Russell Martin criticised his Southampton players for “feeling sorry for themselves” and entering “self-preservation mode” after a shock 3-1 Carabao Cup defeat at Gillingham.
Last season’s semi-finalists were stunned in the opening round of this year’s competition as Robbie McKenzie’s double and Ashley Nadesan’s early strike propelled Neil Harris’ League Two side to a memorable triumph on home soil.
Martin made 11 changes to the team that beat Sheffield Wednesday in the Saints’ Championship opener on Friday night and was unhappy with his second-string side’s attitude after a dismal night at Priestfield.
“It definitely wasn’t the result I was expecting, but the performance was more surprising,” he said.
“Tonight I just saw too much stuff I didn’t like, things we haven’t worked on, with people trying to write their own script.
“Players entered self-preservation mode – they were doing stuff they wanted to do.
“It was a case of ‘as long as I’m doing my own thing I’m OK’, but it shouldn’t be like that.
“Some people had too much pity, too much feeling sorry for themselves, and they’re probably the ones who don’t see their futures here in the next three weeks.
“I understand that, it’s difficult to deal with, but they should have showed off what they can do on the pitch.”
Gillingham went ahead after just 12 minutes when summer signing Nadesan slid in to poke Ethan Coleman’s cross past Alex McCarthy.
McKenzie stabbed home from close range six minutes after the break to double the hosts’ advantage before then capitalising on more lacklustre Southampton defending to net his second.
Substitute Carlos Alcaraz curled home a fine consolation goal late on but that did little to improve an otherwise miserable night for the south coast side in Kent.
Gills boss Harris said: “It couldn’t have gone any better. It’s a great result, and the performance was excellent.
“If anything, the win should have been by more than two goals.
“Southampton are a top side, even with the changes – I wanted to play on the front foot.
“We dominated the first 15 minutes, during which we could have scored more than one, and ultimately for 75 minutes we bossed it.
“The cup competitions aren’t the priority, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want to win. We want to be competitive, we want 8,000 people to appreciate that, and we’ll do the same in the next round.”
