How Southampton players would feel about Russell Martin return after Will Still's sacking | OneFootball

Will Still was recently relieved of his duties as Southampton manager

Southampton recently made the decision to relieve manager Will Still of his duties at St. Mary’s following an underwhelming start to the 2025/26 Championship campaign.

The Saints arrived back in the Championship after suffering a dreadful year of Premier League football, in which they were relegated from the division as statistically the division’s second-worst ever side, scoring just one more point (12) over 38 games than the infamous Derby County side of 2007/08.

Still was brought in to head up a promotion charge back to the top-flight during the summer but failed dramatically in that task. The South Coast outfit have claimed victory in just two of their opening 13 league contests and a run of three successive defeats against Bristol City, Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End was enough to seal Still’s fate.

Southampton currently sit 21st in the second-tier standings, just three points above Sheffield United in the relegation zone. The Saints haven’t operated out of League One since 2011 and won’t want to risk any possibility of falling back into the division, with action taken on Still to give the south coast club a chance at redeeming their campaign and competing for promotion in 2026.

As a result, rumours have started to emerge that some of the St. Mary’s side’s operators would welcome a return to the home dugout for an important name in the club’s recent history.

Southampton players would back Russell Martin return

With Southampton scouring the market to see who could lead them back up the Championship table and away from relegation, obvious links have been made back to one of their recent bosses.

According to talkSPORT, Russell Martin is a contender for the vacant managerial role at St. Mary’s, despite being sacked by the club less than 12 months ago in December 2024.

The 39-year-old led Southampton to promotion from the Championship in the 2023/24 campaign, which gives him obvious credentials to take over at this moment in time.

talkSPORT states that senior players and staff would welcome Martin back as the Saints’ manager, which may also provide him with an obvious advantage when Southampton begin finalising their options.

Martin most recently took charge of Scottish giants Rangers, but suffered a miserable time in charge at Ibrox and was relieved of his duties in October.

Russell Martin would be a risky appointment for Southampton

Although Martin worked successfully as Southampton manager in the past, there is no guarantee that he will be able to repeat these heroics now.

The 39-year-old ultimately failed in making the Saints a competitive Premier League outfit, which is the level they eventually want to be operating at again, so it might make little sense to appoint him once more.

His Rangers stint was well-documented for all the wrong reasons and could leave his confidence as a manager seriously damaged for quite a while, which would again not work to Southampton’s benefit.