Taylor Harwood-Bellis posts emotional message after Southampton exit

Taylor Harwood-Bellis has posted an emotional tribute to Russell Martin after he was sacked as Southampton manager.

The centre-back first joined the Saints under Martin last summer, after spending the previous campaign on a season-long loan from Man City.

After helping the club win promotion to the Premier League last season, a clause was triggered in the deal that saw Harwood-Bellis make his move to St Mary’s permanent.

But after a dismal start to the season that finds the club bottom of the table with just five points from 16 league games, Martin was sacked as Southampton manager on Sunday (15 December) in the wake of a 5-0 loss to Tottenham.

Taking to his Instagram page, Harwood-Bellis has thanked the 38-year-old following his exit from the club, writing: “Thank you, gaffer. You gave me the opportunity to grow wearing the shirt & i’ll forever hold onto what we did last season. Best of luck with the future!”

Russell Martin had to leave his role at Southampton

Football Insider Opinion

There are already nine points separating the Saints from safety in the Premier League table as things stand.

As a result, the club are already running out of time if they are to haul themselves out of trouble with nearly half of the season now completed.

It also appears as though the Southampton fanbase had been lost by Martin which was never going to help the atmosphere at St Mary’s.

Consequently, while he may have done a lot of good both for players such as Harwood-Bellis and the club as a whole in getting them promoted, this sacking simply felt unavoidable.

It is now going to be a huge task for whoever takes over from him at St Mary’s to turn things around and give the club a chance of avoiding relegation.

That pressure is also going to fall on the likes of Harwood-Bellis too, given he will want to pay Southampton back after some tough moments for himself this season as well.

In other news, the favourite to replace Martin at St Mary’s has been revealed.

For more Southampton news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.

The post Taylor Harwood-Bellis posts emotional message after Southampton exit appeared first on Football Insider.