RYAN Manning has revealed why he thinks so many players enjoy their time playing for Saints boss Russell Martin.

The Irish International is now in his third consecutive season working under Martin, having followed the former Scotland international to St Mary's this summer.

Speaking to the Daily Echo during Saints' pre-season camp out in Turkey he outlined why he believed his transfer to Southampton, following his Swansea City departure, was the right call.

He said: “There was Premier League interest but this felt right for me and it was my gut feeling on things. Coming here was definitely what I wanted to do.

“I want to get promotion from the Championship into the Premier League and I think there is no better club to be at than here for that.”

Over a month on from arriving on a free transfer, Manning has expanded on why his gut feeling told him to make the move to St Mary's.

“I think the playing style helps because it’s so consistent," he told the Daily Echo.

"Everything from the pre-act, the warmups and so on is geared towards the style of football that we play.

"I also think it’s down to the fact he gives players the love that they need.

“I think a lot of players can fall out of love with the game at times when it becomes so results-driven and robotic.

"Under the staff here you do really enjoy it. Training is class and you’re never going to complain about having too much of the ball.

“He just knows how to get the best out of people - that’s probably one of his strongest attributes."

Upon linking back up with his former boss on the south coast, Manning described his final season at Swansea as the best of his career.

Daily Echo: Pictures from Southampton's 4-4 draw with Norwich City

The 27 year, who has just been recalled to the Ireland squad for the first time in over a year, recorded a career-best five goals and 10 assists.

When speaking to the Daily Echo last month, Flynn Downes, another member of the squad who worked with Martin in South Wales, was in agreement with his teammate about Martin's personability.

“It’s no coincidence that so many players have the best seasons of their career under him," Manning continued. 

"I’m just hoping that continues here and loads of the boys kick on and score loads of goals.

“It goes back to the consistency, it’s so consistent in terms of the way he wants you to play that you can be having a tough time results-wise, which we did at Swansea.

“We had a big dip towards the middle of last season but nothing changed from him and we ended up going on a run of winning nine out of ten games at the end of the season.

"That just shows that he doesn’t panic, he knows what he’s doing and exactly how to get the best out of players.

“He also knows when things aren’t going right that he doesn’t get flustered.

"It’s the consistency that is the best part and I think that’s probably why so many of us have had our best seasons under him."