up by League Two side Wycombe Wanderers later that year under manager Paul Lambert. He made his debut in a 2-1 win over Cambridge United and spent four years with the Chairboys, featuring in their 2008 play-off semi-final, losing over two legs to Stockport County.
Despite missing out on promotion in Buckinghamshire, Martin did make the jump into League One by joining newly promoted Peterborough United that summer. Boss Darren Ferguson was quick to identify leadership qualities within his new signing, handing Martin the armband to make him Posh’s youngest-ever captain aged 22. Ferguson’s faith was rewarded, as his skipper led Peterborough to back-to-back promotions, reaching the Championship for the first time in 15 years.
The double jump to the second tier proved to be a stretch for the Cambridgeshire side, which saw Mark Cooper replace Ferguson in the dugout. The new gaffer opted to send Martin on loan to Norwich City in November 2009, a move that was made permanent the following January, reuniting him with Lambert. Together they embarked on a hugely successful era, enjoying back-to-back promotions to send the Canaries Premier League bound. The right-back was dubbed the “Norfolk Cafu” for his sprints down the flank, finishing runner-up for the Club Player of the Year award in May 2011. His performances were picked up by Scotland later that year, qualifying to play for the Tartan Army through his father’s roots and he went on to earn 29 caps for his country.
Martin spent nine years at Carrow Road, where he was given the captaincy whilst reinventing himself as a centre-back. Across more than 300 appearances for Norwich, 125 of these came in the top flight where he notably scored against Manchester City and Liverpool. Martin went on to play into his mid-30s, joining Rangers and Walsall for short stints before ending his on-field career by helping Sky Bet League Two side MK Dons to promotion on the final day of the 2019/20 season, the fifth of Martin’s career.
Comentários