Russell Martin vowed to fight on at Southampton but acknowledged he had no clue if he would be given the chance after they conceded five times in the first half to suffer a 5-0 home loss to Tottenham.
Martin was forced to listen to a barrage of derogatory chants from his own fans throughout the 90 minutes at St Mary’s after they suffered a 13th defeat out of 16 Premier League matches this season.
James Maddison opened the scoring for Spurs after 36 seconds and when Son Heung-min made it two in the 12th minute, the Saints faithful turned on their under-fire head coach.
Chants of, ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’ followed Dejan Kulusevski’s 14th-minute effort before Pape Sarr made it 4-0 midway through the first half.
Martin actually missed Maddison’s second in first-half stoppage-time after he headed for the tunnel a minute early and while the hosts’ did not concede again, the 38-year-old could not hide his disappointment at full-time.
Asked if he expected the fans to get their wish of him leaving, Martin said: “Not a clue, mate. Not a clue. You’re asking the wrong person.
“I’ve done nothing but (fight) in my life and my career, so, we’ll keep working and keep fighting until I am told I am not going to any more.
It’s a criticism of the job I am doing. Of course that hurts because we work so hard...but it is part and parcel of football
“The fans have been amazing for us since we’ve been here since day one. I understand the frustration. I understand the modern world of football and what it is, what it is about. Apart from that, no real response.
“When I put my ego into it as a manager, it hurts a lot because we work so hard every single day, but it’s not personal. I don’t know them, they don’t know me.
“It’s a criticism of the job I am doing. I understand. I don’t think you can criticise a person when you don’t know them, so it’s a criticism of the job I am doing. Of course that hurts because we work so hard, but I think you have to accept it is part and parcel of football – it is what it is.”
Martin reacted after quarter of an hour with attacker Kamaldeen Sulemana brought off in place of centre-back Nathan Wood, but knew the match was over with the score already 3-0.
The Saints boss – without a victory in six – felt the ease in which Djed Spence was allowed to roll Flynn Downes before he played in Maddison for Tottenham’s opener summed up their first half.
“Yeah, I feel for Kamaldeen but we’re 3-0 down in 14 minutes and I could have taken anyone off,” Martin reflected.
“At that point I felt I needed a defender to plug the gaps. I know Kamaldeen is not going to last more than 50-55 minutes because he hasn’t had many minutes anyway, so it was the obvious choice for me.
“It was not about his performance and I feel bad for him that’s it him, but we had to do something.
“When we have a setback, it’s been the story of our season, we don’t deal with it anywhere near well enough.
“Like take a breath, get back to the plan, stick together, ride out the tough moment but it’s game over after 14 minutes.”
It was a different story for Ange Postecoglou after Tottenham claimed a first win in six matches despite being without nine first-team players.
Some trio 🤍 pic.twitter.com/k2HLusjIfm
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) December 15, 2024
“Look, I said on Friday that nothing changes in me,” Postecoglou said.
“I still have the same resolve and determination to make sure that we become the football club and football team we want to be.
“Tonight was about the players and I thought their efforts were unbelievable.”
