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It wasn't pretty, but from a team perspective it was a 'corner turner'..... and a moment's reflection.

Martins' goal on Saturday doesn't rank up there with his effort at Spurs, or the other highlight reel specials which have become something of an accepted cliche where the said player's debut season is concerned but there were elements to that goal which re-wound the clock by two seasons and left me smiling on the inside.

In most instances, and for most frontmen that is, the striker has no right to 'possibly win that ball' - especially a speculative throughball which hasn't been played through the centre of the park. Agger had a meter or two start on Oba but Reina, and goalkeepers do their homework on their prospective opponents before gameday, respected the two main strengths which are part of Martin's considerable armoury - those strengths being his prodigious pace and his ability to shoot the ball 'first time' with power and more importantly from any angle with both feet - and it's this threat posed which led to Reina rushing out.... causing a defensive calamity in the process. It was heartwarming to watch, and this element - ie. pressuring the defence via upfront speed & commitment - has been devoid from our game for a considerable period time, since the Scottish shithead worked his magic here.

Admittedly Bellamy didn't possess the same level of long range shooting, but the commitment - and the pressure inflicted on the opposition - shown by Martins bore resemblance to the former and supposed 'cancer of the club'. The same 'cancer of the club' unceremoniously booed on Saturday, who ironically played a huge part in the career resurrection of a bloke who will soon have a bronze statue erected in his honor.

It's a shame that we nearly had to wait two seasons for a repeat....... and not just a sole peformance at the other end of the pitch.

Very good post and totally agreed. Without Bellamy in the team Shearer almost immediately became much less effective and became a bit of a liability on the playing style, which became completely one-dimensional due to his inability to create space for himself and get away from his marker. We became much easier to defend against, not helped by the injury to Owen.  Shearer on his own offered no threat at all and he certainly wasn't helped by Ameobi so Martin's is a like a breath of fresh air.

He's improving more or less game by game right now and long may it continue.  It does look as though he's going to become a top player so let's hope we get a season out of Owen alongside him and can provide the supply these players need. This is the area I'm more concerned with than anything right now. The midfield remains unbalanced and needs sorting out. Still, one step at a time and we all need patience.

After being initially unimpressed by what I would say the "raw" Obafemi Martins, in recent weeks (closer to months) he has won me over. I was a keen admirer of his skills in his Inter Milan days and had memories of his awesome performance against Arsenal at Highbury in the Champions League when we signed him. These days, in the games he has played he has looked that same player again. I don't think Dyer does him any harm as a partner but I certainly don't think it helps him either. I would prefer to see Oba partnered with either Owen, who has fantastic movement rather than that of the headless chicken variety of Dyer, or a bigger, stronger target man style foraward (with more mobility than Shearer). If we sign a target man ala Ashton, Crouch etc. I think we will have a versdatile front line capable of playing numerous opponents, in the way Benitez, Ferguson and Wenger casn all call on different partnerships for different situations. This can only be of the benefit of the club as a whole as opposed to having two first choice striker that play every week and two disgruntled reserve strikers.

For me I'd be happier with the Owen type of partner than someone like Crouch in particular.

i agree very much with the notion that reina came out because he knew what he was up against - everyone else has written it off as a goalkeeping error - i'm not so sure it was, he took a chance and collided with agger, that's all....

great determination by martins!

I think Owen getting fit will improve Oba's game. In training Owen who has excellent movement will surely rub off on Oba. Raw is a word used in this topic and he has high quality raw talent, this lad has potential to be a major superstar and the chance to work alongside someone like Owen could only benefit him.

Pace is something that will frighten the best of defenders.

Well done Oba keep it up!

Martins has improved at a phenomenal rate over the last couple of months - real buzz every time he gets the ball now. Be interesting to see how he links with Owen, but having 2 top strikers on the pitch at the same time will be a great sight!

First time since Shearer and Sir Les in their primes.

Martins' pressing play is very good, but not at Bellamy's level quite yet. I have noticed though with Martins that players are attempting to close him down quicker due to that Spurs strike, and he'll have to learn to cope with that close contact type of defending. The good thing about Martins is that he has the skills, pace and strength to wriggle out of tight situations. I can see us winning a lot of free-kicks from Martins for years to come.

Very good post, Shaman. Agree wholeheartedly. That's about it really!

Oh and... i'm so excited to see what him and Owen will be like.

I once said that what makes a team, both attacking and defending wise, is a pacy striker.
I was pretty much slagged, mind. shows your how fickle the forum members are tbh...

Likewise, because both strikers offer two distinct threats. Those threats being Owen's movement - the diagonal runs off-the-ball, and his movement & ability to shake-off defenders inside the box ie. dropping-off one centrehalve's shoulder & popping-up between the wingback and the centrehalf in accordance to the cross' trajectory... there's a usually a brief moment where the defensive line, the centrehalves in particular, lose track of him - and Martin's ability to create havok outside the box.

Hence i'm not a great believer that you must a have 'target man-little man' partnership upfront - for me it's about having a variety of threats available, and an Owen-Martins partnership has great potential in this sense especially with Martins' link-up play improving week-by-week. He's going to draw defenders out of position as a result of centrehalves paying his shooting due respect, fracturing the opposition's rearguard across the line in the process leaving space for Owen, and i think Martins' has demonstrated in recent times - ie. playing Butt into space against Spurs -  that not only does he have the skill but i think he'll have the necessary vision to spot Owen's aforementioned diagonal runs off-the-ball. On a similar note, and for similar reasons, i felt that Defoe & Owen would work as an upfront pairing because imo Defoe's outfield and general link-up play are both underrated.

On a sidenote Martins' improving sideline-to-sideline lateral movement will prove to be an invaluable asset alongside the centrally operating Owen, as was the case when the supposed 'club cancer' was plying his trade here resurrecting Shearer's career in the process, because not only will he draw defender's out wide - away from Owen.... akin to HTL's earlier point - but we'll also have a sideline-to-sideline attacking balance ranging from the 'attacking hole' to penalty box, giving the opposition rearguard an ever-changing look forcing them to adjust their match-ups continiously, preventing their centrehalves from getting comfortable. This element of Bellamy's game was sorely missed in the wake of Clueless' handywork/demolition job inflicted on the club.

Hopefully both players will enjoy a full off-season, developing a 'strikers' understanding' and learning each other's games out on the training paddock.

Great observation, in keeping with your usual standard if I may say so mate .......

Can't believe that people booed someone who didn't want to leave the club, must be right idiots. What sort of reception would the Scottish fuckpig get ? Logic says the same people would cheer him and shake his hand if they met him .....

Martins is settling down well now. He still blows hot and cold for me, but his attitude is great and with a quality partner can only get better.

Souness was right Bellamy was a cancer at the club but it was said for all the wrong reasons.

Personally, i dont think great managers give a flying f*** about whether a player is a trouble maker or not. SBR didn't mind, Fergi didn't mind with Keane or Cantona and Souness' problem was that he had no idea how to deal with this type of modern footballer. I fully agree that Bellamy is a little c*** but look around the premiership sadly these days all the best players are cunts.

Drogba and Ronaldo are the two best players this year and i hate both of them with a passion. Souness would have drove them out the door too. 

Souness was a bigger cancer than Bellamy ever could have been.

But i dont think Drogba and Ronaldo have the baggage off the pitch that bellamy does, although i see your point.

I can't say I share the optimism about Martins and Owen as a partnership, but no doubt we'll get a chance to see.

It all depends on Martins playing in the more withdrawn, creative role that Bellamy and before him Beardsley did so well for us. Personally, I don't think he's got the ball control or the football intelligence to do it that well. I like him, but I see him as a finisher like Owen, and Roeder may need to show some courage to choose between the two.

I am also unconvinced. Owen has been lacking movement for sometime and after this injury - who knows. He is the best finisher in the Premiership though and has a way of losing his marker at just the right time (Gary Lineker all over again).

Neither of them are particularly good at passing but Martins is improving. I would like to see them both up front if we have Solano and Emre in the midfield actually working the ball up and getting some intelligent crosses in. Having Emre means probably losing Dyer in the middle and going with Butt (or the mysteriously mis-matched Parker) - or having Dyer on the left.

Back to the subject at hand: Martins is getting better and running down the ball like that shows committment and energy. Keeper mistake or not, you need a striker who wants it that bad and in 1/100 times you'll score. That goal actually reminded me of Shearer's five years ago against Citeh. It was kick-off for Citeh they passed it back to Steve Howey who fluffed a back pass to the 'keeper - Shearer kept running it down and the 'keeper miskicked it at Shearer leaving him with the ball and an open net. He scored in the first 10 seconds of the game or something. Hard work does pay off... eventually.

Shaman's second post was one of the most uplifting / optimistic things i've seen written on the club in eons.  O0

Think Martins and Owen will work if we play a support striker near them like Dyer has been with Martins. Could try the Zog there in a few of our easier home games when he comes back?

With Dyer in that role and Butt, Duff and Milner on form in the midfield we will be good against lesser clubs. Even with others on the wings though we arent there yet as an attacking force. We need another striker to give us other options. Owen and Martins is a perfect first choice but we need height and strength too.

I can't see that working. We might create some space but how will we defend from the front with those three? Also Dyer is not a playmaker so all of that space would be wasted without any prolonged posession or chances being made and if we put Emre in there withOUT Parker or Butt holding (since Dyer would be taking the other CM role) we would be completely overrun on the counter-attack. After about fiev minutes our defenders would be resorting to hoofing it an dit would be route one football with no height... could work against some teams but would disasterous other times.

Too true!

I agree with this.

I'm far from convinced that Owen and Martins will work. Owen and Martins may well get us goals to put lesser sides to the sword as individuals but I'm concerned whether that will be to the detriment of the midfield or other key players. And against a decent back-four or a top team I think the two would struggle and for that reason alone I'd like us to bring in a traditional centre-forward type to give us variation in attack for such games.

Martins comes deep while Owen drifts wide a lot or makes diagonal runs, so where is our presence in the centre? Another concern, if we are to get the best out of Owen inside the box where he is at his most deadliest, who plays him in? We lack a playmaker. And because we have no-one to hold the ball up centrally, Owen won't be able to feed off that. I don't think we'll get the Owen back he was either, I think he'll not be as able to fashion chances for himself as much as he once did or play on the last man's shoulder like he did, he'll have to work far harder and add a few dimensions to his game to be as productive as he was.

The two will score goals still, but I don't think we'll see any real pattern up there and as already stated, the better defences will handle them well in my opinion as a partnership. Both players are hard players to match up but the beauty about Martins is I don't think it matters who or what type of partner plays alongside him, I think he'll always play the same way and be the same type of player and with it having the same old impact. Owen, I'm not so sure, especially now after this injury.

Time will tell of course and fingers crossed, I hope they click, if they do... goals galore.

So that's Oba and Owen to fight it out for the honour of partnering Shola?  O0

And booing somebody who still gave 100% effort out on the pitch despite being 'targeted for removal', and reportedly belittled in front of the entire 1st team squad by egomaniac in charge. Bellamy's performance level at the time, even when played out of position, imo overshadowed Shearer's showings and the subsequent body language & effort displayed out on the pitch during the final months of Gullit's tenureship. Both players', at their respective troubled periods at the club, days were numbered - ie. if both managers had their way - under two managers who had absolutely no confidence in the players in question whether it be for footballing or non-footballing reasons. So by comparing both Bellamy and Shearer's respective levels of effort & commitment during the aforementioned periods there's alot to be said in favour Bellamy's intestinal fortitude when faced with the environment of being targetted by an incumbent manger in charge. I know many supporters will obviously will take issue this point just because Bellamy and Shearer have mentioned in the same breath of air - as a point of comparison that is.

On to another comparison, that being Bellamy's reception on the weekend & Owen's at Anfield last year. Owen, with the aid of his agent - by constantly stalling contract talks & essentially playing Houllier and the Liverpool for fools for about 18 months, engineered his way out of Anfield so his reception was to be expected. Many Liverpool supporters think ill of him and understandably so - he was developed & nurtured by the club before taking the piss.

The reception afforded to Bellamy - ie. for a bloke who wanted to stay, contrary to Owen at Liverpool - was sad indeed. The same clowns, and they were probably the same type who were spouting s**** in the manner of "i hope somebody snaps the little Welsh f***ers legs off" in the week leading up to the game. I wonder if they also, and this refers to your point as to whether or not they'd shake the Scottish shitstain's hand, nodded in aknowlegement while shedding tears when Shearer dedicated his record breaking goal to the very same shitstain.

that could be matched by the beardsley/waddle receptions at SJP after moving.

strange for a player who gave 100%for us he told robson to "f*** off" and disobeyed match instructions,said if we bought rooney would have to /"consider his position"..even before this weekends shenanigans rumours were in hubcapland he was on his way this summer.as for body language blah blah,think of bellamys when played wide then think of taylors,solanos,milners,duffswhen played out of position...ffs man even steven carr!!!!!!

Perhaps there's some forward thinking and planning going on here because Roeder already knows that Owen will be going.

More often than not talented players have an ego attached. In Bellamy's case there's a combustable personality to match, like Roy Keane. Robson's problem wasn't that he took s****/outbursts with a pinch of salt, afterall decent managers know that occasionally they have to let their players release a bit of steam on occasion. Roy Keane's frequent outbursts at training are an example. Ferguson took onboard Keane's personality, was prepared to live with it and the product was a decade or so worth of top football. That's decent man-management and i think Robson was handling Bellamy in a similar type fashion. IMO where Robson got it all wrong was the incessant need to blow hot air up the arses of the likes of Dyer, Jenas et al.... and Bellamy can be included to a lesser extent. By throwing out constant praise some of these blokes - ie. especially Dyer - thought they had become world-beaters and began to take the piss out of their careers.

Another excellent post. It's all so clearly obvious when you write it down like that, who the hell can disagree but some will? It really beats me why others can't see that you're posting sound sense here.

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To be honest i thought Bellamy's body language at the time, when employed on the right, bordered more on 'frustration' rather than a 'couldn't be f**cked' attitude. That frustration eminating from being the club's best player, a player who had just begun to hit a rich vein of form upfront, and knowing that he was far more capable of getting job done than the two lumbering & individually ineffective strikers whom Souness preferred up top......... one striker who should've been fourth choice, and the other a local icon - and Souness' mate - who was effectively finished the previous season in terms of no longer being a productive striker at the EPL level. Grounds for frustration imo, on Bellamy's part that is.

As for disobeying match instructions. Do you think Christiano Ronaldo follows orders/instruction to the very last letter? Players' of Ronaldo and Bellamy's ilk are free wielding playmakers, and once again effective managers - from both a strategic & man-management standpoint - are prepared to live with their moments of indiscipline as you have outlined because at the end of the day the reward, this being the unpredictable & matchwinning moments of brilliance for which they're capable of, is worth the price of admission on the manager's part.

I think Robson handled Bellamy as well as any manager could, especially considering he's run into difficulties after less than a season at Liverpool. Robson knew that Bellamy was a key player in the team, and to get rid of him would have been to see us sink back into mid-table. I think the trouble was that Bellamy then became more and more aware of his power, and became more and more out of hand. It seems that it was reaching a point where Bellamy would have to go, although I don't think Robson can really be blamed for the problem escalating in the way that it did. He had to take the chance that the kid gloves would work.

Where I'd differ is the comparison with Roy Keane. Yes, Keane had a temper, but he always put the team before his own individual interests. I've never heard any story that he abused Ferguson - only team mates who he thought were slacking. It explains why Keane seems to have taken to management quite easily. Bellamy still seems to be a big, self-centred kid who thinks the world's against him whenever he can't do what he wants.