Luton v Swansea sees chaotic ending as Russell Martin gets sent off and escorted from pitch

Luton v Swansea sees quite the chaotic ending as manager Russell Martin gets sent off and escorted by stewards from the pitch.

Martin was given marching orders in the final few minutes of the Championship fixture. It was the hosts sealing all three points thanks to Carlton Morris’s second-half strike.

The Swans boss, however, insists that Dean Whitestone’s decision not to send Richie Kyle and his Luton assistant Richie Kyle off was an over-reaction. He also went on to say he had pushed Kyle during the brawl.

When questioned on wha happened, he said, as per Wales Online: “Rob jumped on the pitch. I really like Rob, he’s an ex-team-mate of mine and then Richie got involved and I just pushed him away really to get him out of the way.

“It ends up with what it ends up in, which is two red cards. I’m not convinced it was necessary really, but it is what it is, really.

“I don’t know why Rob was unhappy. I think Walshy [Liam Walsh] and one of their players was having a little off-the-ball scuffle. I actually don’t know because the game was near their goal.

“I spoke to all the owners in the last two days and they’ve been great and they understand the context. So if you’re talking about pressure, it’s only the same pressure as everyone else. The pressure to be your best. The pressure to try and get the most out of your players.

“That wasn’t pressure. That was care for the team, and that was feeding off the players’ energy. It just didn’t need to be two red cards to be honest.

“It happens every week I think on the touchline. It just happened today at Luton where the touchlines are incredibly close to the pitch and incredibly close together.

“I said to the referee. ‘You’re going to send us both off. We’re going to have to walk across the pitch. It’s going to make your life harder for the next four minutes’.

“It really doesn’t need to happen. But it’s happened.

“I probably started it all off. I felt there was a hand to the face. I’ve come on and appealed. It’s just the emotions running high. Two teams desperate to win. That was all it was.

“Probably one of those boring ones where it’s a coming together. Bit of handbags, but nothing else.

“I’m a lover, not a fighter. I appealed and then backed off really. It allowed Richie, my bodyguard to look after me.

“I don’t think anything happened really. It was pretty boring. It was a coming together. A lot of passion and emotion.

“Me and Russ have had a chat outside and we’re all good now.”

Swansea City defeat at Luton ends in chaos as Russell Martin sent off and escorted from pitch https://t.co/c7MiBzZElc

— Swansea City Online (@SwanseaCityLive) March 4, 2023

Unhappy Swans! 🦢🤬 pic.twitter.com/CKFSDKhWXL

— We Are Luton Town (@wearelutontown) March 4, 2023

Travel to Luton.

Take a picture of a back garden.

Set off a flare.

See Tom Lockyer get three points.

Trot off home. pic.twitter.com/ZZQmeLn8F1

— We Are Luton Town (@wearelutontown) March 4, 2023

 

Hatters boss Rob Edwards said via the club website: “I know it was a really important three points. Any three points at this stage of the season are really key, but after the week we’ve had, backing up the four points that we got from the Saturday and the Tuesday, it felt today like – we put the pressure on the lads a little bit – we’ve got to find a way to win this game, and they did.

“Swansea pose you a lot of threats as you all know, and they ask a lot of questions of you without the ball because they’re so good with it and they’re going to make us run and at the end of a really tough week, we’ve got to go and we need our energy, and we probably lacked a little bit today.”

Edwards played down the touchline melee that resulted in Swansea manager Russell Martin and Hatters assistant Richie Kyle being sent off, describing it as “handbags”.

He went on: “It’s hard to explain, because I know that supporters, you’re kind of born into a football club, aren’t you? Especially as passionate fans, and you are lifelong fans and the club means so much.

“For me anyways, when you work here, and how we’ve been embraced – I can’t explain how much it means and how much it matters to us – and we are just desperate to do well, and desperate to win for the supporters, for the lads and obviously for ourselves as well.

“That’ll go for every manager, and there was passion at times. I’ve got to look at it, and stay behind the line and stay in the box. I hold my hands up on that one, but yes, we care. We care.”

On the game itself, he added: “I just felt when we played with a little bit more intensity and played forward and ran forward, got some action going, then we probably lifted the crowd a bit and then we did start getting some chances towards the end of that first half.

“I thought we deserved the goal. I was a bit disappointed we couldn’t go on and get that second, they made one or two tweaks and began to get a little bit more control. We retained a threat on the counter attacks as the game wore on, but we weren’t able to press with the same intensity as we’ve been able to do in recent weeks.

“It was a similar sort of game to Burnley, if you think how Burnley play and think we did that that night for 96, 97 minutes, today it was a bit of a different way but that’s fine, you’ve got to solve problems and we got over the line.”

This is what fans said while Luton v Swansea sees chaotic ending as Russell Martin gets sent off and escorted from the pitch…

@swanseagareth: Can he be escorted from the club ?

@NickHackett2: Why weren’t rest of coaching staff sent off & 4th official for not stopping it abysmal behaviour from adults. On both sides & 4th official

@TobinLuca: So a Swansea player gripping the throat and pushing a Luton player doesn’t result in a red haha

@iestyndavies07: Martins Surely Gonna Be Gone Now. #Swans

@DarlingSZN: Aye owners have neglected our playing squad for years now brought nobody in at January leaving us with only around 18 senior players that have played professionally for not long most of them and yet it’s all Russ’s fault 🤦‍♂️ I give up with people like Adam and the older lot

@100Jack: Not defending anything RM has done but WTF has it got to do with stewards on the pitch escorting him off the field of play. It’s the refs job and he reports back what RM does/did/didn’t do

@llyr_morgan: Sack him tonight.

@RudE_JACK: Enough is Enough.. The Process has never worked and Never Will, it’s hard to watch and we haven’t got the players ! #RMOUT 👋

@no_no_no_stopit: Bye Russ ✌️

@Peggerz1: Well if that ain’t enough to sack him idk he’s off his trolley

@GethinH69754737: Dead man walking

@JasonPaulThomas: Time for Martin to go. Enough is enough.

@SCFCHPJ: I’d much rather him show some fight & get sent off than do fuck all, still not good enough.