Russell Martin addresses Swansea City future amid January transfer window debacle | OneFootball

Swansea City head coach Russell Martin has revealed that he will not walk away from his role as head coach despite the club’s disastrous end to the January transfer window.

The Swans failed to make a single senior addition to their squad last month, with just Manchester City youngster Liam Smith arriving to bolster the club’s under-21 squad.

Just one player left the Swansea.com Stadium and that was wantaway forward Michael Obafemi, who finally got the move to Championship league leaders Burnley that he desired, although there is no guarantee that the South Wales outfit will get the fee wanted from the Clarets as they only have an option to sign the Ireland international permanently, not an obligation.

Obafemi’s departure freed up wages for a potential new addition or two, with West Brom forward Karlan Grant being the man targeted on deadline day.

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However, the Baggies’ failure to land Chelsea youngster Omari Hutchinson saw a chain reaction in which Grant’s proposed move to Swansea was cancelled, leaving Martin extremely short on attacking options for the rest of the season.

Despite some Swansea fans thinking that Martin will walk away due to not being backed by the club’s owners, the ex-Scotland international has instead confirmed his dedication to the job.

“I’ve never walked away from anything in my life,” Martin told Wales Online.

“It’s not even crossed my mind because of the people sitting behind you (his whole backroom team) and the players, how much I love working with them and how happy our families are here

“It’s not even a consideration but we do have to try to learn from what’s gone on and improve.

“I feel sorry, feeling the atmosphere around the place on Wednesday.

“I feel sorry for the people that work at the club, I feel sorry for the supporters and the players because we couldn’t quite get them help that they probably needed.

“They look around at all the other clubs in this position and pretty much everyone strengthened.

“Football is unpredictable, it’s different to any other environment. So I don’t feel let down by any one thing.

“As a group, I feel like we’ve missed a few opportunities we could have really taken which could have really helped us.

“I feel disappointed for everyone and I feel a bit frustrated, probably the same as everyone.

“But we’ve chosen to turn that into energy and fuel for the next three or four months.”

The Verdict

Martin appears to be in it for the long haul, but you can tell that he is visibly frustrated with not being backed in the transfer market.

The squad is significantly weaker now with loanees Fin Stevens and Armstrong Oko-Flex returning to Brentford and West Ham respectively and Obafemi also departing, so a couple of injuries could really rock the boat.

It feels as though the Swansea hierarchy have given up on going for a play-off place with their January dealings and are focusing more on consolidation in the Championship again – they could have pushed the boat out for a Chiedozie Ogbene type but refused to do so.

This could all come back to bite the club if a more ambitious side come in for Martin’s services at the end of the season – then he could really jump ship if the situation remains the same.