Southampton have failed to win any of their last three Championship games and hopes of automatic promotion are all but over.
The South Coasters were held to a disappointing goalless draw at Blackburn Rovers on the weekend, leaving them 12 points adrift of second-placed Ipswich Town.
Even with two games in hand on Town, surmounting that gap with just seven fixtures of the season remaining is very unlikely.
That has led sections of the Southampton fanbase to direct criticism at Russell Martin, with some even calling for change.
One EFL pundit has urged the club to give Martin more ‘time’ and noted where he needs to improve his side.
EFL pundit urges Southampton to give Russell Martin more ‘time’ to improve at this one thing
Throughout the season, Martin’s reputation has peaked and troughed and at the moment, he’s experiencing another tricky spell.
Though, Justin Peach, speaking on the Second Tier podcast, believes he’s the right man to take Southampton forward.
“Southampton are not as far along the process as the likes of Leeds and Leicester are, so it’s quite easy to compare them because financially they are up there with them,” Peach said.
“But when you are comparing them to Leeds and Leicester, they’re nowhere near those two sides in terms of their journeys.”
Peach continued: “I think Russell Martin will do a very good thing with Southampton, I think he just needs a little bit more time to bed in and we’ll see what they do in the playoffs but for me, he’s got a lot of issues that need working out, defensively they’re still going through those motions and we saw that against Blackburn because they weren’t as effective as they usually are.
Russell Martin must address Southampton’s defensive woes
The weekend’s result was an anomaly in many ways.
Southampton were pretty toothless going forward yet they were defensively resolute, which for much of the season has been the total opposite.
Martin’s side have shipped 51 goals this term, which is far more than Leicester City’s tally of 36 and Leeds United’s of 33.
That is where they need to aspire to be and The Saints boss, as Peach eluded to, needs time to strike that balance between attack and defence.
Perhaps he’ll need to dip into the transfer market this summer, with concerns over goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu who has been shaky at times this season.
Anyhow, it’s certainly a process and any fan unrest can be put to bed by putting together a winning run to end the season ahead of the play-offs.