Southampton manager Russell Martin said he has “a lot of respect” for Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou because of the consistency in his beliefs, despite criticism. He spoke about the challenges unconventional “stubborn” managers face when results dip.

Russel Martin in his pre-match press conference before playing Tottenham on Sunday:

“I think it’s really interesting because every manager that sits behind a team has some form of beliefs and some form of value system and what they deem as acceptable or what they want to see, what they want compromised on, what the non-negotiables are.

“But the ones who are only criticized are the ones that are a little bit different from the norm. So if we all believed the same thing, I think it’d be pretty boring, but it’d be less open to criticism. I think his team is brave. It’s aggressive; they’ve been really unfortunate with injuries; it’s so similar to Graham Potter when he was at Chelsea.

“Everything he got praise for and credit for at Brighton, he then got criticized for at Chelsea. So, he went from being calm, studious, really brave in his approach at Brighton to managing a team with different expectations, and then all of a sudden he didn’t show enough passion on the sideline and was too emotionally consistent and all this nonsense. It’s exactly the same with Ange.

Part of what he is saying is that the manager shouldn’t need to change who they are as a person, their demeanor, because of the culture or results. You get what you are buying. If being calm and emotionally consistent has worked in the past, why change it? It’ll come off as fake and insincere, which will have a negative effect on the pitch.

But the greater point he is making is the notion that you need to change because form is wrong if you have proof that being yourself works.

“They (Celtic under Postecoglou) were brilliant. There was so much praise for being so aggressive, so brave, relentless restarts, energy. He did a great job, won lots of trophies, got to the Champions League, goes to Spurs, and starts so well.

“So, when results are good, no one questions the style or his conviction or belief system, and the minute it starts faltering, it’s always down to that. And I’ll get criticized for the same thing about being stubborn and all that stuff.

“But if you believe in something and it’s taken you a certain way in life and on a certain pathway and journey, to deviate too far from that I think is crazy. I can’t speak for him, but we are adapting.

“We adapt shape, we adapt approach, we adapt personnel, but with the same consistency in what’s really important, with the same concept of the game, so we can’t deviate too far from that; otherwise we become nothing really. Everyone is quick to criticize these days, but I have a lot of respect for him.”

Before I agree with nearly everything Russel Martin said, I would like to add to the avalanche of critiques. If it was 2011, I would enjoy watching Southampton, but now their way of playing short always is sort of boring and unproductive. Southampton passes for passing sake, which annoys me, but like he said, if everyone liked that way of playing, it would be boring because everyone would be looking to play that specific way. It’s not for me anymore, but it could be for someone else, like how people enjoy defensive football.

I applaud those that try to gain an edge by being different and have respect for those that recognize when they need to alter part of their way of playing to get results. But the thing I agree with the most is the idea that the manager can’t abandon their long-standing beliefs or who they are as a person because of the results.