Southampton boss Russell Martin speaks to Sky Sports ahead of the Sky Bet Championship play-off final against Leeds. Watch Leeds vs Southampton live on Sky Sports Football from 2pm on Sunday; Kick-off 3pm
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Southampton boss Russell Martin tells Sky Sports EFL Editor Simeon Gholam what it would mean to take the club to promotion ahead of the Championship play-off final on Sunday
Among all the chaos of preparing for the biggest game of your managerial career, there has still been some calm within the storm for Russell Martin.
For a manager so used to the rigours of the EFL, having more than a week with your whole squad to prepare for a single game is a very, very rare thing.
“If we had this every week it would be beautiful!” he tells Sky Sports with a smile.
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“That time you get on the grass is the best part of the job for me. It’s a big motivation to get there personally, with this team and club.
“It would definitely be one of the perks of getting to the Premier League – having that time to train and to work and try some really crazy stuff on the training pitch.
“The dream is to put this team out on the biggest stage every week, to show what they can do and how brave they can be. Now we’re just one game from doing that.”
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Highlights of the Sky Bet Championship play-off semi-final second leg between Southampton and West Brom
That game, of course, is the biggest game of all. The Championship play-off final at Wembley, which will see Martin’s Southampton and Leeds United go toe-to-toe for a place in next season’s Premier League.
Martin, still just 38, knows that while most things can stay the same, the preparation simply has to be tweaked.
“There won’t be any different messages to any other game this season and we’ll train the same way,” he says.
“But we can’t pretend it’s a normal game otherwise, because it isn’t. It’s a huge occasion and that has to come into the thinking, because we have to prepare the players for that.”
It has been a strange season in some ways for Martin and Southampton. Picking a club up off the floor is not always easy, and a total of 87 points they collected would get you promoted automatically in some seasons. For them to finish fourth with that tally is unprecedented.
Martin remains proud of what they’ve achieved.
“I presume most people would see finishing fourth in this league with Southampton as a failure,” he says.
“But we were worse than the two teams who came down last season with us, we had three different managers and we had to sell players.
“I was delighted with the squad we had, but of course there would be some level of damage and hurt caused by the relegation. I’m really proud of what we achieved this season.”
Martin’s pride is also rooted in his belief that he is at a club to develop people, as well as players. It is a mentality that has seen him remain so popular at his old clubs as a player and manager – particularly at his most recent club Swansea, where he is still loved despite their failure to make the play-offs in his two seasons there.
“The people whose opinions I care about are those who know us and understand us,” he says. “The fact we have so many people coming from Swansea to Wembley means a lot to me. It shows we had some level of connection there that went beyond the results and football. I hope it will be the same here.
“I have so much love and gratitude for the players and staff here, so if you can achieve that connection and win as well, it has to be the ultimate, really.
“I do what feels right for me, and that’s to care and give as much as I can to people. That’s always my intention. All I want to do is help develop players as people and footballers as best as I can.”
The conversation naturally turns to the final again. In the opposing dugout will be Daniel Farke, the man who effectively ended Martin’s time at Norwich while he was captain of the club.
Sourse: skysports.com
