Norwich City must thank Peterborough United for a Canaries heartbeat: View
Back in the 2009/10 season, City were a league below Peterborough United, but that did not stop them from swooping in to take one of their brightest young talents, as then 23-year-old Martin arrived on loan at Carrow Road in November 2009.
Martin achieved legendary status at Norwich City
Then a right-back, he was initially signed on a two-month emergency loan deal from Posh as he linked up with Canaries boss Paul Lambert, who he had played under previously as captain of Wycombe Wanderers.
He signed a permanent, two-and-a-half year deal at Carrow Road upon the expiry of his loan spell, and became a regular in Lambert’s side that season as they sealed promotion back to the second-tier as champions with relative ease.
That meant a first taste of Premier League football for Martin, and he thrived as a key part of the Canaries’ backline as they defied the odds to consolidate themselves in the top-flight by finishing 12th in 2011/12 under Lambert, and then 11th in 2012/13 under new boss Chris Hughton – their highest league finish since 1992/93.
He continued to play regularly as the club missed out on the play-offs by ten points on their return to the Championship in 2016/17, but struggled with a back injury at the beginning of the 2017/18 campaign and soon lost his place in new boss Daniel Farke’s starting eleven, despite having signed a new deal that summer.
In a 2019 interview with podcast Talk Norwich City, he explained the nature of his departure, and how him and Farke were clearly not on the same page.
“It’s difficult to become – not even a bit-part, I was totally out of it, training with the 23s – and I was trying to add value to them and help them, but it just became difficult.
Russell Martin’s post-Norwich career
Martin went on to see out his playing days at Walsall, where he took up a player-coach role, and then MK Dons, where he was a part of the 2018/19 squad that sealed promotion to League One and then quit playing in November 2019 to become their full-time head-coach.
He has become a widely-regarded manager in English football for his effective, possession-based style of play that saw the Dons have the third-highest average possession percentage in Europe in the 2020/21 season.
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