Russell Martin has been talking ahead of the trip to Arsenal and he has revealed that he is not worried about what anyone thinks other than those who run Southampton Football Club.

Speaking during his pre match press conference The Daily Echo has reported that Saints boss Russell Martin told the media that he is unconcerned about any of the media speculation that has followed the defeat at Bournemouth.

Many of those stories are speculating that Sport Republic owner Dragan Solak is "concerned" with the team's start to the season.

But Russell Martin remains defiant despite the table not lying:

In his pre-match press conference, Martin said: "I think you have to accept everything as a manager. I genuinely don't listen to very much of it.

"We have enough noise in our own minds as managers trying to pick the right team, trying to make sure we give the right info, watch the opposition and all of that.

"I don't really pay any attention to any of that. I didn't last year. We went 25 games unbeaten and I don't now. That's part of my growth as a human being.

"As a player, you listen and in the early stages of social media, you have a look and see what people are saying - a very, very long time ago.

"Then you realise actually what it's going to be and what it's turning into and what it's used for and how valuable that is. It's not very valuable."

"Everyone will have an opinion. The people's opinions that matter are my bosses, the owners of the club and the people inside that I work with every day.

"As long as I am aware of that and what they feel and we're all working together, then everything else is really noise and irrelevant to my position right now."

He does however concede that he is frustrated with Saints start to the season, welcome to the club Russell, you are not the only one !

Martin Added:

Martin said: "I think we're all frustrated. We're all winners and we all want to win whether it's in football or in business and other areas of life.

"We have an ownership group that are very much winners and have been very successful and want this football club to be so successful.

"They also have a real awareness of where the club was at. When we first walked into the door, I don't think they identified with the club that they had at that point.

"They'd been fairly new here. Now we're a bit further down the line is the club in a much better place than it was culturally? Yes, definitely.

"Do we have some real things to build on and some fundamentals on and off the pitch that we're really clear on? Yeah, we do.

"They want to work through things together in the same way as they did last year when it was going really well and when it wasn't.

"The communication line is always really open and honest and I really enjoy being here. And hopefully they enjoy having us here."

I am not sure that this will go down well with Southampton supporters, he seems to have made the defeat all about himself, rather than the crux of the matter, where most Saints supporters were flabbergasted by his team selection on Monday night and wanted to know why he played a team without any strikers, yet had 5 on the bench.

This comment will inflame the fractured relationship between the manager and the fans.

"Everyone will have an opinion. The people's opinions that matter are my bosses, the owners of the club and the people inside that I work with every day.

"As long as I am aware of that and what they feel and we're all working together, then everything else is really noise and irrelevant to my position right now."

Whilst I can see where he is coming from, he is wrong, he is essentially saying that the fans opinions do not matter.

I don't think he really means it in that context, but that is the way it comes across and he would have been better saying nothing at this stage.

We now go to Arsenal, in normal circumstances one of the hardest places to visit, let alone when you have only taken 1 point from the opening 6 games, the time for talking is over, the only talking that needs to be done is on the pitch.

Photo: Action Images

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saintmark1976 added 21:03 - Oct 3 Those who currently run Southampton Football Club can actually think ?
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City_boy added 21:32 - Oct 3 I think your assumption is right, RM doesn't care at all what fans think, when He says only his bosses views matter. Do I believe him when he says he doesn't read social media, no. In previous interviews he has made comments that suggest he does read articles on social media. I think his comments just validate the arrogance of this guy.
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codge added 21:36 - Oct 3 So as long as approximately 6 people count on there opinion then the thousands of supporters who have a different opinion doesn’t matter.Sounds about right.
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aceofthebase added 19:49 - Oct 4 Of course he reads the fans comments, after all recently he has picked players who some have craved for and almost abandoned his tippy tappy for pointless boot it up the middle. I just do not think that any new manager is going to produce a winning premiership team. I'm hoping that Russell sticks to his plans and play a team that gave the runaround to the likes of Newcastle.

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