Simon Jordan explains Russell Martin to Leicester City logic - 'that doesn’t mean he’s incapable'

Russell Martin was the “ingredient” that earned Southampton promotion and can he galvanise Leicester City the way he did the Saints, former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan has said.

Speculation is rife that Martin is a contender to lead City into the new Championship season amid doubts over Ruud van Nistelrooy’s future.

The current City boss appears unlikely to continue at the club beyond this weekend, with his request for talks about the future so far ignored by the hierarchy.

If City were to appoint Martin, former Palace chairman turned talkSPORT pundit Jordan believes it would be a good move, at least for getting the club promoted again.

He believes Martin was integral to Southampton’s play-off win last term, especially in the way he rebuilt their belief after missing out on automatic promotion.

Jordan points to a game at Cardiff where Southampton conceded a last-minute winner. With City, Ipswich and Leeds all faltering above them, it was a chance for the Saints to move within two points of the top two (not into the top two as Jordan suggests).

Southampton did not recover immediately as they were thrashed 5-0 by City in their next game, and then lost at home to Stoke.

But they defeated Leeds in the final regular-season match and then did so again in the play-off final.

Where Jordan has concerns is over Martin’s management of Southampton in the Premier League. Diligently sticking to his footballing ethos, Martin was sacked in December after picking up five points in 16 matches.

“Russell Martin, I like him and dislike him in equal measure,” Jordan said on talkSPORT. “I liked him a lot last year. I thought he was the ingredient that got Southampton out of that division.

“I was very impressed with him. They lost a game against Cardiff and he was very unhappy about it because it was an opportunity to get themselves into an automatic promotion spot. Southampton were the form side at the time and they threw it away.

“His controlled irritation turned his team into a galvanised unit. In the play-offs, they weren’t the favourites. I was the outlier saying I thought Southampton would win, one of my rare excursions into picking a team that wins something.

“But also this year, he at times got carried away with himself about what he is and what he isn’t. That in part may have facilitated a difficult relationship with the owner of Southampton, which eventually maybe got him out of the door.

“Maybe he didn’t want to change and adapt, and wanted to continue with a philosophy that wasn’t going to work for Southampton.

“That doesn’t mean he’s incapable of galvanising Leicester. They’re probably going to get a points deduction in the Championship so they will start at a disadvantage, like Sheffield United did. But it didn’t hurt Sheffield United that much because they’ve got themselves into a position where they’re the favourites for the play-offs.

“There’s a good rhyme and reason behind Russell Martin. He’s proven at this level, he’s proven he can go into a club like Southampton that weren’t expected to operate at the level they were operating with him, and he got them to a level where they did.

“People make mistakes, people learn lessons. I don’t think it’s a bad appointment.”

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