”Ridiculous” – Russell Martin hits out at new Southampton player saga

The manager of the Saints has criticised remarks made against one of his players.

Gavin Bazunu’s Achilles injury, which he sustained prior to Southampton’s Tuesday night encounter against Preston North End, not only ruined his season but also set off a chain reaction that generated a great deal of debate inside the team.

During his news conference on Friday morning, Russell Martin disclosed that the young Irish goalkeeper, who tore his Achilles during his team’s pregame warm-up at St Mary’s against the Lilywhites, will miss nine to ten months of action.

Before Bazunu arrived from Manchester City, Alex McCarthy, the team’s third-choice custodian, was the top choice. He started for Southampton and preserved a clean sheet as his team cruised to a 3-0 victory, keeping them in contention for automatic promotion if they win their remaining games against the three teams above them.

In the 34-year-old’s lone league outing of the season thus far, Martin praised the veteran goalie for his performance. However, it hasn’t gone over well because he started him before Joe Lumley, the cup keeper, and the obvious Bazunu substitute when Mccarthy wasn’t included in the matchday roster.

According to Adrian Clarke, Joe Lumley ought to submit a transfer request.
The former football player who is now a media member said that he would have informed Southampton of his want to depart when he was interviewed on the What The EFL? podcast. “If I’m Lumley, the transfer request has already been submitted,” he remarked to Clarke. “There is blatantly evident mistrust.

“How can you collaborate with a management that treats you like that? It seems excessively severe.”

Reaction of Russell Martin to the Joe Lumley transfer request allegation

Before his team plays Cardiff City on Saturday, the Scottish manager stated in his pre-game press conference that he had heard Clarke’s remarks regarding the Lumley situation and that he wasn’t pleased with them.

According to the Daily Echo, the 38-year-old stated: “It’s absurd that someone posted something online yesterday saying that if I were Joe Lumley, I would submit a transfer request immediately now. My brother emailed me that.

“On Wednesday, Joe and I had an extremely long conversation. I told him why I thought the choice was the appropriate one at the time, even though I didn’t think he would be pleased with it.

“He may not agree with the choice, but at least he should respect it. I thanked him for the conversation after our brief embrace.”

Martin went on to defend his choice to select McCarthy—whose Saints contract is up in the summer—instead of the former Reading and Middlesbrough top player. The Southampton manager remarked, “We have someone with a lot of experience at the highest level in Alex.”

“We’ve seen what Joe is capable of, having played for his country. My only goal was to discover Alex’s capabilities. He performed a terrific job, in my opinion. As a goalie, he was not required to do much because the players in front of him were so good. He completed what he had to do skillfully and assuredly.

“He’s such a laid-back person. He appears unfazed by anything. That’s critical at this point in the season. A significant choice needs to be made now for tomorrow.”

At this point in the season, Southampton doesn’t need these kinds of distractions.

It makes sense to select McCarthy over Lumley for the reasons given. With his wealth of experience playing at the highest level of football, the 34-year-old might be the best option. But Martin has really terrible insight.

He must have been aware that his actions would have repercussions and would affect the team more than just having an unhappy backup glovesman on the squad.

The players who are on the outskirts and believe they have a legitimate claim to fill in temporarily in the event of an injury or suspension will suddenly be far less certain that they will be given that chance.

For the team and the manager, it’s an unneeded diversion during a time when they should be completely concentrated on winning every game that’s left. Their chances of earning automatic promotion will be eliminated if they lose the final four games against Leeds United and Leicester City.

Lumley has every right to be enraged with the manager, and much more so if McCarthy makes a grave error that costs them points. If it were the case, there would be serious problems.

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