Saints boss relishes sweet revenge
Martin floors nemesis Farke as Leeds play-off curse strikes again
JUST 33 days separated Russell Martin’s darkest day in management from his greatest. Little over a month ago, the Southampton boss slumped into a chair at the King Power Stadium and branded his team ‘pathetic’.
After an arduous Jekyll and Hyde campaign of ups and downs, from 25-match unbeaten streaks to his own fans doubting his style, Martin’s men had just waved the white flag in the automatic promotion race, being thumped 5-0 by eventual champions Leicester.
‘I did not like what I saw from my team one bit,’ he said. ‘Body language, arms up in the air. It’s inexcusable. Players need to show love for each other, I’m fed up with doing it. They need to feel some pain and the same pain that I’m feeling right now, and the hurt that I’m feeling. It’s pathetic. This result and performance is not on. How much do we want to win promotion? How much do we care?’
Fast-forward a little over a month and that pain has been replaced by euphoria.
Whether that frustrated postmatch address was a rallying cry by design or not, it worked. Saints produced a tactical masterclass that preyed on the mental frailties and nerves of a Leeds team haunted by past failures.
Adam Armstrong will take the plaudits for his first-half goal, a smart finish after a clever run off the ball, but every man in red and white deserves praise.
Nobody came out of the game with reputation enhanced more than Martin, the 38-year-old boss on a redemption mission. The man to his left in the dugout, Daniel Farke, set in motion the end of his playing career. When the German took over at Norwich, he jettisoned club captain and fan favourite Martin. Publicly, Brighton-born Martin insists there is no bad blood between the pair — but victory must have tasted sweet.
The pair had a cordial handshake at full-time, then Martin sprinted to the red half of Wembley with arms outstretched.
This was Leeds’ sixth play-off campaign to end in heartache — even serial promotion winner Farke unable to stop the socalled hoodoo.
They were sloppy in possession, second-best in the midfield battle and toothless when they managed to work the ball into dangerous positions.
Leeds fans poked fun at Rishi Sunak, the so-called Southampton fan, but by the end their gloomy expressions resembled what the UK’s Prime Minister might look like come early July if the general election goes as the bookmakers expect.
Sunak was not in the crowd but Saints great Matt Le Tissier was here. Now a conspiracy theorist, even he would not have believed his eyes when his side picked apart Leeds to take the lead after 24 minutes.
The move was started by Taylor Harwood-Bellis, the Manchester City loanee who will now sign on a permanent deal worth £20million.
Harwood-Bellis found Ireland star Will Smallbone who poked a pass through to Armstrong who scored his 24th goal of a stellar season with a drilled finish across the face of Illan Meslier’s goal.
He almost added another in first-half stoppage time. Smallbone was the provider again but this time Meslier got down to deny Armstrong, albeit his parry was unconvincing and it needed Joe Rodon to clear up.
Leeds got into promising areas but their expensively assembled forward line failed to show up and they had just one shot on target inside the first 70 minutes.
With financial worries, it will be interesting now to see how many of their attacking stars are still at the club in August.
Crysencio Summerville almost certainly will not be, while teen starlet Archie Gray is wanted by many big clubs. He is a boyhood Leeds fan and might stay because of that, but the club will probably be forced to cash in on at least one key asset this summer.
Saints’ woodwork was rattled on 84 minutes when Dan James hit the crossbar but, other than that, this was a steely defensive display. Southampton are finally back in the promised land.
‘I feel immense pride in what we achieved,’ said Martin. ‘I was not a sexy appointment but they were brave enough to give me the opportunity. I hope we have repaid them with a day they will remember for ever.’
LEEDS UNITED (4-2-3-1): Meslier 5; Gray 7, Ampadu 7, Rodon 7, Firpo 6 (Joseph 83min); Gruev 6, Kamara 5 (Roberts 73, 6); Gnonto 4 (James 66, 6), Piroe 4, Summerville 5 (Anthony 73, 6); Rutter 4.5. Booked: Summerville, Ampadu. Manager: Daniel Farke 5.
SOUTHAMPTON (4-3-3): McCarthy 9; Walker-Peters 7, Harwood-Bellis 8.5, Bednarek 7.5, Stephens 7.5; Downes 8, Aribo 7, SMALLBONE 9; Brooks 6.5 (Edozie 35, 7 (Manning 83)), A Armstrong 8.5, Fraser 8 (Adams 70, 6). Scorer: A Armstrong 24. Booked: Bednarek, Fraser, Harwood-Bellis, Adams, Aribo, Downes.
Manager: Russell Martin 9.
Referee: John Brooks 7.5.
Attendance: 85,862.