Obafemi Martins

[Neil]

Sounds like Shearer has got the firm-but-fair approach right in this case. Obviously not happy with him but not stupid enough to exclude him from future games.

[Dave]

Aye, we still need him so it's right Shearer doesn't freeze him out before the summer at least.

[Jayson]

Good players can still consistently score in s*** teams, Martins (who is considered s**** by a proportion of people) while he has been here has scored against 3 of the top 4 in England, Owen hasn't. Look at James Beatty he's scored a lot for a s*** team and he did it for Southampton as well.

 

To much of a general statement once again. Things are never just black and white. Martins and Owen are two different players with different strengths and weaknesses. Owens strengths are his runs off the ball & his finishing after that. His ability to get onto good crosses.

 

Martins strengths are what he can do running with the ball & the fact he has a strong shot on him from around the area.

They both have others obviously, but those are the main ones.

 

Clearly its easier to play to Martins strengths than to Owens for a crap team who cannot pass. As you're relying on him to do more for himself. This doesnt make Martins a better player than Owen, just a different player. If we played to Owens strengths he'd be the better player in terms of finishing off a move as his runs are more likely to end up with goals than Martins having the odd smash at goal. He's also a more clinical finisher.

 

Raul is the same kind of player. He doesnt work magic all by himself, but hes brilliant with his movement & with service he's become one of the best in Europe.

 

Point being it becomes even harder to play to owens strengths when you're playing the best sides in the country. As they'll make it hard for you to pick out passes, they'll watch runs better....they'll pressurize better etc.

 

I dont really see the confusion tbh

[Thespence]

Good players can still consistently score in s*** teams, Martins (who is considered s**** by a proportion of people) while he has been here has scored against 3 of the top 4 in England, Owen hasn't. 

 

Are you saying Oba cant score against the shite teams/our rivals? Only up for the big games, what a big time Charlie or as they say in Manchester what a Ince.

 

Owen & Oba are both about the same when it comes to scoring goals.

[BeloEmre]

"I understand why the manager was frustrated because he had to change his plans," said Martins. "But I woke up in so much pain that I knew I could not give 100%, so I decided I couldn't play. I didn't want to let the team down. And, with so many important games coming up, I needed to think about staying fit for the future."

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/apr/14/obafemi-martins-alan-shearer-newcastle-united

[Thespence]

Cheers for the link

 

Found this part interesting:

 

Keen not to displease a man who, the Nigerian's friends claimed, had in the past criticised him during his former role as a BBC Match of the Day pundit, the striker kept his groin problems quiet. It proved the wrong decision as, when Martins awoke in agony on Saturday before accepting he could not be involved at Stoke, Shearer was understandably annoyed.

 

Martins also neglected to inform the former England captain he was not capable of coping with the high-intensity, high-tempo training sessions which are newly de rigueur at the club.

 

It now seems that a rapprochement has been reached whereby Martins has made it clear that he has "no problem" with a manager he harbours considerable respect for and Shearer has accepted that his groin problem will need managing between now and the end of the season.

 

It is also understood that the player appreciates why Shearer, the television pundit, previously expressed frustration with Martins's struggles to harness his blistering pace and ability for Newcastle's overall benefit.

[Heron]

Cheers for the link

 

Found this part interesting:

 

Keen not to displease a man who, the Nigerian's friends claimed, had in the past criticised him during his former role as a BBC Match of the Day pundit, the striker kept his groin problems quiet. It proved the wrong decision as, when Martins awoke in agony on Saturday before accepting he could not be involved at Stoke, Shearer was understandably annoyed.

 

Martins also neglected to inform the former England captain he was not capable of coping with the high-intensity, high-tempo training sessions which are newly de rigueur at the club.

 

It now seems that a rapprochement has been reached whereby Martins has made it clear that he has "no problem" with a manager he harbours considerable respect for and Shearer has accepted that his groin problem will need managing between now and the end of the season.

 

It is also understood that the player appreciates why Shearer, the television pundit, previously expressed frustration with Martins's struggles to harness his blistering pace and ability for Newcastle's overall benefit.

 

What does de rigueur mean?

[Greg]

Cheers for the link

 

Found this part interesting:

 

Keen not to displease a man who, the Nigerian's friends claimed, had in the past criticised him during his former role as a BBC Match of the Day pundit, the striker kept his groin problems quiet. It proved the wrong decision as, when Martins awoke in agony on Saturday before accepting he could not be involved at Stoke, Shearer was understandably annoyed.

 

Martins also neglected to inform the former England captain he was not capable of coping with the high-intensity, high-tempo training sessions which are newly de rigueur at the club.

 

It now seems that a rapprochement has been reached whereby Martins has made it clear that he has "no problem" with a manager he harbours considerable respect for and Shearer has accepted that his groin problem will need managing between now and the end of the season.

 

It is also understood that the player appreciates why Shearer, the television pundit, previously expressed frustration with Martins's struggles to harness his blistering pace and ability for Newcastle's overall benefit.

 

What does de rigueur mean?

 

It's French I think, similar meaning to protocol or standard.

[Dave]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=de+rigueur

[tmonkey]

To be fair to Martins, the one thing on his side here is that his motive for feigning injury isn't too clear.

 

It's easy to say that he bottled it because Stoke are a big team who are relatively dirty, but then most of the Premiership is filled with big centrebacks, and I don't think Stoke are any more dirty than at least half the teams in the league. In fact, are they even a dirty team as opposed to an ugly one? And as he's a short, pacey striker, I seriously doubt Shearer would have had Martins defending corners and throw ins in the penalty box, so it's not like their aggression inside our box is something he'd have to wory about.

 

Bellamy feigned injury for us under Souness, but then that's because he resented being played out of position and had been picked on by a manager renowned for being a grade A prick. Martins, as far as we know, was starting in a 4-3-3 and would not have been out of position. Even if he's been asked to play wide, he's done so on numerous occasions without looking unhappy. And in comparison to Souness, Shearer (as far as we know) has done nothing but praise Martins.

 

And if he did feign injury, why wait till the morning of the match? I'm sure he's thick as mince like many other footballers, but if he didn't want to play against Stoke, why make it so obviously suspcious when he could have feigned an injury any time during midweek? There's the possibility of wanting to hide it from the physios or club doctor (assuming we have one), but then again, I seriously doubt he's not capable of feigning an injury they can't prove.

 

A lot of assumptions, and to be perfectly frank it does look like he did bottle it, but as Henry Fonda would say if this were the case being debated in 12 Angry Men, its possible that he did wake up to a painful groin/thigh.

[Guest Heneage]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=de+rigueur

That's brilliant this will be terribly terribly ironic, but how do you do that!

[Greg]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=de+rigueur

That's brilliant this will be terribly terribly ironic, but how do you do that!

http://tinyurl.com/632hcv

[Robster]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=de+rigueur

That's brilliant this will be terribly terribly ironic, but how do you do that!

http://tinyurl.com/632hcv

[Dave]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=de+rigueur

That's brilliant this will be terribly terribly ironic, but how do you do that!

http://tinyurl.com/632hcv

 

[Wullie]

To be fair to Martins, the one thing on his side here is that his motive for feigning injury isn't too clear.

 

It's easy to say that he bottled it because Stoke are a big team who are relatively dirty, but then most of the Premiership is filled with big centrebacks, and I don't think Stoke are any more dirty than at least half the teams in the league. In fact, are they even a dirty team as opposed to an ugly one? And as he's a short, pacey striker, I seriously doubt Shearer would have had Martins defending corners and throw ins in the penalty box, so it's not like their aggression inside our box is something he'd have to wory about.

 

Bellamy feigned injury for us under Souness, but then that's because he resented being played out of position and had been picked on by a manager renowned for being a grade A prick. Martins, as far as we know, was starting in a 4-3-3 and would not have been out of position. Even if he's been asked to play wide, he's done so on numerous occasions without looking unhappy. And in comparison to Souness, Shearer (as far as we know) has done nothing but praise Martins.

 

And if he did feign injury, why wait till the morning of the match? I'm sure he's thick as mince like many other footballers, but if he didn't want to play against Stoke, why make it so obviously suspcious when he could have feigned an injury any time during midweek? There's the possibility of wanting to hide it from the physios or club doctor (assuming we have one), but then again, I seriously doubt he's not capable of feigning an injury they can't prove.

 

A lot of assumptions, and to be perfectly frank it does look like he did bottle it, but as Henry Fonda would say if this were the case being debated in 12 Angry Men, its possible that he did wake up to a painful groin/thigh.

 

That's very bizarre, I have literally just finished watching that (brilliant film), as in I paused it on "the end", picked the computer up and opened this thread.

[Dave]

Ridiculously long link.

Newcastle's Obafemi Martins clears the air with manager Alan Shearer after no show

Newcastle striker Obafemi Martins say he has patched up his differences with Alan Shearer after incurring his manager's wrath with his 11th-hour withdrawal from the side that faced Stoke City last weekend.

 

The Nigerian has insisted that he has "no problem" with Shearer as he defended his decision to pull out of the side picked for duty in the relegation six-pointer at the Britannia Stadium just four hours before kick-off last Saturday.

 

Martins held talks with Shearer yesterday at Newcastle's Darsley Park training ground to resolve matters after he claimed a nagging groin problem had prevented him from playing in the Potteries.

 

He will escape punishment for his move but his actions are bound to leave a question mark over his long-term future at St James' Park although Martins is now claiming he put the team before himself last weekend.

 

"I understand why the manager was frustrated because he had to change his plans," said Martins.

 

"But I woke up in so much pain that I knew I could not give 100 per cent, so I decided I couldn't play.

 

"I didn't want to let the team down and, with so many important games coming up, I needed to think about staying fit for the future."

 

Now it seems Shearer is willing spare Martins from the club's high-intensity training routines which he has introduced in a bid to revive the club's flagging Premier League fortunes.

 

It is being claimed that the 24-year-old Martins has been suffering with a groin problem for weeks but for some reason chose to keep the problem quiet from Shearer who expressed disappointment with his charge following the 1-1 draw at Stoke.

 

His plans for the match had to be urgently revised by Martins' withdrawal because he had been planning to play a 3-4-3 formation until the player delivered the bad news.

 

Martins joined Newcastle in a £10 million transfer deal from Inter Milan in 2006 to replace Shearer and was handed his iconic No9 shirt but has struggled to achieve consistency since heading to England.

 

Nevertheless, Martins has scored 27 goals in 82 appearances for Newcastle, including six in 12 matches earlier this season before he was sidelined with a hamstring injury.

 

Martins also underwent hernia surgery in Germany three months ago when he was operated on by the renowned specialist Dr Ulrike Muschaweck in Munich.

[Robster]

Hopefully thats the last we hear of this, this week.

We dont need this dragging on for days on end

[Guest sicko2ndbest]

Back tracking faster than a Jacko moonwalk. It will go one of 2 ways:

 

He will have a point to prove and keep us up

 

He will sulk over the coverage and stay in the background

[Tooj]

Imagine the grief Owen would get if he had done this.

[NG32]

Imagine the grief Owen would get if he had done this.

 

He is a cunt tho and we all know it.

 

He has raped this club silly one to many times.

 

Oba is mint tho.

[johnnypd]

To be fair to Martins, the one thing on his side here is that his motive for feigning injury isn't too clear.

 

It's easy to say that he bottled it because Stoke are a big team who are relatively dirty, but then most of the Premiership is filled with big centrebacks, and I don't think Stoke are any more dirty than at least half the teams in the league. In fact, are they even a dirty team as opposed to an ugly one? And as he's a short, pacey striker, I seriously doubt Shearer would have had Martins defending corners and throw ins in the penalty box, so it's not like their aggression inside our box is something he'd have to wory about.

 

Bellamy feigned injury for us under Souness, but then that's because he resented being played out of position and had been picked on by a manager renowned for being a grade A prick. Martins, as far as we know, was starting in a 4-3-3 and would not have been out of position. Even if he's been asked to play wide, he's done so on numerous occasions without looking unhappy. And in comparison to Souness, Shearer (as far as we know) has done nothing but praise Martins.

 

And if he did feign injury, why wait till the morning of the match? I'm sure he's thick as mince like many other footballers, but if he didn't want to play against Stoke, why make it so obviously suspcious when he could have feigned an injury any time during midweek? There's the possibility of wanting to hide it from the physios or club doctor (assuming we have one), but then again, I seriously doubt he's not capable of feigning an injury they can't prove.

 

A lot of assumptions, and to be perfectly frank it does look like he did bottle it, but as Henry Fonda would say if this were the case being debated in 12 Angry Men, its possible that he did wake up to a painful groin/thigh.

 

we still don't know if bellamy did feign injury (before the liverpool match iirc), that was something said by souness as the mud slinging began and bellamy always denied it. looking at this case it looks like Martins did have a strain and Shearer was more pissed off with the timing than with the legimitacy of the injury.

[merlin]

Imagine the grief Owen would get if he had done this.

 

He is a c*** tho and we all know it.

 

He has raped this club silly one to many times.

 

Oba is mint tho.

 

If you think Martins is 'Mint', I'm glad you aren't in the Gold trade because I wouldn't buy any from you..!

[Nobody]

Imagine the grief Owen would get if he had done this.

It's not like Martins hasn't got grief over this.

[Skirge]

He got grief and rightly so but fact us Oba is quick to come out and say whats whatm put his saide and try to move on. WE shall see at the weekend how things are with him and Al if Oba's fit and doesn't play then yup they have an issue if he does play alls well.

[Thespence]

If scores the goals that win us the game against Spurs who gives a s*** if didn't fancy getting kicked by Faye & Shawcross.