Every word Southampton manager Martin ahead of Cardiff City

The big news of the day, Oasis are getting back together - your reaction to that? 

RM: Well, I'm very excited about it, as I think most people of my generation will be, and many others. It's big news, isn't it?

I think it's going to be a race for tickets and a fight for tickets now but it's exciting. I'll try my very best.

So you were Oasis over Blur back in the day?

RM: I actually saw Blur live, I didn't see Oasis, so, hopefully, I'll get to do that now. Can we keep talking about Oasis? Do we need to talk about the transfer window?

Is attack perhaps an area of the pitch that you might look to do something in the window?

RM: We're looking at a few things, but also, it's not like a slight on our players or our club. Forest are in a bit of a different place than us.

If you look at what they've spent on the likes of Anthony Elanga, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Morgan Gibbs-White, it's a lot of money.

It's up to us to stay in the league long enough that we can then be in a place where we can go and do the same thing. We have to do it differently.

They possess some top talent and we will still be trying to add in our way for sure because we need players that can make a difference.

I think it's a position we'd like to add if we can at some point in the next few days.

Reports this morning suggest that James Ward-Prowse would be allowed to leave West Ham. Is he someone that could do a job for you?

RM: Prowsey is probably one of many, many players in the Premier League could do a job for us but does that mean he's going to come and do a job for us?

We have a lot of midfield players, so I don't think it's a position that we are really trying to recruit in. I don't know. I've stayed in touch with Prowsey on and off over the last year.

He obviously got in touch and got promoted. The club means a lot to him but I don't know his situation. I haven't been updated on that.

He's West Ham's player and he's a very, very good player. We were so impressed with him in the short time we had working with him.

I don't know where that's come from. It's not been on my radar. I don't know what or where that comes from but the window brings up many things.

If his situation at West Ham has changed now, then I'm sure there'll be a lot of people that will be interested in his services.

Another name is the final keeper, Justin Bijlow. Have you got any update on him?

RM: Well, we've been linked with a lot of goalkeepers. Justin is one of them, as I said the other day, that has been on a long list that we've watched and we liked.

I don't have any update for you at all on that situation right now. I think it's a position we will add to.

We only have two experienced ones, Joe Lumley and Alex McCarthy, so we need another one. Who that is, I couldn't tell you because things change very quickly.

Do you mind just giving us a quick injury update?

RM: I think we're nearly there with a full, clean bill of health. Adam Lallana is back in the squad tomorrow, which will be great.

Ross Stewart is back training fully, properly, so hopefully in the next week or two, you'll see a bit of him.

Kamaldeen is back training so we'll have to wait and see what happens with him over the next few days, how he reacts to training and the transfer window.

A couple of days on then from Forest. Does it feel like a bit what might have been from the first two games so far?

RM: Yeah, we should have some points on the board. When I look back at Forrest, I wasn't happy with the first half performance.

Actually, it wasn't as bad as I thought. We need to create more. We need to do more. But their biggest threat came from set plays.

Their biggest threat after that was when the game became open at 1-0 and their pacing threat on the counter-attack.

Before that, there wasn't a huge amount in the game. They just had too many set plays in second phases where it felt a bit uncomfortable.

We had such a good spell in the second half, we didn't make the most of that, so I think what we have shown and what the players have shown is we're going to be competitive.

We're going to try and attack it in our way. We're not going to try. We are going to attack it in our way.

I think the learning we've taken from the first two games is huge as a group of staff and a group of players, and I think we'll improve.

I think we'll add to the group in the next few days and get better. I feel really frustrated we haven't got a point yet.

But I also feel really positive about a lot of things. Especially the players and what they're going to do and they're going to grow into it.

There was a little bit of tension in the first home game on Saturday. I've been there. I understood it, but that's out of the way now.

We now need to kick on. And we also need to understand that the level of performance at Newcastle in the first half is where we need to live all the time.

In the Premier League you just can't get away with not being there in that place. Whereas maybe in a Championship a few times we could get away with that.

Every game is honestly as big as the play-off final and we need to approach it like that and in that way. So we have to find a way to do that.

You haven't scored yet, but you had a lot of possession, the lion's share in both matches. Is that something that's a worry early season?

RM: We should have scored three goals at Newcastle but the other day we didn't create anywhere near enough.

And that's down to us to work out but no, I think there's this myth about our teams over the years because we've had a lot of possession.

We scored a lot of goals last year. A lot. And the Swansea team before that, we scored a lot of goals.

So we're now trying to find a balance between being solid in the Premier League and finding a way to be solid and hunt the ball back without being really open.

Then to try and create as well, and I think the last two games have given us a lot of learning in that way actually.

So yeah, we've been adaptable over the last year and not lost our identity in the way we want to do things. I think we can do that again, no problem.

You mentioned the mood around the place being a bit tense. Obviously different circumstances tomorrow. But could a win against Cardiff maybe do something to fix that?

RM: Yeah, we got into such a brilliant habit of winning last year and we've lost two games. So it's frustrating but also it's very early days.

People are going to get on the pitch tomorrow and have an opportunity to put themselves in a team for the Premier League on Saturday. It's really that simple.

We want to win. I don't want it to roll past the Cardiff game and then become even more difficult so the team that plays is one we think can win.

Also they need an opportunity to show that they deserve to be in the team, and everything is up for grabs after two defeats. That's football.

They need to put pressure on me to put them in the team. They need to put pressure on their teammates to get themselves in the team.

I'm really confident actually they can go there and put in a really good performance. I'm excited to see the team that we're playing.

I'm excited to see some of the guys on there. Some new players playing for the first time. Some young players playing that deserve the opportunity after a brilliant pre-season.

I'm really excited about the game actually.

A couple of names. Mateus Fernandes and Lesley Ugochukwu, could they be handed a full debut?

RM: Yeah, they're playing.

Can you sustain a cup run with a Premier League fight for survival?

RM: We have a big squad though at the moment. That will probably be trimmed in numbers in the next few days nut it's an opportunity for the players to play our way.

To be the team we want to be against a good opponent. So yeah, I think any opportunity you have to play. And I said this to the guys yesterday.

I would have loved the opportunity to play in a team that played this way. I didn't have a chance really. So every opportunity you get, you can't take for granted.

You need to make the most of it. And yeah, I want to win. I want to beat Cardiff. We want to win. We want to progress. It really doesn't matter about the two games.

No, no. We need to win and prepare ourselves in the best way for Saturday that we possibly can. 

Carabao Cup ties can be really useful for managers at this stage, can't they?

RM: I think it's just opportunity. I had a chat with someone recently about the League Cup saying, you know, has it lost any credibility?

It really hasn't. I think it just gives opportunities for people to play, for us to learn some more things, to try some things

It's an opportunity to sort of take out the frustration of the last couple of weeks onto the pitch ao I'm genuinely looking forward to it and enjoying the preparation.

We are choosing to make a lot of changes, but not out of lack of respect for the competition, out of we need to get everyone prepared and ready.

We need to see some people in competitive action for the first time because pre-season is so different.

We've signed a lot of players that can't quite get into the team yet because the team found consistency and fluidity last year and built relationships.

A lot of them guys have ended up starting on the pitch so now the new guys and the young guys need to make sure they put themselves in the frame.

You talked about the amount of goals you scored last season. You should have scored a few at Cardiff. Now you're smiling, but at the time it wasn't funny, was it?

RM: Yeah, I've seen a video back of my team-talk after the game, and I didn't really enjoy it. I watched it for about three seconds and started sweating.

It was a crazy game. We should have been five goals up at half-time and won and then paid the price for that, for being really a bit lax.

Probably a bit too relaxed because they played so well, the players, and then we paid the price. So yeah, I think it wasn't a nice memory at that time.

We bounced back brilliantly from it. I want a different experience - same level of performance, hopefully, but a different experience at the end of it.

What can we expect or what do you hope from Lesley Ugochukwu?

RM: What I want to see is some understanding of what we're asking him to do because it's a bit different to what he's done in his time at Rennes and Chelsea.

And then just to give everything he's got, to break up play, to keep the game ticking over for us. He can't learn from anyone better than Flynn Downs.

The two performances he's put in have been really outstanding, actually, Flynn without the ball and with it. So yeah, he needs to be the guy.

He needs to be the king in the middle of the pitch and to dominate that middle of the pitch as much as he can and make the game go through him.

It's a big responsibility, that position for us so I'm sure we'll see some brilliant bits and there'll be some bits that we need to work on and to learn from.

It would be great for him to feel that and to be on the pitch and to actually live that rather than just in training, getting moved about and being told where to be.

I think the guys around need to help him and obviously Matues as well. Mateus Fernandes, you saw the impact he's going to have, I think, on Saturday.

He's a really outstanding talent, really excellent player. So I'm looking forward to watching him as well.

One of the positives of this season has been Tyler Dibling, hasn't it?

RM: It's really difficult because I don't want to come out here and build him up too much for you guys because then it becomes a little bit of pressure and level of expectation.

But he is a beautiful footballer, a really outstanding talent. He's powerful. He possesses stuff that not every player possesses.

He has unique traits and unique talent and a brilliant young man. We love Tyler and he is very close and probably unlucky not to be playing in the team after his pre-season.

He's had two appearances off the bench and did really, really well on Saturday. Just that last little end product, which is 18, that will come.

He's unique and he's a special talent in my opinion and he's ours and we need to develop him in the best way possible.

He needs to play well tomorrow night and put himself even more in the frame for the team because he's been really, really impressive.

Just one on transfers if I can, can you influence how much money is spent on one player?

RM: I think we have clarity on what we have and what we don't have. There's a wage structure.

If you go and spend a certain amount of money on one player, I think that player then expects the wages to be a bit higher, so we're not going to do that.

I think it's about assessing priority, level of importance of that position and what we need, how different it is to whar we already possess, the character of the player.

I think we've done good business on the whole, not just for now, but for the short and long-term future of the club.

Whereas I think 18 months ago, two years ago, in the January window, it was very much about spend money for here and now because you need to stay in the Premier League.

We haven't done that and I think that's agreed by us that we're not just going to go all in for one season and then put the club in a situation down the line that isn't very good.

We've made signings for now and signings that are going to be really good players for the club over a long period of time, in my opinion.

Not everyone will agree with that strategy, but the club have gone with us to try and bring some stability over a period of time, to bring a way of doing things.

We've added players that are going to do that. Of course, some that can help us here and now. We all believe they can now, but some are going to take a bit longer.

I think it's about being really aligned. The owners have been great. They've invested really, really well in two players that were so important to us last season.

I can't ever lose sight of that. Matty Fernandes is a top talent. He had clubs all over Europe looking at him and watching him.

Cameron Archer is the same. England under-21 striker and it's not a small investment for this football club.

I think by the end of the window, I'll be really happy with the business we've done. Would we love to go and spend 25, 30 million on one or two players?

Of course, but I knew at the start we wouldn't be doing that so I can't sit here being frustrated about that when I know that's the situation we're in.

I'm sure at some point the ownership group in Dragon would sit there and love to do that as well, on one player or two players.

Then there's an imbalance then with the rest of the squad because you then go and do that and then everyone looks at it and goes, OK, so you can.

I don't lose any sleep over that. I'm not stressed about it because we're all aligned and we have real clarity in what we're doing.

The problems come when there is miscommunication or lack of clarity or you say one thing and do another, but that just hasn't happened.

It's been fairly relaxed. It's a lot of work. I can't wait for it to end because I love seeing the guys, but stop having Zoom calls every two days about a hundred different things.

Hopefully we'll look back and be happier with it once it ends and it will take us through to January. In January, it'll be the same.

We'll assess what we need, what we want, where we're at and see where it takes us.

It's completely different to a team like Forest isn't it?

RM: It's completely different. I've seen it done where you just gamble on that first year and you just add loads and loads of players.

Well, I think Burnley were a great example last season, a great example of that. They lost a bit of continuity from the team that took them up.

I'm not criticising Burnley, they choose to do it in their way, but I think maybe they would do things differently if they had the chance again.

Maybe we'll look back on the year and go, we should have spent loads and loads of money and done it that way but I really believe in the group we have.

We just need to keep adding the right people and people that will help us.

On Kyle Walker-Peters, we've only got three more days of asking you about him, is he comfortable like you are with him being here or not being here?

RM: I think he's going to be here. I think all the interest that was there and the deals that might have happened have pretty much gone.

That is unless someone decides really late that they want Kyle. We've offered him a new contract so when the window's shut maybe that will be another discussion. 

If not, he needs to play in the same way he has done, the same way Stuart Armstrong and Che Adams did last year in the last year of their contracts. 

They were fantastic for us and Kyle has been great, so I think everyone's really relaxed about it. He's played really well in the first two games.

It's a bonus having him here when I think we had all sort of resigned ourselves to him leaving the building.