Martin was sacked and replaced by Ivan Juric earlier this season at St Mary's.
Sulemana told the Daily Echo: "I respect Russell so much, I learnt a lot from him and I think he's going to do great in his career in the way he's playing.
"Maybe I'm not his ultimate style of playing that he wants to play, and that's fair - and you could tell that's why I wasn't playing, I think.
"I don't think it was anything to do with attitude-wise, it was nothing to do with training-wise, it was nothing to do with anything character-wise.
"I think it was more his tactics, it was more who he felt was going to help him. Whether he believed in me or not, that's for him to come out and say.
"We have respect for each other, we had very good conversations when I wasn't playing and when I played, we have a big respect for each other.
"When we speak, I feel like he tells me what he has on his mind and I tell him what I have on my mind. We haven't always agreed on the same point."
He added, "He shaped my mentality because when I wasn't playing, I had to be a different kind of player, work 200 per cent, do more.
"I had to always try my best to do double in order to maybe get the chance to play, so I think he's made me the way stronger mentality-wise.
"It's not about mourning when things go wrong because obviously if I was mourning, I would have mourned for the whole season, that would be tiring.
"I just kept my head down and supported the team when I was on the bench. That's very unusual for a young player. When you're on the bench, you're sulking.
"You don't really want the team to do well so you can get a chance - but he got to a point where I want the team to do well, I felt part of the team.
"Even though I wasn't playing, I was supporting behind, training well for the players starting to play better and I think that's shaped my mentality."