Russell Martin now big contender for Championship manager job as sack news emerges
Russell Martin could be set to return to management in the Championship within a matter of weeks.
The 39-year-old has been out of work since he was dismissed by Rangers back at the start of October, after overseeing the joint-worst start to the season that the Glasgow giants have ever had.
Football Insider revealed at the start of November that Norwich City sounded Martin out over a possible return to a club where he spent eight years during his playing career, but they ultimately handed the job to another ex-Rangers boss in Philippe Clement.
The former Swansea City and Southampton chief came very close to moving back to the second tier on that occasion, but he could now be about to come even closer after the latest update from the division.
Russell Martin among favourite to take over at Leicester City
Football Insider exclusively revealed on Tuesday that Leicester City boss Marti Cifuentes could lose his job if his team fail to beat Derby County in the early kick-off on Saturday.
Back-to-back defeats have piled the pressure back on the Spaniard, with the Foxes board caught off guard by their lowly standing in the Championship and ready to potentially pull the trigger on their manager.
Cifuentes only recently made the switch to the King Power Stadium in the summer after his departure from QPR, but he could now be about to make way for another candidate.
The bookies are already speculating as to who could take the reins if Cifuentes is dismissed, and Martin is currently one of the firm frontrunners.
The former defender is valued at odds of 2/1 to take charge of the East Midlands outfit, with only Michael Carrick currently priced at shorter odds to take the reins.
Russell Martin’s record in the Championship as a manager
Martin was ripped apart at Rangers in his latest job, while his Premier League campaign with Southampton went catastrophically bad.
However, it is easy to forget that he has already achieved a promotion from the Championship during his relatively short career in the dugout, and boasts an impressive record in the division.
| Manager | Games | W | D | L | Win % |
| Russell Martin | 138 | 60 | 34 | 44 | 43.48% |
| Marti Cifuentes | 96 | 33 | 29 | 34 | 34.38% |
Martin’s win percentage in the second tier currently stands at over 43 per cent, a far cry from Cifuentes’ current tally of just 34 per cent.
His time north of the border at Ibrox, combined with the latter stages of his Southampton tenure have seen Martin’s reputation within the game damaged drastically.
However, he could be the perfect man to bring attractive and attacking football back to Leicester, as well as to get the team climbing back up the table.