Every word Russell Martin said on Plymouth, Southampton and transfers

Theo Walcott retiring – a few words on his decision and career?

RM: Brilliant career and very well-liked here. It’s quite nice that he started and finished here, isn’t it? A nice way to tie up his story.

Really fantastic career and from the outside he looked like an excellent professional and excellent person, and everyone backs that up here.

I thought he still had a bit of football left in him, to be honest, but he has made the decision to go out on his terms and that is the best way you can go out as a player.

I wish him all the best and everyone here would echo those sentiments and thank him for everything he has done in his two spells here.

Transfer bid for Che Adams?

RM: I don’t know anything about the bid as it would have happened late last night and I haven’t caught up with Jason this morning.

It will all depend how close the bid is to our valuation as a club with how we see Che. I’d love to keep him given the impact he’s had in two games.

He’s had less minutes at the start of the season than Arma because at the time it looked like he would be going elsewhere but that just stopped and didn’t happen.

He found himself out of the team for that reason. He’s a really good player and his energy has been great so I’d be gutted to lose him.

At the same time, if he goes it will be for a sum of money that the club deem appropriate and a sum of money which can presumably mean we can replace him.

Ideally, you want to keep some players and some players are real value in terms of character, but we have to be prepared if we do lose him and I think we will be.

All being well, he will still be here in two weeks’ time and if he’s not we will have someone else in the door that we are happy with, but he’s top drawer as a character.

Any incomings close?

RM: I think we’ll get more than that (one or two) in, we would have had one in this week but he hasn’t been very well.

Flynn will get done when it’s done, hopefully, that will be soon and then after that we are working on lots of things but that’s the transfer window.

We will add one or two very quickly for sure and the rest will be dependent on who goes, but we’ve gone from having a lot of players to looking a lot skinnier this weekend.

When the transfer window closes it will be a much easier job for us and for the players. I don’t know how Jason is coping with it the last couple of weeks.

The phone is relentless and I don’t envy his job at the moment – but it will settle down at some point and when it does I’m really confident we’ll be happy with the squad we’ve got.

Is the midfield the priority for that?

RM: Losing Romeo and Prowsey would suggest that even with Flynn coming in, we could probably do with another body in there at some point.

I’m not going to pretend, we are looking to add in as many areas as we can to improve the squad but some positions are much more heavily loaded than others.

I am genuinely relaxed about it because I can’t control it. We want to add a few bodies to the group with good character and good ability.

Are you concerned about the goals conceded this season?

RM: We only conceded one shot on target against Sheffield Wednesday so Norwich was 100 minutes of learning really.

It’s our job as coaches to make sure that doesn’t happen again, but I’m so impressed with the players and we have to find a balance.

At the start, you have to aim for the ultimate vision of the team – you can’t compromise early, so we’re trying to get them to do something with the ball they haven’t before.

They are doing amazing things and I have been pleased with the speed of the learning, I have been so impressed at how both games looked.

We gave too much up to do that against Norwich and it is our job to bring that back without giving too much away with the ball, if that makes sense.

We didn’t expect to find the balance within six weeks and we have to improve in a lot of ways, but the identity looks so clear after two games and I’m proud of them for that.

What kind of test does Plymouth present?

RM: They’re really good, they have a good coach in Steven (Schumacher) and they have players who really believe in what they’re doing, with momentum.

They have started the season well and can mix their game up with some good individuals. It will be a good test for us and a good atmosphere.

There’s no doubt about the fact that this league is difficult and to face two newly promoted sides away from home this early in the season is not easy.

We will go there and the preparation has been about us, while being aware of them, to try and turn the game into what we want everywhere we go. It’s exciting.

What have you made of the Lionesses and will you be watching?

RM: It’s been amazing. As a proud Scotsman, I can’t… It’s been amazing. We had an open training session and the game was going.

Every time a goal came on the screen the reaction was amazing, everyone was fully behind it with so many England shirts as well as Southampton shirts.

It’s an amazing achievement to win the Euros and now reach the final and whatever happens now will have been stratospheric for the women’s game in the whole of the UK.

Gilly’s (Matt Gill, assistant manager) daughter is the biggest Lionesses fan so we will be watching it on Sunday and I really hope they can win it.

Do you think Sarina Wiegman could work in the men’s game next?

RM: Does she want to work in the men’s game? Why is that the pinnacle for her? To win the Women’s World Cup is an incredible achievement.

I’m sure she will have a choice of what she wants to do next. I don’t think it should be seen as ‘Does she want to work in the men’s game?’

We’ve watched a few games here of what Marieanne (Spacey-Cale) is trying to do and it’s amazing so I don’t see why she would be in a rush to get into the men’s game.

Whatever she does next she will be great and I’m sure it will happen at some point, but only she wants to or another female manager chooses to do that.

Have Southampton tried to offer Adams a new contract?

RM: There’s been discussions between us about what the future holds and everyone has decided to keep their options open, Che and the club.

If he’s still here in two weeks it will be a conversation that is ongoing. He’s really happy here and is a big part of the dressing room.

He’s enjoying what he is doing and has got a couple of goals already so is growing in confidence, but we have to see what happens, right?

Ideally you’d like to avoid people entering the final year of their contracts but it’s happened and worked out this way for a number of reasons.

Stuart Armstrong – does he want to be a central midfielder and how important is he?

RM: I know Stu well after playing together and I know how good he can be. He’s found it difficult playing the role he has in the last season or two.

I’ve never seen him as a winger, I’ve only ever been with him as a central midfielder and saw how well he did at Celtic and Dundee United before that.

He’s a brilliant midfielder, really talented and one of the best I’ve seen moving with the ball – so smooth.

He’s been in a difficult place where he’s been desperate to get back to a certain role and he’s looked at this and thought it could really suit him.

He’s not fully fit yet because he missed a bit of pre-season but he’s getting back to speed and showing what he can do.

We need to just help bring him back to life and showcase his full ability, I think the way we play will do that – it’s nice to see him smiling and enjoy his football.

He’s won stuff as well and dealt really well with being at a club where the expectation is to win something, and that is where we are a bit now so that can really help.

Shea Charles might be needed now, can he take on that 90 minute responsibility?  

RM: I just don’t think of Shea as that young because of the way he carries himself. He’s really mature, really intelligent. He acts like he’s an old head on young shoulders, so I’ve been really impressed with him.

I knew we were signing a really, really good player, and just how quickly he learns and takes on information… he came on the other day and settled the game down for us, really helped us and made it look easy for him.”

Gillingham would’ve been really important for him. It was a tough night for us as a group, but I think it was really important for him and his learning, and he was one real positive we took out of that, amongst a couple.

There weren’t many, but one we took from that was Shea and how much he’ll take from that game and living that moment because he hasn’t done it yet in a competitive game. He built on that against Norwich and if he needs to play, he’ll be more than ready.

Plymouth front three are probably the toughest test of the season so far?

I played with Ryan Hardy for Rangers so I know what he possesses and Morgan Whittaker is a really good player having worked with him.

Football is so much about timing and opportunity and he really fits into what Stephen wants and is doing really well there.

Bali Mumba is thriving in his role so it will be a good challenge for us, we need to prevent supply to them and dominate the game as much as we can.

We are under no illusion that it will be a really interesting game and a tough one. I’m confident that if we keep doing what we are doing we will be successful.

Is it one of those where a player you sent out on loan (Whittaker) could haunt you?

No, not at all! I never think like that. You weigh up everything at the time and it’s never personal, I really like Morgan.

He has lots of talent but it just wasn’t what we required at the time. He’s found a good fit for him and you can’t worry about right or wrong decisions in football, it’s about timing.

Players will look very different in every team because of what is asked for them. I’m really pleased for Morgan, he’s got his wish to go back there as he should have stayed there last season.

Steven Schumacher opted to take over from assistant, what’s he done to continue what Ryan did?

He was a big part of what Ryan did. It’s not just me here at Southampton, it’s Gilly, Dean (Thornton), Carl (Martin) now, Rhys Owen, Ben Parker and loads more guys.

It’s never just the manager and people make that mistake all the time. It is we not I, although you are responsible for it at the end of the day.

Steven’s carried on some great work and put in his own stuff. He moved his family down there and bought into it and I think people feel when you’re all in.

The biggest thing is that he probably hasn’t changed, a lot of people feel they need to change when becoming the manager but he hasn’t – that’s the best thing.