adminSam Allardyce believes that Russell Martin is risking a repeat of his historically-disastrous stint at Rangers last year as he continues to lead Leicester City in what has been a mixed and divisive reign to date.
Very few bosses across the entire EFL landscape have proved more polarising in recent years than Martin, who has incessantly divided opinion with his unrelenting possession-based approach throughout spells with MK Dons, Swansea City, Southampton, briefly Rangers and now Leicester.
Martin was praised for his work at MK Dons and then Swansea before taking Southampton back to the Premier League at the very first time of asking via the play-offs, although they would become undone at top-flight level trying to play the same style that got them out of the Championship and the former Scotland international was dismissed just months later.
Rangers swooped last summer, but Martin would depart in shame with the worst record of any permanent boss in the blue side of Glasgow by winning only five of his 17 games in charge. The 40-year-old had to drop down to League One as a result, and Leicester have endured inconsistent fortunes under his stewardship as the Foxes’ second-ever third-tier campaign begins to take shape.
Leicester’s results have improved as of late, but Martin has still been warned about the threat of losing his job through the strength of his principles by a manager who, in terms of style, perhaps couldn’t differ too much more in the form of Sam Allardyce.
Russell Martin sent Leicester City sack warning as Sam Allardyce drops Rangers repeat claim
Rangers, of course, lacked the patience of others with Martin, and considering the weight of expectation and stature at Ibrox, pulled the trigger merely a matter of months into his tenure.
Indeed, Gers fans aplenty still fumed at their club for persisting with the divisive head coach for that long, and, though not as widespread or universal, sections of the King Power Stadium have also called for a parting of company.
Allardyce, in spite of a relative recent upturn, believes that Martin’s mantra of living and dying by the sword of his stylistic dogma will eventually result in the sack, warning the ex-Norwich City defender that he could well face a repeat of his turmoil at Rangers.
Speaking on his aptly-named ‘No Tippy Tappy Football’ podcast, Allardyce discussed the situation with host Natalie Pike alongside Karl Robinson, with the latter appearing as a guest following his own sacking from Salford City back in June.
When asked whether he would advise Martin on more pragmatic and practical ways to achieve outcomes, Allardyce simply responded: “No, because he wouldn’t take it. Simple as that.
“He’s refused to take it, and it cost him his jobs at Southampton and Rangers.
“It’s going to cost him his job at Leicester, because his beliefs are far beyond the capabilities of the players he’s working with and they probably don’t like it.
“They can’t like it because they’re not winning.
“He says he will always play this way no matter what, no matter who tells me what to do,” continued the former Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United manager.
“He’s got that belief (that his style can win football matches) because it was like that at Southampton when they got promoted, so that gave him a strong belief in his doing the right thing.
“But then when he went into the Premier League, there was no adjustment to try and get a result based on the purity of his beliefs in football.
“You have to live or die by your own beliefs, so you have to keep going because that’s your belief and don’t change because I say so. But when you keep losing your job because of the style of your play, then what do you do if you want to stay in the game?”
### Russell Martin has endured mixed fortunes at Leicester City
A swift and straightforward summary of Martin’s ongoing tenure at the Foxes helm will be difficult to come by, with City’s fortunes having frequently twisted and turned since his arrival over the summer.
Widely-backed as pre-season promotion favourites after successive relegations from the Premier League to the third-tier, Leicester begun the campaign with frustrating draws away to newly-promoted pair Notts County and MK Dons and a shock 2-1 home loss at the hands of Burton Albion.
A subsequent 2-0 win over promotion-chasing Plymouth Argyle felt capable of kick-starting the Foxes’ season, yet, just days later, Martin would face wide-ranging fury and calls for his head in the wake of his side’s chastening 4-0 home drubbing to Aaron Ramsey’s Oxford United.
In typically-inconsistent fashion, that rout was then followed up by a topsy-turvy 4-3 win at current league leaders Stockport County and a 1-1 draw with Barnsley at Oakwell, though Leicester’s 2-1 EFL Trophy group-stage defeat against Stevenage would rekindle backlash towards Martin’s position and the head coach made headlines for a cagey encounter with a travelling supporter outside of Broadhall Way.
Then, Leicester were trounced 3-1 by Peterborough United on Robbie Savage’s league debut leading the visitors, which prompted further calls for the sack.
Those calls, once again, have quietened in recent times, with the Foxes having recovered to beat Doncaster Rovers before claiming their biggest victory of the League One season to date by winning 4-0 at Bromley on Tuesday evening.
### Leicester City’s last five league finishes
| Season | Division | Position | Points |
| ——- | —————- | ——– | —— |
| 2021/22 | Premier League | 8th | 52 |
| 2022/23 | Premier League | 18th | 34 |
| 2023/24 | EFL Championship | 1st | 97 |
| 2024/25 | Premier League | 18th | 25 |
| 2025/26 | EFL Championship | 23rd | 46 |
Now positioned in ninth ahead of Saturday’s trip to Luton Town, Leicester appear to be trending upwards on Martin’s watch but will need to develop greater consistency in order to sustain a meaningful promotion push.
Some would naturally have expected Leicester to have relieved Martin of his duties by now, and he will feel relieved after surviving humiliating home hammerings against both Oxford and Peterborough.
Leicester are, however, just seven points shy of second-placed Huddersfield Town with a game in hand, meaning that a top-two spot is still perfectly within reach despite a mixed batch of form in the campaign’s opening months.
Mind you, it’s unlikely that Martin is going to get too many more chances and the coming weeks and months could be make-or-break as far as his Foxes future is concerned.
He’s made some tweaks to his approach, and Leicester have looked increasingly fluid and dynamic in the final third over their last two games, but they’ll need to continue being adaptable and more consistent if he is to remain in the East Midlands for the long-term.
Leicester are, after all, in the third-tier for just the second time in their history, and a failure to return to the Championship at the very first time of asking would be devastating from both a footballing and financial perspective thus handing Martin some rather thin margin for error as he bids to finally right his wrongs and get one over the doubters.
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