If Martins is again dropped for the next match...

[Zero]

Would you shout "KK out?"

 

Well just a joke but honestly I can feel that he will still play Smith and Owen and let Martins warming the bench for the coming matches.

If this goes on I wouldn't be surprised that this poll becomes a serious one

[Thespence]

When Martins starts you hear voices in crowd at SJP whinge a bit as his Shola like touch, his failure to look up,his into the crowd shooting piss people off. When Martins is on the bench same people sing his name as he offers pace, has bit of individual magic about him & has a bullet like shot.

 

I would play him as he does shoot & has a bit of pace but we are never going to go far with him as our number 9.

[wyn davies]

I was thinking Martins wasn't that brilliant when he came initially but looking at the rest of the team he appears to be a class act ,or is he still poor (ball control, offside thinking etc) and the remainder are well below standard.

[Cronky]

With Martins you get a certain package. His ball control, his link-up play and his reading of the game are all poor, but he's quick and strong, and once or twice in a game that will allow him to create or get on the end of a chance that would be beyond other players.

 

For me, that's better than what Owen is offering at the moment, although there's not a lot in it. Owen is being snuffed out.

[tmonkey]

Just have to hope we stay up and in the summer buy a few strikers like Farfan and Huntelaar (set sights high if we are rich), then get rid of these overrated donkeys up front who either cant run or cant control a football.

 

Having said that, Martins is our only hope of staying up for me, along with Zog playing in his natural position (LW).

[LoveItIfWeBeatU]

Without Martins' goals last season we'd have been in relegation trouble. He may be a rough diamond but who else in our squad apart from maybe N'Zogbia will shoot from outside the penalty area and actually hit the target occasionally?

 

I'll be livid if Smith starts upfront again ahead of Martins or Carroll.

[Guest Goalfather]

At the beginning of the season, a lot of posters could'nt wait for Owen's return. Martins was shit they said , poor firts touch and limited footballing ability and intelligence....all he had was pace but was too stupid to use it effectively. Now some of the same people are clamouring for Martins return.

 

Martins has never been a fair chance at this club and the fans have been a bit too eager to criticize. In his first season, it was essentially his goals that saved us from relegation. He played basically as a lone striker yet still managed to bag a fair amount of goals for us. However a lot of fans were never hesitant to criticize. They could'nt wait for Owen's return....consigning the "shower of shit" that was Martins to the bench. Well you guys got what you asked for . Owen  is back

 

Personally I don't think Owen is that bad a player, in a better team he will actually score goals but he is not good enough to help a team as weak as ours, because even though he is great in and around the six yard, he is not skilful or creative enough to create chances on his own. Martins is

 

People cry about his poor first touch, bad positioning etc. But I saw a lot of Martins at Inter Milan ,to tell you that this is not the case. Martins is essentially a confidence player. The more he scores, the more the fans support him , the better he plays.

 

I watched a Henry DVD the other day and I was astonished to learn that when he first came to England, he told Wenger that he did not believe that he could score many goals. His self belief was so low after his experiences with Juventus. He played badly in his first few games for Arsenal but the fans got behind him and believed in him. They did not get on his back (as we tend to do)  but supported him and he repaid their faith.

 

People say  Martins is unintelligent but to me an unintelligent player would be incapable of scoring the type of goals that Martins scores. Some of his finishing and dribbling is astonishing, what he needs is the fans and the coach to put some faith on him.. and  back him to the hilt and we would have some player

 

 

 

 

[Guest alex]

Martins should be playing like. There's no way he's the answer long-term though, no way in the world.

[Thespence]

Goalfather I am not shocked at your pro-Oba campaign with you having a picture of him as your AV & the words underneath saying "Lord Oba of the Tyne" . But he does deserve to start.

[Guest alex]

Martins is probably as unintelligent a footballer as you'll see. Fair enough singing the praises of his good points but trying to suggest he is an intelligent player is absolute bollocks.

[Unbelievable]

Martins should be playing like. There's no way he's the answer long-term though, no way in the world.

 

I find this sort of reply amazing. You must be watching a different type of game to me. How can you say a young lad who has come from another league and has needed to adapt yet still was our top scorer last season by a country mile can not be the answer long-term. I'm not saying he will ve, but I think he definetly can be if he develops in the right way. I don't buy all this intelligence crap too. Some of the best footballers around have been verging on being thick as pig shit ffs. It's football, not a contest of intelligence. Martins' game is instinctive and not everything he does will pay of, but as het gets older and stronger a higher percentage may, and his unpredictability means he will always be a thread to the opposition's defence, which is something that can't be said for any of our other strikers at the moment unfortunately. Why don't we just give him a chance to see what he can do. He's shown he's up to it before, and other players have got their chance and shown they're not capable to drag us out of the hole we're now stuck in. They are partly responsible for it you could even argue.

[Tooj]

There's normal intelligence though and basic football intelligence. Gazza and Woodgate are thick as pig shit yet are two of the most intelligent footballers you will have ever seen.

[madras]

drill into him to work the channels then his control isn't as much an issue as he'll be taken the ball on the run instead of back to goal with a centre half forcing hiom out.

 

 

 

FUCKING BASICS.

[Guest alex]

Martins should be playing like. There's no way he's the answer long-term though, no way in the world.

 

I find this sort of reply amazing. You must be watching a different type of game to me. How can you say a young lad who has come from another league and has needed to adapt yet still was our top scorer last season by a country mile can not be the answer long-term. I'm not saying he will ve, but I think he definetly can be if he develops in the right way. I don't buy all this intelligence crap too. Some of the best footballers around have been verging on being thick as pig shit ffs. It's football, not a contest of intelligence. Martins' game is instinctive and not everything he does will pay of, but as het gets older and stronger a higher percentage may, and his unpredictability means he will always be a thread to the opposition's defence, which is something that can't be said for any of our other strikers at the moment unfortunately. Why don't we just give him a chance to see what he can do. He's shown he's up to it before, and other players have got their chance and shown they're not capable to drag us out of the hole we're now stuck in. They are partly responsible for it you could even argue.

Obviously I meant a football brain. I can't believe I had to explain that in all honesty.

[Unbelievable]

Martins should be playing like. There's no way he's the answer long-term though, no way in the world.

 

I find this sort of reply amazing. You must be watching a different type of game to me. How can you say a young lad who has come from another league and has needed to adapt yet still was our top scorer last season by a country mile can not be the answer long-term. I'm not saying he will ve, but I think he definetly can be if he develops in the right way. I don't buy all this intelligence crap too. Some of the best footballers around have been verging on being thick as pig s*** ffs. It's football, not a contest of intelligence. Martins' game is instinctive and not everything he does will pay of, but as het gets older and stronger a higher percentage may, and his unpredictability means he will always be a thread to the opposition's defence, which is something that can't be said for any of our other strikers at the moment unfortunately. Why don't we just give him a chance to see what he can do. He's shown he's up to it before, and other players have got their chance and shown they're not capable to drag us out of the hole we're now stuck in. They are partly responsible for it you could even argue.

Obviously I meant a football brain. I can't believe I had to explain that in all honesty.

 

What is a football brain? Can't remember I ever had to study a football brain in biology class..

 

On a more serious note, can you not see that there are plenty of very good footballer around who don't have Zidane's vision?

[Guest alex]

It isn't just about vision etc. Anyway, I only made the point he isn't an intelligent footballer because someone else suggested he was.

[Unbelievable]

Oh, and that volleyed lob yesterday was a sign of a footballer without a football brain? Not many players (none in our squad besides Martins and Zog) have the ability to execute it, but there was more to it than that. He saw no player of his team was in a better position and the goalkeeper was a little far out, so decided to go for it. It was instinctive, but indicative of a striker's brain imho.. I'd be interested to know which players have said footballing brain anyway, because they're not creating anything even remotely looking like a chance with it..

[Cronky]

There's normal intelligence though and basic football intelligence. Gazza and Woodgate are thick as pig shit yet are two of the most intelligent footballers you will have ever seen.

 

I think it's Martins' footballing intelligence that people are questioning.

 

We've got to try something different up front. Last season, Martins did quite well with Dyer behind him, and he looks a better bet at the head of a 4-5-1 than Owen did yesterday. But if we do play him, we've got to have someone who can link him with the rest of the midfield, which isn't Owen's kind of role.

 

It's all about combinations. I get a bit worried when people start pinning their hopes on one particular individual, as though they could do things on their own. Zoggy is the other popular candidate for saviour, but it's about getting the whole team functioning better.

[Mowen]

I voted for "No" and "Fxxk off kneejerk post". I will be very disappointed but not shocked if he doesn't play though.

[Unbelievable]

It isn't just about vision etc. Anyway, I only made the point he isn't an intelligent footballer because someone else suggested he was.

 

You also concluded that he won't be good enough for us in the long term, which I find amazing considering he came from a bigger club than us where he had done alright and has been one of our only bright sparks in the one and a half season he has been with us. Not saying he's top drawer (although he may be with time and the right climate to develop), but if he's not good enough I fear you may be stuck in 2002. We are now a lower table Premiership club, and we need all the class we have out on the pitch.

[mrmojorisin75]

what is the answer long term?  torres?  tevez?  rooney? 

 

seems to me these days the increasing idea is that football can only be bought, coaching and tactics appear to have little place (apologies everton and villa etc..)

 

in martins we have a player who is limited (lets do away with the extremes eh?) yet at the same time devastating...you talk about building teams around people, we've got one...shame he's not michael owen

 

if oba had had a modicum of coaching to draw out his strengths the last 18 months and our "coaches" knew how to get the best of him we'd not be in the position we are now

 

easiest thing in the world to blame players without thinking; kelvin koogan, fat sam allardyce, glib roeder et al have a lot to answer for as so called professionals...when oba starts scoring at his next club we'll all wonder what went wrong

 

for parallels see andy cole pre man u, couldn't play for shit but he was taught where to be and how to score - 41 goals one season tells it's own story, a limited yet effective player

[Unbelievable]

There's normal intelligence though and basic football intelligence. Gazza and Woodgate are thick as pig s*** yet are two of the most intelligent footballers you will have ever seen.

 

I think it's Martins' footballing intelligence that people are questioning.

 

We've got to try something different up front. Last season, Martins did quite well with Dyer behind him, and he looks a better bet at the head of a 4-5-1 than Owen did yesterday. But if we do play him, we've got to have someone who can link him with the rest of the midfield, which isn't Owen's kind of role.

 

It's all about combinations. I get a bit worried when people start pinning their hopes on one particular individual, as though they could do things on their own. Zoggy is the other popular candidate for saviour, but it's about getting the whole team functioning better.

 

Although I am pinning my hopes on our best equipped individuals, I agree to some extent. It also helps not playing certain individuals whose only contribution seems to be to give the ball away at every opportunity or play it backwards for the defenders to lose possession by hoofing it back up the pitch. It's all about getting the right players out and making them gell..

[Tooj]

I don't think you can teach off the ball movement in the way Andy Cole had though when he was here. That's just something that you have. Also helped him having Pedro feeding him as well mind.

[madras]

I don't think you can teach off the ball movement in the way Andy Cole had though when he was here. That's just something that you have. Also helped him having Pedro feeding him as well mind.

the role of beardsley was always overplayed for me,lee and sellars being just as important.(infact sellars the more important for cole  for the first season up)

[Tooj]

I don't think you can teach off the ball movement in the way Andy Cole had though when he was here. That's just something that you have. Also helped him having Pedro feeding him as well mind.

the role of beardsley was always overplayed for me,lee and sellars being just as important.(infact sellars the more important for cole  for the first season up)

 

Liverpool at home in particular.

 

You know what I mean though Madras, Pedro was a dream for any striker to have as their partner, so unselfish, read the game superbly, everyone of his partners throughout his career have all said exactly the same.