Fresh Southampton, Norwich City managerial update emerges involving ex-Rangers boss Russell Martin | OneFootball

+The 39-year-old is currently out of work amid current sack calls at his former clubs.

Russell Martin has emerged as a potential candidate to replace either Will Still or Liam Manning at his former clubs Southampton and Norwich City.

That is according to a fresh report from Alan Nixon via Patreon on Sunday morning, with sack calls from the respective fanbases at St Mary's and Carrow Road only intensifying over the latest round of Championship fixtures.

Saints' woes following a dismal relegation campaign from the Premier League - of which almost half was under Martin's watch - last term continued as they were defeated 2-0 by Preston North End on home turf, extending a dismal recent run to just one win in Still's past 12 league games in charge.

Meanwhile, the situation in East Anglia looks even more precarious at present. Despite being under intense pressure from the vast majority of the Carrow Road crowd, Manning continued to oversee matters at his hometown club into November, but his struggles on home turf only continued on Saturday lunchtime as an impressive Hull City side emerged victorious in Norfolk for the first time since 2010 with a 2-0 win of their own.

As such, pressure on both ownerships in the form of Sport Republic and Norwich's majority owner, Mark Attanasio and other members of the Canaries hierarchy, to make a decision has only grown stronger over the course of the weekend.

Previous social media silences from both clubs led to many supporters believing that a change before the aforementioned defeats was forthcoming, but it never came.

Yet, after another below-par performance from both sides, they could be turning to a former manager or player to halt the slide.

As such, it has been claimed by Nixon on Sunday that Martin could take over at either of his former clubs, should they make a critical managerial change imminently.

The 39-year-old has recently been at the forefront of supporter frustration too, having received his marching orders at SPFL giants Rangers back on October 5th, after winning just three competitive matches in 123 days.

Indeed, Martin's managerial career has been rather mixed up to this point, having taken charge of MK Dons and Swansea City before replacing Ruben Selles at St Mary's in the summer of 2023.

He was able to steer Saints immediately back to the Premier League after they defeated Leeds United in the play-off final in May 2024, before being dismissed last December after winning just one of the opening 16 games of the season.

Nixon's report also states that Martin is eager to prove doubters wrong straight away, and could be shortlisted by the hierarchy on the South Coast, as well as at Carrow Road, largely down to having a similar style of play to that of Manning, as well as being a former player.

The 29-time Scotland international made 308 appearances for the Canaries between 2009 and 2018, which included three promotion-winning campaigns.

Another attraction possessed by the Brighton-born figure is that no compensation fee would be required to instill him into the hotseat shortly after his dismissal at Ibrox.

At just 39, there is plenty of time for Martin to resurrect his managerial status after an extremely underwhelming end to his time at St Mary's, followed by an even-worse spell in Glasgow.

However, as much as he is respected by those at Carrow Road, it would be just as much of a bold call by Attanasio - who recently reiterated his faith in Manning to address City's woes - to move for the former defender as much as it would be for Southampton's Sport Republic owners.

Both Still and Manning are known for a heavy-possession style of football, extremely similar to Martin, which would beg the question as to why a different approach wouldn't be considered when looking at the overall performance levels, result streaks and points tallies accumulated by the two clubs thus far.

However, it must be said that senior figures at both clubs, such as Dragan Solak and Ben Knapper respectively, have come under more fire than those in the dugout.