adminLeicester City manager Russell Martin says he feels nothing but support from those inside the football club after a mixed start to life in League One.
City, who were labelled clear favourites to earn promotion back to the Championship before a ball was kicked, have struggled to hit their full flow in the opening six games of the season. They sit 13th in the table, having won two, drawn two and lost two.
Saturday’s 4-3 win over Stockport County eased some of the pressure on Martin after questions were raised about his future at the King Power Stadium. The Foxes were beaten 4-0 at home by Oxford United last week in front of club owner Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha.
However, Martin has insisted throughout his first few months in charge at the club that his squad needs time to gel after 14 new players came through the door in the transfer market. Following Saturday’s win at Stockport, Martin praised the reaction to the Oxford defeat inside the club despite the external noise.
“I’ve been brought in to have some time to build something because the club has found itself in League One for whatever reason,” he said. “It’s had a lot of managers in the last two years and everyone in life, in football, in politics, everyone wants change really quickly.
“But if you look at the most successful clubs in this country, they’ve had time and they’re all continuity of someone. Even if it’s not the manager, they have continuity and they can just pluck and go, ‘we’ll do the same thing’.
“In this modern day, social media and all that stuff, is difficult. But I really believe in the way the club’s behaved this week and how it’s reacted to last week inside the building, it’s been amazing. I feel nothing but support. If we get time, we’ll be really successful.”
After racing into a 4-1 lead in the second half at Edgeley Park, Leicester allowed Stockport back into the game with two quickfire goals to set up a nervy final 30 minutes. Despite City leading, some sections of the travelling support inside the stadium decided to place the blame on Martin.
A video has surfaced on social media showing some fans chanting, ‘Russell Martin, you’re football is ****’. Post-match, Martin was asked if supporters need to trust him and his team to prevent the negativity from creeping into the stands.
“I think the more we win, hopefully that will build trust,” he said. “I think the most important thing is [that] today, the players showed they trust us. They want to run for each other, for us. They showed a lot about the team, about their performance and the club.
“I think that’s all we want. I want that, the fans want that. But they really showed they care. It’s not going to be perfect yet, we’re six games in, we’ve got so many young players, so I can’t control the noise at all. But winning will help and hopefully we’ll win a lot of games.”
Abdulhafiz Teslim
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