Russell Martin confirmed as new Head Coach of Swansea City
Martin has taken assistants Luke Williams, Matt Gill and Dean Thornton with him from MK Dons
Written by Simon Austin — July 29, 2021
RUSSELL MARTIN has been confirmed as the new Head Coach of Swansea City after signing a three-year contract with the Championship club.
The 35-year-old will be joined by coaches Luke Williams (assistant), Matt Gill (development coach) and Dean Thornton (goalkeeper coach), while Alan Tate will continue in his capacity as first-team coach.
The deal was announced after the Swans agreed compensation with League One MK Dons, where Martin has been manager since November 2019.
Martin and his staff will oversee training at Fairwood on Monday and take charge of the Swans’ Championship opener against Blackburn Rovers next Saturday.
“We are delighted with the appointment of Russell as our new Head Coach,” said Swansea City Chief Executive Julian Winter. “He very much fits the profile of a young and hungry coach who wants to succeed, and he is more than ready for the opportunity.
“When it became clear we would be looking for a new Head Coach, at the forefront of our thoughts was finding a candidate who was ambitious, driven and with a clear vision of how he wants the team to play.
“After earning plaudits with Milton Keynes Dons for the attractive, attacking style that he implemented, we quickly realised Russell would be the right person to take us forward.
“We were also seeking someone with a passion for working with and developing young players. Russell ticks all those boxes.”
Martin enjoyed a 15-year playing career that included winning 29 caps for Scotland. After keeping the Dons in League One at the end of 2019/20, he guided them to 13th last season.
The former Norwich defender outlined his leadership and playing philosophy in Episode #28 of the TGG Podcast, which you can listen to above.
He said: “For me, it’s all about purpose and people. I’m not there just because I want to stay in football, I’m there because I want to really try and create something I and everyone involved loves being a part of and will look back at the end of their career and go, ‘that was brilliant.’
“The day we part ways I hope everyone says, 'That was brilliant. We enjoyed ourselves and we stood for something.' That's important.”
Last season MK Dons ranked third in Europe behind only Barcelona and Manchester City for average possession and Martin explained: “We have a real identity and I’m really proud of it. We’ll improve next season again and we’ll do that with Plan A, tweaking it and adapting it and trying to do it really well.”
Martin also presented at TGG's Individual Development Coaching Webinar in June, when he outlined his approach to developing players at MK Dons.
