Journalist Dean Jones believes there may be some truth in the rumour that Southampton manager Russell Martin is being monitored by Premier League outfit Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Saints face a possible chain reaction as Liverpool look at Brighton Boss Roberto De Zerbi to possibly replace the outgoing Jurgen Klopp in the summer, leaving the door open for Martin to potentially make the move to the Seagulls.
The 38-year-old’s current club are fourth in the Championship and chasing promotion. They sit 10 points behind Ipswich Town in second, although they do have two games in hand on the Tractor Boys.
Only Leeds United in third and Ipswich have lost fewer games than the South Coast-based club, who have taken 11 points from a possible 18 in their last six matches with the only defeat coming in the tight 3-2 game against the Suffolk club.
Martin has become one of the brightest young manager’s in English football, having impressed during his time at St Mary’s. This has followed stints at MK Dons and Swansea City, the latter of which he left last summer to take the job at Southampton.
Rumours of Brighton’s interest emerged earlier this week, prompting a fear amongst Saints fans that they could lose their manager after just one season. Speaking to Give Me Sport, Transfer Expert Dean Jones said:
“The Brighton link is interesting because before they appointed De Zerbi he was actually one of the other people they had in mind. If you think about the way that Russell Martin is as a manager and the adaptations he has made along the way at Southampton so far, it is actually not too far from the philosophy Brighton look for.
“I think this is a big period for Martin because how Saints come out of this season will reflect on him. If they fail to get up, I’m not sure what next season looks like. But if he gets them up, a whole world of possibilities really opens up. Whether this is an active pursuit of Martin right now I cannot confirm but in terms of it having some potential as a rumour, there is some substance to the fact he is already admired and it would not be a huge stretch to imagine him being in the frame.
“We know Brighton will already have ideas though about successors for De Zerbi and one thing for sure is there will be more than one name on the list and I would not be surprised to see one or two new names surface in the next week or so.”
Southampton face a home double-header this week as they face mid-table Watford on Saturday before a midweek challenge against Preston North End.
Writer’s View
This could well just be ‘paper talk’ but with Martin being born in Brighton, surely the Seagulls job would tempt him. These rumours are not subsiding and he’d be getting the chance to manage his hometown team and challenge himself in the Premier League.
That being said he has built a brilliant squad at the Saints and will want to see that through to the end of the project. They have a real shot at returning to the top tier at the first time of asking, albeit most probably through the play-offs.
He could remain at the club should they achieve their end goal, although if they remain in the Championship then this move is somewhat of a dream move and is perfectly plausible.
