Every word Southampton's Martin said ahead of facing Arsenal

Q: Jack Stephens has got an additional two-game ban. Thoughts?

RM: Well, I think they've obviously drawn a line in the sand, the Premier League and the FA. I think as long as everyone's treated the same, we have to accept it as it is.

Jack's accepted that he made a mistake and he asked for an in-person hearing so he could apologise and make sure that was the case because he's a very good human being.

So he's frustrated with himself and disappointed and we're frustrated to not have him available to be without him because he helps us. 

We'll be watching now as a club to make sure that everyone is treated in the same way and if it is, then obviously we have to accept it and move on.

Q: Sounds like you have spoken to him about the whole incident.

RM: Yeah, we had a lot of dialogue about it and we were heavily involved in the process, myself and Mark Bitcon, and yeah, Jack went down there.

He got told off and he accepted everything and apologised and he meant it and it could have been worse.

He's still disappointed, still frustrated, but it could have been worse. So he will be back as and when he's back.

Q: Have you had your tin hat on this week to protect you from all the outside noise?

RM: I don't own a tin hat, so I think you have to accept everything as a manager. I genuinely don't listen to very much of it.

I think we have enough noise in our own minds as managers trying to pick the right team, trying to make sure we give the right info, watch the opposition and all that.

I don't really pay any attention to any of that. I didn't last year. We went 25 games unbeaten and I don't now. And that's part of my own growth, I guess, as a human being.

As a player, you listen and in the early stages of social media, you have a look and see what people are saying very, very long time ago.

And then you realise actually what it's going to be and what it's turning into and what it's used for and how valuable that is. It's not very valuable. So everyone will have an opinion.

The people's opinion that matters are my bosses and the owners of the club and the people inside that I work with every day.

So as long as I am aware of that and what they feel and we're all working together, then everything else is really noise and irrelevant to my position right now.

Q: And on that then, the bosses, what have they said to you about how they feel at the moment? We're only six games into the season, by the way.

RM: Yeah. I think we're all frustrated. We're all winners and we all want to, you know, whether it's in football or in business and in other areas of life.

We have an ownership group that are very much winners and have been very successful and want this football club to be so successful.

They also have a real awareness of where the club was at. When we first walked into the door, I don't think they recognised or didn't identify the club that they had at that point.

They'd been fairly new here. Now we're a bit further down the line, a year and a bit in. Is the club in a much better place than it was culturally? Yes, definitely.

Do we have some real things to build on and some fundamentals on and off the pitch that we're really clear on? Yeah, we do. 

And so I think big picture, everyone understands where we're trying to get to and where we're going and how we're going to do it. But of course, then you have to win football matches.

So no one is happy that we haven't won yet. Myself more than anyone. So they probably feel as frustrated as I do. But also they've been so supportive.

They want to work through things together in the same way as they did last year when it was going really well, when it wasn't.

The communication line is always really open and honest and I really enjoy being here. And hopefully they enjoy having us here.

And as long as we're all on the same page and honest, I think it's all you can ever ask for. I think from an ownership perspective, they've been really brilliant with me.

Q: You go to a place which is probably one of the hardest places in the world right now to go to and you need a result.

RM: Yeah, yeah. I watched them on Tuesday night and they were outstanding. What Mikel and his coaching staff have done with that team is incredible.

With that club and the identity of it and the feeling of it. But they had some bumps in the road to get there and some real pain early on to get there.

They stuck with it and they gave it time and patience and perseverance. They have such a clear way of doing things.

I think we have real clarity in what we want to do. It's not like a completely different style to Arsenal, but different.

A lot of similarities, of course, but very different. And I think they're a real testament to perseverance, patience and clarity on what it can bring you.

I think it's a really good example for us in the same way. Bournemouth were the team who played on Monday night.

The pain that they went through early on with their manager in the Premier League and only in the job he's done there. Now they're really difficult to play against in their way.

So we have to make sure we become really, really difficult to play against and even more clear and stronger in our way.

For half an hour, really, on Monday, because we started the game well, and then the second half, actually, the courage that they showed to play like that three goals down away from home on TV. 

I'm really proud of them for that. And I'm really grateful to them because they didn't give up. And it'd be really easy, I think, if a team is lacking in spirit and fight, it'd be really easy to just down-talk at that point.

They didn't. We actually played some really brilliant football, but it was just too far gone at that point. For half an hour, between 15 minutes and 45, we saw a lot of stuff we didn't really recognise or identify with on the pitch.

They felt the same, the players. And that was just dealing with another setback of conceding a goal, a quick free kick.

So we have to find a way to deal with those things because there are going to be some difficult moments, I'm sure, at the Emirates on Saturday.

So it's about growing, it's about learning, and we have to show that we've learned from Monday. However that looks.

Q: You alluded to people forgetting that earlier on in his Arsenal career, the pressure was on and how Mikel Arteta, many people thought he was going to lose his job. They stuck with him and look where they are now. Is that a lesson for everybody?

RM: Yeah, I think it's about having conviction in what you do. It's about having the strength of character to ignore the noise and stay on path.

I really believe if it's not difficult, if it's not a bit painful, if there's not some bumps in the road, it's probably a path you don't really want to be on, to be honest, if it's really easy.

In the same way, if you look at any top manager that's had a really difficult time or a team, Sir Alex early on in his tenure at Manchester United, all of that, it goes back.

It's not just that. And yeah, I think if you have something you really believe in, you stick with it, right? And you try and be adaptable and flexible.

That's what we're trying to do and we're learning so much so quickly in the Premier League. We are only six games in.

There's a lot of teams with maybe the same points as us, two or three more points. It all can change so quickly. And we have a big challenge on Saturday for sure.

We have to go into the international break feeling much better about ourselves than we did on Monday night, I think.

That's about putting a performance that we're proud of. And if we do that, then we have a chance of getting a result in the same way you do in any football match.

Q: How straightforward was it getting rid of that hurt this week?

RM: I think it's always like a balance. The players know that I feel a lot and the same way I did after Ipswich, in a very different way.

So every game gives you a different feeling. You have to separate which one is maybe a bit of pride and a bit of ego. So on Monday night, I was so disappointed with that half an hour.

It taints everything else about how you feel because that's where the damage is done. So I think we're always really honest with the players. They're always really honest with themselves.

But by the time we come in on Tuesday, we have to work and we have to focus on the process and explain and understand why we felt how we felt, all of us together, myself included.

I think we looked at it. We watched it a couple of times. We learned as much as we can from it. We're trying to prepare the guys to make sure we're better than that and not feel like that again.

Like I said, for that half an hour, I just didn't recognise us at all. I want to know that we are trying to be us and maintaining courage and aggression and intensity we just lacked in every department.

But then as a leader, I have to accept responsibility for that. Is it the team I picked? Is it the way we set up? Is it the detail we gave? We didn't prepare them well enough.

It's my responsibility to make sure that we actually learn from it. We don't just get overcome and just swallowed up in the emotion and the feeling of it because then it becomes pointless.

When you lose, it's terrible. I hated that when I was a player, when I was in an environment where if you win, everything's great.

If you don't, there's a problem and the feeling changes all the time. So, yeah, let's be aware of the feeling. We understand it. We'll work through it.

But the process has to remain the same and the way we treat the players has to remain the same. That's with honesty and being open with them and hopefully them understanding that actually it's to try and help us all move forward and to grow together as a team.

Q: When you talked through aspects of the game, presumably in here on Tuesday, how were the players? Are they just sort of quiet and listening, not making eye contact? Are they apologetic? Are they fighting back?

RM: I think every player's different but I think when you stand up there and you're honest with them and you can show a bit of vulnerability to them and it's always been that way and they know they have a voice, I think if they really strongly feel something, they'll tell us.

But I don't think Tuesday was the day for that. I think Tuesday was the day for us to all feel a little bit of pain watching it again and showing the stuff that really hurt us.

Then we finished by showing the stuff in the second half in particular in the start of the game which was really, really good and could have helped us if we carried on doing that during the rest of the game.

So, yeah. No, they're really, honestly, they're a brilliant group to work with. We love working with them.

I think we have a really brilliant and beautiful environment with them in enabling them to air their opinion and for us to grow together and to always understand it's never personal.

It's always professional when we're in this room because we're trying to be better. And then of course you have all some one-to-one chats that becomes really personal in terms of how they feel, how you feel, what's needed.

But they're ongoing. Whether you win, lose or draw, that's ongoing throughout the season.

Q: And as far as on the grass this week, have you seen the squad you recognise? Have points been proven by some of these players? I saw that in the second half on Monday.

RM: I just couldn't get over the feeling of that half hour and the damage that was done in that period. So, I saw that in the second half and I said that to them. That wasn't easy.

So, they showed a big character in the second half. Big fight. Big willingness to actually try and dig ourselves out of the hole.

And that's all I asked for at half-time. And then they trained really, really well. There's a limit to what you can do after a Monday night game in terms of the next couple of days recovery.

But today everyone's training properly and good feel, good spirit, good intensity to training. And now they need to make sure that the work that we do in these couple of days and we did this morning is really transferred over to the Emirates on Saturday.

Q: As far as the team selection for that game, the whole squad has talent, but are you looking more at character and personality this weekend?

RM: We have a lot of players who are trying to learn and find their way in our system in the Premier League, which is not easy when they haven't played that way before.

And to try and learn in a team that hasn't won yet as well is difficult. So if you're winning, it's much easier to integrate players and for them to feel it. But some of them haven't felt enough success through the pain yet on the pitch.

So stuff that we're trying and maybe a few tough moments. And then on Monday, we went away from it far too quickly.

I believe that's maybe because they haven't been on the pitch long enough to feel that if you stick with it, it will come good.

Whereas there's a lot of guys that have been here a year or more now and they've felt that and know that they need to stick with the detail and trust the work that they do.

I think there's a balance of talent, always a balance of talent, character and then the opposition. I've got no doubt about the character in this squad.

After everything we've been through together and the guys we've brought in because we bring them in for a reason, they want to be part of this, that we'll all get through it together. And when we do, it'll be brilliant. And it's a long, old season.

And we haven't quite found flow yet consistently. When we have, there's been real moments of promise and enough to give the players enough feeling.

I think that's the feeling amongst the group is that they can really impact things and get some really brilliant results and surprise some people.

But now it's just about piecing it together. We have to just sharpen up a little bit around certain moments like a quick free kick on Monday night.

We walk away from the ball, turn our back and then you're 1-0 down and it's such a difficult position to be in after you start the game well.

So yeah, it's a process. They're evolving all the time. We're trying to tweak and adapt and find out what is best for us and what works. And I'm convinced we'll do that.

Q: You mentioned on Monday how Bournemouth had out-fouled you I think 20-10. If you commit more fouls this weekend, you'll give the best set-piece team in the country and the world many more free kick opportunities. What sort of shape are you in?

RM: Yeah, I think Bournemouth fouled us a lot but we didn't have many free kicks in their final third. So it depends where you foul I guess and where the contact is. But that wasn't the point.

It was about I'm not saying to our team we need to foul more but there needs to be way more contact than there was on Monday. Especially against Arsenal because they're one of the best at it. They're one of the best.

So the Premier League in terms of talent and ability everyone will talk about but the physicality and the aggression and the mentality of the players is completely different. It's the biggest difference. It's not just talent.

So it's the mentality of like when they're going into a duel that really, you know, that's it. There's only one thing that can happen is they take the ball or their opponent ends up on the floor and I don't think we're quiet. We weren't there on Monday at all.

So we need to live there because this team last year was built on being so aggressive without the ball and so aggressive with the ball. And when we lack the aggression and then the bit of courage we lacked on Monday for that half an hour as well because second half they showed bundles of it.

We showed loads of courage but it was a bit late. But if we can bring both I really believe we have a chance against anyone.

Q: Specifically about Arsenal's set-piece threat are you making progress in that department?

RM: Yeah, well we got undone by a quick one which is a bit of a different scenario but yeah. We have a group of people that are working very hard on analysing that and trying to negate that in the best way, we possibly can.

The players are really aware and if we give away some corners and free kicks we have to be ready to stand up to it and defend it properly and that's the same at any level but especially against a team with some players who attack the ball so well so they are real consistent with it

It's their mentality that makes them such a threat nothing else obviously the quality of delivery but their mentality to actually go and put their head on it and score is incredible so we have to match that with every bit we have to fight and stop that.

Q: Just to finish any team news? Any fresh injuries?

RM: No, I don't think so. I think it's pretty much as is Will Smallbone is not quite back fit yet Kamaldeen is the same so hopefully after the international break we'll have.

Will definitely be available and maybe Kamaldeen as well but apart from that everyone is pretty much the same.

Q: From the outside, they play well and then they get stuck so what are the triggers they need to do to not let that happen? What are the mental triggers or maybe team triggers on the pitch with each other is there anything?

RM: Yeah, I think just about being aware of the situation and trying to manage that in the best way we possibly can and the situation will change but I think it's about at that moment recognising you're having a difficult time so what's really important at that point is about being together.

Whatever the style of play after they scored it was all just a little bit too easy a little bit slow and we have to avoid that. Man U is different it's two set plays and we should defend the second phase better.

The other night it was just a very, very different energy in the team once we conceded and that comes when you haven't won a game yet and the frustration you feel about that so yeah, we're speaking to the guys about it we'll work through it it's been the same way we did last year.

I've got no doubt they're growing through it and they're learning from it and their experience unfortunately sometimes you just have to experience a bit of pain to really understand what's really important.

Our younger players in particular will certainly be better for it and you're confident they will learn and can grow up and can keep getting better they learned all last season and grew all last season and I'm convinced they'll do exactly the same again because they're willing to.

I think learning is about being curious and about being willing to they will have the capacity to learn and they were willing to and want to so yeah. I've got no doubt they'll be fine.

Q: Obviously we know you've got quite a big squad but you've mentioned how hard it is to leave some players out in the past that were with you last season. How competitive has it been because you must have been looking for players to come and say boss put me in the team?

RM: Yeah well training with the guys that didn't play on Tuesday was outstanding really good and then carried that on over the last couple of days as well so yeah I think it's so difficult isn't it.

You get accused of being too lord some players and then they come out and you still don't pick up results and then well you've been harsher on that player and so I think it's always a balance.

You know trust opposition and talent and character and all that stuff so yeah we'll pick the team that we feel is the best one mate to win a game on Saturday that would be it. 

I've got honestly I really we have so many players and so many of them can help us I know that all of them you know and they all feel they can help us and impact the team but it's part of the job you have to make some really tough decisions and honestly no one is like you know.

Paul's shown that. Paul's been out of the squad and was talked about leaving for however long and he's now back on the bench because he deserves to be the way he trains the way he trains the hunger he trains with the attitude the mentality.

I think it goes to show that no one is ever completely out and it's up to them guys to make sure they're part of it.

Q: Are you more worried about defending better or scoring more goals?

RM: I think we have to defend a lot on Monday night for that half out because we didn't look after the ball anywhere near well enough we didn't play them behind them after the first 15 minutes.

We got in twice so there's no balance in our game really it wasn't good enough on both fronts so then if you are not going to be clean on the ball you need to be really aggressive in the way you hunt it and defend properly but we just got caught in between both.

We have to avoid that. I think we have an idea of how we can try and hurt Arsenal always because we want to go there and try and be the team we want to be for sure but there are going to be moments where.

We have to really defend and dig in properly and be resilient and accept that they may have a bit of the ball and do all of that and make sure we do that really well and also we have to find some joy in the tough moments and be excited about defending.

The set play be excited about defending the box be excited about counter-attacking opportunity and probably as excited as we get with all the build-up.

When we play through and when we play when we beat a press there needs to be a balance we need to find a bit of joy in both really and we did that last year we became so hard to play against and now we have to find a way to do that again.