Anyone else worried about Martins...

[tmonkey]

...and the fact that he looks a class above the shower of shit hes playing with?

 

These past two or three games, most of what was considered negative about him have dissappeared. The first touches have been good, the link up play intelligent, the passing and vision suprisingly creative, and the dribbling has at times been a joy to watch. Its only been a few games, so it still might be too early, but the way hes played over the past few games suggests hes now up to speed with the Premiership and that he has indeed turned the corner.

 

All those areas of his game were weaknesses until recently, yet he was still considered good value for 10mill because of his pace, energy, work rate, strength, leap, and of course, shooting ability, and I think that those negatives, as well as the age concerns, must have been why we ended up with him, and not another CL club. Now, if all of these weaknesses have been ironed out, that means hes basically turning into a complete player, which he looks like being on the road to - wont the big CL clubs then view him differently?

 

I think the boy is really coming on, and very soon, so will the big clubs. The major problem that I can see coming up is that we arent going to qualify for Europe, good reason for star players to want out, and even if we get 15-20 mill in for him, I dont trust the current board or manager to use that money well. Theyre more likely to blow it all as they are to find another Martins.

 

Dont know if anyone else feels this or if its a kneejerk view.

[Guest JamesD]

i imagine if we don't shape up in a few years he'll be off to a top club as one of the best strikers in the world...

[Dokko]

Can't see him staying long, i just hope we triple our money, and i think we could if he keeps going like this.

 

what worries me is the release clauses in his contract, he's bound to have them, if not we've done well.

[Wullie]

We'll do well to hang onto him, doesn't surprise me that Chelsea were reported to be sniffing. The boy's a total class act imo. Small they both may be, but him and Owen have the potential to be absolutely deadly in a side playing the right game.

[Gallowgate Toon]

he has always been good, but we didnt get him because of the age concerns, there never was any age concerns in the first place. a stupid error on a website and everybody says he is lying about his age, its ridiculous. There were a host of other top european clubs in for him but we were prepared to pay the most money. hes always good but he never improved in italy whereas he has improved at newcastle like a 22 year old should.

[Mick]

I don't usually have much good to say about Shepherd but I doubt he'd sell him.

[Gallowgate Toon]

i think he will stay to at least the end of his contract, oba appears to be a humble guy and he has only had kind words to say about newcastle, he certainly won't leave after one season with us he even admitted he loved newcastle. i think he will stay and next season we will be a huge force and i think we might win something and he will stay for a long time.

[stoli]

Spot on.  Roeder found a real gem. 

 

Haven't been able to watch many of the matches this year, but I have enjoyed watching Martins start to adapt to the English game.  I had some of the same thoughts last fall watching Owen with our squad.  Owen's vision, touch, class was far above most of the rest of the squad.  Really hope we don't blow it.

[YankeeToon]

Hopefully some sense of loyalty will keep him at least a few more seasons. After that, who knows? He's definitely got a future ahead of him, and I doubt it'll all be with us. We should get a nice hefty payoff for him when he goes, though, which should take some of the sting out of it.

[Guest smoggeordie]

I think he'll stay. Players next season around him like Owen, Dyer, Duff, Milner, Given, Taylor etc we really have the foundations laid for a great team, if we can get the defence sorted then becoming a top 4 team again isn't an impossibility.

[Dave]

I think he'll stay. Players next season around him like Owen, Dyer, Duff, Milner, Given, Taylor etc we really have the foundations laid for a great team, if we can get the defence sorted then becoming a top 4 team again isn't an impossibility.

 

Miles away IMO.

[Karjala]

I thought exactly the same today, he made some good touches, and nice passes, but they ended in the recipient doing nothing with it. One that stood out (not to have a go at Milner) was when Oba dribbled round about 3 in the centre circle, deked his man and put it out wide to an open Milner, who miss controlled and it went for a throw. Also a couple of times when Duff didnt pick him out in the box, u could see he was seething!

[tmonkey]

I don't usually have much good to say about Shepherd but I doubt he'd sell him.

 

Player power, combined with a big transfer fee, and hed be off.

 

Ie, if someone like Barcelona or ManU came in for him, and he wanted out, Shephard might not sell. But if they came in for him, and he wanted out, AND they offered 25mill, Shephard would have to consider because its silly money, especially since on paper we wouldnt be the losers - getting rid of an unhappy player and making a fortune in the process.

 

The problem I have is that I think the current lot would blow that money away, because its obvious that our scouting and recruitment methods are pretty shiite. Hence, itd be a massive blow to see Martins go because I seriously doubt well get anyone anywhere near as good. We were lucky with him - Roeder's first choice looked to have been Kuyt, who although a good forward in his own right, hasnt got anything like the ability or potential of Martins imo, and would be struggling for us as opposed to Martins excelling with nothing around him to work on.

 

As stoli says, weve landed on a gem out of the blue, its easy to forget that this is Martins' first season. The lad is already our star outfield player imo, and hes got massive potential. Would be a big, big blow to lose him purely because of a few messy transfer windows.

[Howaythelads]

...and the fact that he looks a class above the shower of shit hes playing with?

 

These past two or three games, most of what was considered negative about him have dissappeared. The first touches have been good, the link up play intelligent, the passing and vision suprisingly creative, and the dribbling has at times been a joy to watch. Its only been a few games, so it still might be too early, but the way hes played over the past few games suggests hes now up to speed with the Premiership and that he has indeed turned the corner.

 

All those areas of his game were weaknesses until recently, yet he was still considered good value for 10mill because of his pace, energy, work rate, strength, leap, and of course, shooting ability, and I think that those negatives, as well as the age concerns, must have been why we ended up with him, and not another CL club. Now, if all of these weaknesses have been ironed out, that means hes basically turning into a complete player, which he looks like being on the road to - wont the big CL clubs then view him differently?

 

I think the boy is really coming on, and very soon, so will the big clubs. The major problem that I can see coming up is that we arent going to qualify for Europe, good reason for star players to want out, and even if we get 15-20 mill in for him, I dont trust the current board or manager to use that money well. Theyre more likely to blow it all as they are to find another Martins.

 

Dont know if anyone else feels this or if its a kneejerk view.

 

It's seems there's just no end to people finding something to moan about when it comes to the board and manager. The manager finds a good player and you're still bloody moaning on. If their judgement is so shit that you don't trust them, how come they found Martins in the first place?  Did the thought never cross your mind as you were writing that post that the bit in bold is totally out of place and is absolute rubbish?

[Alberto2005]

...and the fact that he looks a class above the shower of shit hes playing with?

 

These past two or three games, most of what was considered negative about him have dissappeared. The first touches have been good, the link up play intelligent, the passing and vision suprisingly creative, and the dribbling has at times been a joy to watch. Its only been a few games, so it still might be too early, but the way hes played over the past few games suggests hes now up to speed with the Premiership and that he has indeed turned the corner.

 

All those areas of his game were weaknesses until recently, yet he was still considered good value for 10mill because of his pace, energy, work rate, strength, leap, and of course, shooting ability, and I think that those negatives, as well as the age concerns, must have been why we ended up with him, and not another CL club. Now, if all of these weaknesses have been ironed out, that means hes basically turning into a complete player, which he looks like being on the road to - wont the big CL clubs then view him differently?

 

I think the boy is really coming on, and very soon, so will the big clubs. The major problem that I can see coming up is that we arent going to qualify for Europe, good reason for star players to want out, and even if we get 15-20 mill in for him, I dont trust the current board or manager to use that money well. Theyre more likely to blow it all as they are to find another Martins.

 

Dont know if anyone else feels this or if its a kneejerk view.

 

It's seems there's just no end to people finding something to moan about when it comes to the board and manager. The manager finds a good player and you're still bloody moaning on. If their judgement is so shit that you don't trust them, how come they found Martins in the first place?  Did the thought never cross your mind as you were writing that post that the bit in bold is totally out of place and is absolute rubbish?

I agree with him tbh.

[tmonkey]

I think he'll stay. Players next season around him like Owen, Dyer, Duff, Milner, Given, Taylor etc we really have the foundations laid for a great team, if we can get the defence sorted then becoming a top 4 team again isn't an impossibility.

 

Miles away IMO.

 

Aye. Just cant see it. We need more players of Owen's, Nobby's, Dyer's and Emre's abilities as a minimum to reach that level, that needs to be the core level of players we have, with the Butt's and Milner's being on top of it.

 

Kind of like an egg.

 

http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=tbn:OXoU9pcgeXnA1M:http://www.incredibleinedibles.shoppingcartsplus.com/i/Breakfast/VC126710.jpg

 

The yolk, the main part of the egg, should be players with solid ability on the ball, whilst the other players around it should be ones with abilities that the team needs (Butt defensive steel, Milner end product) but players who can be erratic or inconsistent in the basic parts of their game.

 

Unfortunately, our yolk players are injury prone (Dyer, Emre, Owen), or getting on (Nobby) or long off the boil (Duff). I dont think weve ever had all of them playing together. The rest of the squad are all the white part of the egg, and were never going to get anywhere near top 4 with that calibre of player as wed be no better than the other mid table teams, some of whom are much more organised than us (eg Bolton).

[tmonkey]

It's seems there's just no end to people finding something to moan about when it comes to the board and manager. The manager finds a good player and you're still bloody moaning on. If their judgement is so shit that you don't trust them, how come they found Martins in the first place?  Did the thought never cross your mind as you were writing that post that the bit in bold is totally out of place and is absolute rubbish?

 

Because Kuyt wanted to go to Pool, thats why we came to land Martins - obviously opinion as no doubt only Roeder and a few others truly knew if Martins was his first choice all along.

 

It also needs to be said that a whole series of events took place that led to us getting Martins. Ie, the Italian scandal, which meant several top players went to other top clubs, which meant Inter getting Ibrahimovic, which meant Martins was suddenly unwanted.

 

I also dont recall any other club being after Martins this summer, and imo that was down to the moderately high price, raw talent, but also the age concerns. How many other players had that surrounding them?

 

Combination of things there that led us to him, one off things that arent likely to be repeated.

 

I admit im being a bit harsh on the board/manager, especially Roeder, but im merely going by the recent big money failures that weve gone through as well as the debacles of the last 2 windows. We spent 50mill under Sounses with the current chairman in charge, and right now none of the big 8m+ signings we made have done been value for money. Weve signed a player we didnt need for 5mill who has long been off form and nothing like he used to be, and weve also signed several players who are nowhere near good enough to be playing - along with one who cant even get fit. I think theyve earned the seeds of doubt that they plant in the fans' mind.

[James]

Martins was well pissed off with Steve Harper today. Goal kick after goal kick, if Haper had played it long and wide six seconds earlier, Martins would have had an opportunity to break forwars.

[Guest Alan Shearer 9]

the only thing I'm worried about is opposition goalkeepers; I hope none of them experience a painful death after Martrin's strikes them through the face

[Cajun]

...and the fact that he looks a class above the shower of shit hes playing with?

 

These past two or three games, most of what was considered negative about him have dissappeared. The first touches have been good, the link up play intelligent, the passing and vision suprisingly creative, and the dribbling has at times been a joy to watch. Its only been a few games, so it still might be too early, but the way hes played over the past few games suggests hes now up to speed with the Premiership and that he has indeed turned the corner.

 

All those areas of his game were weaknesses until recently, yet he was still considered good value for 10mill because of his pace, energy, work rate, strength, leap, and of course, shooting ability, and I think that those negatives, as well as the age concerns, must have been why we ended up with him, and not another CL club. Now, if all of these weaknesses have been ironed out, that means hes basically turning into a complete player, which he looks like being on the road to - wont the big CL clubs then view him differently?

 

I think the boy is really coming on, and very soon, so will the big clubs. The major problem that I can see coming up is that we arent going to qualify for Europe, good reason for star players to want out, and even if we get 15-20 mill in for him, I dont trust the current board or manager to use that money well. Theyre more likely to blow it all as they are to find another Martins.

 

Dont know if anyone else feels this or if its a kneejerk view.

 

It's seems there's just no end to people finding something to moan about when it comes to the board and manager. The manager finds a good player and you're still bloody moaning on. If their judgement is so shit that you don't trust them, how come they found Martins in the first place?  Did the thought never cross your mind as you were writing that post that the bit in bold is totally out of place and is absolute rubbish?

 

Given the fact that 1/6th of Roeder's transfer so far have have significantly improved the team I would think there is good cause for worry.

[Newcastle Fan]

If he comes good,and turns into a top goal scorer,i am sure we will keep him

 

The only way we will sell him afterwards is if he decides to leave,wich hopefully won't happen.

[Alberto2005]

We must remember that Martins could have been a flop, not doing well for us and not a price to sell at, instead he's in top form which we benefit from and his price is rising game upon game.

[Wullie]

Just like to remind everyone what NUFC.com said about him.

 

You could also argue that Mr Martins put in one of the most inept, clueless and woeful displays that the famous number 9 shirt has ever witnessed. He wasn't particularly fast, his first touch was poor, his second, third and fourth touches weren't much better and his strength on the ball was non-existent. A less equipped player for Premiership football is hard to imagine (Lord I hope I eat those words). And you know what, I think he was trying.

 

[Cajun]

The one thing we have going for us at the moment is Martin's has already been at a top club and knows what its like to play second fiddle, the reason he asked to leave. Now he may improve and may be very much in contention for a first team place at a bigger club but he may not want to take the gamble. I think he likes being the big fish in a smaller pond.

[Alberto2005]

The one thing we have going for us at the moment is Martin's has already been at a top club and knows what its like to play second fiddle, the reason he asked to leave. Now he may improve and may be very much in contention for a first team place at a bigger club but he may not want to take the gamble. I think he likes being the big fish in a smaller pond.

True.