Russell Martin drops brutally honest Southampton FC claim | OneFootball

The Leicester City boss has reflected on the end of his time in charge at Southampton

Leicester City will be hoping that Russell Martin can guide the club back to the Championship at the first attempt next season.

The 40-year-old has been appointed as the new head coach for the upcoming campaign following the Foxes’ relegation to League One.

Martin previously led Southampton to promotion to the Premier League in 2024, but he lasted just a few more months on the job before being dismissed amid the Saints’ poor form and likely relegation.

The Hampshire outfit ultimately came 20th regardless, coming straight back down, while Martin went on to work at Rangers.

While his time at Ibrox proved to be brief, Martin will be keen to turn around his reputation with Leicester.

The League One side have signed Conor Chaplin and Alex McCarthy, both as free agents, ahead of the new season getting underway in just a couple of weeks.

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Martin has opened up on the end of his time with Southampton, claiming that the club didn’t hold up their side of their agreement by failing to stick to their plan of bringing in younger players with relegation to the Championship in mind.

He believes that the departure of Jason Wilcox was a major blow as he was not replaced during his time at St. Mary’s, while also highlighting the key players who departed the squad.

“To be honest, Southampton frustrated me because I stuck to my side of the bargain,” said Martin, via Leicestershire Live.

“We got them promoted after year one, we lost a really important person in the director of football [Jason Wilcox], who brought me to the club, and we didn’t replace him.

“Then in the Premier League, we looked at the squad, and we were weaker than we were in the Championship.

“We lost some big players like Che Adams, Stuart Armstrong and David Brooks, who was on loan.

“We made the decision there and then to sign some young players who could develop and, if we got relegated, would really help us the following year.

“So it was similar to Ipswich in terms of sticking with it and having continuity.

“In all the probabilities and data, the club was going to get relegated, but the club would have a right go.”

Martin was appointed as Southampton boss in 2023, and he led the team to the play-off final in his first season in charge, where the team beat Leeds United to win promotion.

However, a difficult first half of the campaign in the top flight led to his departure, with Ivan Juric coming in as his replacement.

Southampton were relegated regardless, with Juric also being dismissed at the end of the campaign after the team finished bottom of the table.

Leicester will now be hoping that Martin can achieve the same success next season, with their sights set on returning to the Championship.

The Foxes suffered back-to-back relegations amid financial issues, which led to a six point deduction penalty for breaching the profit and sustainability rules (PSR).

Those six points proved pivotal to determining their league position, as they finished five points adrift of safety last season.

Martin’s side will begin the new campaign on 15 August with a trip to face Notts County.

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Russell Martin was let down by Southampton

Southampton made the decision to change head coach when it was already evident that they were going to be relegated, so sticking with Martin for another promotion push in the following campaign made a lot of sense.

But the exit of Wilcox, who moved to Manchester United, meant that he was without one of his main backers at St. Mary’s.

This departure proved critical to the end of his time with the Hampshire outfit, and he will now be looking for more stability with Leicester.

However, the club are reportedly up for sale, and if a new owner does come in then he could find himself in the same situation in the near future.