Russell Martin

[BroadstairsR 2,135]

Some of the criticism of RM in this thread has been OTT to the point of being ridiculous.

A ''liability in the Championship turns out to be included in the player''s Championship team of the season. Eh?

There have been three manager''s who constantly selected him for centre half as well. Gordon Strachan always gave him the shout over others, particularly the much-rated Christophe Berra from binland, for selection for Scotland.

He has been an excellent servant for us and, unlike a few others on the books, owes the Club nothing.

Having said that, times change and it now appears that the two full-back positions for next season should be filled by Pinto and Olsson, as things stand at the moment and the centre back positions ideally by Klose and a.n. other. Howson seems set for the captaincy, if we hang on to him.

I would still hope that the influential and experienced Martin be retained as a more than useful back-up capable of covering two positions from the bench.

Should he leave I suspect that there will be no shortage of suitors, even from other Championship clubs. He will likely be more in demand than either Bassong or Bennett would be, IMO.

All will unfold in the current weeks as speculation gradually becomes certainty.

[Essjayess 307]

Lets all get real here, whatever we all think of RM, he is going to stay for the coming season. There is nothing to indicate Alex has any intention of letting or even wanting him to go.My own opinion is, he should never picked in a first 11 for us in the Prem. ever again. But for this coming season, he is still a useful asset. Would not be my first choice for either RB, where Pinto could excel this season, or  more importantly CB, but as cover for both positions, is worthy to be in the squad. Plus there is no doubting his love for the club or his desire to be up for the fight.Add in the unknown factor of the coming 2 or 3 months, we have no idea if Klose will go / stay, or indeed  Bassong also, how much funds are available for new players, what players are even available to sign, and a host of other unknowns, it would be silly to let him go.

[Jools 584]

[quote user="Essjayess"]Lets all get real here, whatever we all think of RM, he is going to stay for the coming season. There is nothing to indicate Alex has any intention of letting or even wanting him to go.My own opinion is, he should never picked in a first 11 for us in the Prem. ever again. But for this coming season, he is still a useful asset. Would not be my first choice for either RB, where Pinto could excel this season, or  more importantly CB, but as cover for both positions, is worthy to be in the squad. Plus there is no doubting his love for the club or his desire to be up for the fight.Add in the unknown factor of the coming 2 or 3 months, we have no idea if Klose will go / stay, or indeed  Bassong also, how much funds are available for new players, what players are even available to sign, and a host of other unknowns, it would be silly to let him go.[/quote]Well, AN has hinted that long-serving players could exit, but I think you''re right about RM being here next season - he''s been a good servant to the club, but I personally would rather he left.

[Cantiaci Canary 556]

A good Championship player ... nothing more, nothing less.

[city4eva 207]

He is a good league one player,

Time for him to move on

[FCC 76]

He is a solid performer, but his commitment and loyalty to the cause lift his performances far above average in a yellow shirt.

Top man, great skipper, and well worth a place in the team.

Glad he wants to stay.

[Ivan Easter 0]

Time for a New Skipper now

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

I''d be more than happy for him to be pushing Pinto for the RB role and acting as CB cover, but he should only be a starter if his form merits it. I have no doubt that he loves and cares for the club, but for the Championship dogfight we need a natural, genuine leader who is psychologically unflappable. Martin doesn''t appear to be that guy - well not to me, anyway. No reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater as he has been promoted from the Championship twice, but he should have to earn his place on merit.

[Ray 111]

Feedthewolf,

I agree with you say re merit, etc, as this applies to all our players but if you really think he is psychologically flappable then I beg to differ, evidenced by the amount of flack he gets on here yet deals with it and still bleeds yellow and green.

If you really have an insight into the psychology of professional footballers then I am intersted to hear what you have to say, however please be prepared to argue your point from a professional standpoint.

[Indy 3,283]

If Neil wants to keep Dorrans then you can guarantee that the Scottish players bar Whitts probably will all get contracts.

Pretty sure Martin will be first choice next season as will Bassong with Bennett as the three main CB.

I can''t see that many changes from the team which Neil inherited, I''m starting to accept not to expect big changes as we don''t have much money and the likes of Redders, Naismith & Klose will depart as the club will no doubt look to bring down the wages.

At championship level Martin is a solid RB and CB this will be critical to his staying.

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

[quote user="Ray"]Feedthewolf,

I agree with you say re merit, etc, as this applies to all our players but if you really think he is psychologically flappable then I beg to differ, evidenced by the amount of flack he gets on here yet deals with it and still bleeds yellow and green.

If you really have an insight into the psychology of professional footballers then I am intersted to hear what you have to say, however please be prepared to argue your point from a professional standpoint.[/quote]Hi Ray, first and foremost I did say this was just how he appears to me - how I perceive RM based on his body language on and off the field. I have no professional insight, and I didn''t try to present my opinion as if I did. Irrespective of his performances, I don''t think he is the right person to lead us forward having been involved in two relegations now and having not performed particularly well (again, just my opinion). I feel that Gary O''Neil and Jonny Howson both show more leadership qualities on the pitch - I''m not saying these guys should necessarily be captain, just that it''s time for a change.In the interests of fairness, please be prepared to quantify statements such as "evidenced by the amount of flack he gets on here yet deals with it and still bleeds yellow and green". While we have agreed that he does appear to love the club passionately, how do you know he is even aware of the ''amount of flack he gets on here'', let alone how (and, indeed, if) he deals with it? If you have any insight into Russell Martin''s media consumption habits then I am genuinely interested to hear them, etc. etc.Caveat: the last paragraph was written with tongue firmly in cheek [:)]

[pliff 4]

[quote user="FCC"]He is a solid performer, but his commitment and loyalty to the cause lift his performances far above average in a yellow shirt.

Top man, great skipper, and well worth a place in the team.

Glad he wants to stay.[/quote]

Are you for real may as well get Grant Holt back, past his sell by date and should never be captain. If this is the best we can do then we are in trouble.

[Tetteys Jig 830]

The right back version of Russell Martin is a great player. Not keen at all on the CB version for anything other than back up.

I wouldn''t mind seeing us play wing backs next season though, Martin the RCB, Bennett the CB and Klose the LCB. Brady and Pinto were made to be wing backs and if Redmond goes, we have bugger all out wide really anyway bar the fairly average Jarvis and the inexperienced Murphy duo.

Whitts would then be useful back up and Olsson top quality competition for Brady with Toffolo slotting in if one of them leaves.

[king canary 7,558]

The idea of Whittaker as a wing back fills me with horror.

[Ray 111]

Hi Feedthewolf,

I stand by what I said with perhaps a caveat, that being, he is probably less flappable than any other player who genuinely cares. If a player doesn''t care then things that happen will probably not bother them too much, but then I wouldn''t want that type of player as captain. I want someone who does show his emotions when things go wrong (or right) it means he truly cares about the team and not just himself.

I''m not sure O''Neil or Howson would be any more of a ''visible'' leader on the pitch, but even if they were it doesn''t mean they would make good captains. I would like us to have 11 leaders on the pitch and one damn good captain to harness it all and this can happen off the pitch as well as on it, in fact probably more off the pitch than on it.

My feelings are that RM wil be here next season and will still be captain, but who knows?

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

[quote user="Ray"]Hi Feedthewolf,

I stand by what I said with perhaps a caveat, that being, he is probably less flappable than any other player who genuinely cares. If a player doesn''t care then things that happen will probably not bother them too much, but then I wouldn''t want that type of player as captain. I want someone who does show his emotions when things go wrong (or right) it means he truly cares about the team and not just himself.

I''m not sure O''Neil or Howson would be any more of a ''visible'' leader on the pitch, but even if they were it doesn''t mean they would make good captains. I would like us to have 11 leaders on the pitch and one damn good captain to harness it all and this can happen off the pitch as well as on it, in fact probably more off the pitch than on it.

My feelings are that RM wil be here next season and will still be captain, but who knows?[/quote]All fair comment, Ray. I wouldn''t be dissatisfied if RM stays as captain, as I trust Alex Neil''s judgement on such matters.

[Donkey dangler 0]

I would happy if Burnley came in and made a bid for Martin.

[firststeps 0]

Burnley? Is this a genuine rumour?

[Herman 9,691]

Yep, and he''s turned down a move as he wants to get City back up.

[wcorkcanary 4,329]

Can anyone name a CB/ RB a la Russ, that has not made some kind of cock up this season?

Just because he plays for us, doesnt mean he''s gonna be perfect. Keep him for now, if we get better in, then re assess.

We might need him.

[danielsroundabout 9]

The fact that this one player has been the subject of a thread which has reached page 46 must indicate that the most serious doubts exist about his continuance in the squad. Admittedly, nearly half the pages will be from those in denial but anybody who thought that he and Bassong were an acceptable centre back pairing in the Championship, let alone the Premiership, should have seen enough to be convinced otherwise by now.

In a recent post, wcorkcanary asked which other CB/RB has not made some kind of cock-up this season. With RM, it is not the occasional, once-a-season blunder, they come almost every game, all through the season.

My opposition to his involvement goes back to when he went very public with the assertion that he considered himself a CB and that that was his best position. He managed (don''t ask me how) to convince a succession of managers that this was the case and we have paid for his presence ever since. He has developed a cosy relationship with the local press such that the individual responsible for mistakes which lead to goals is not mentioned in reports when he is culpable. Should a Bennett, Bassong or Wisdom be at fault, great detail is reported.

Now, at the seasons end, Archant are giving him swathes of the sports pages to express his belief that he is the man to lead us next season. Unless we adopt the Davis Cup policy of a non-playing captain, I say please, no. And even as a non-playing captain, I have seen very little to suggest there are leadership qualities there. It is very difficult to be a good captain/leader when your own performance is so frequently woeful.

[Ray 111]

Every player makes mistakes in every game. All defenders will miss a tackle, misplace a pass or lose a header, as will all midfielders, as will all strikers, who will also miss a chance and goalkeepers will drop the ball, misplace a punch, stay back when they should have come out, come out when they should have stayed back and they will all at some stage get themselves booked (except Gary Lineker) or worse still, get sent off.

So why should RM be any different?

Also, it could be argued (not that I would) that there are 46 pages half of which will be from those who think they know better than a hat full of managers, or only see what they want to see, or don’t understand what they do see or it may just be they have a massive axe to grind!

[danielsroundabout 9]

My dissatisfaction with having RM in the team is in the playing of him at CB. He will not be a successful CB while his has the proverbial. I feel also that we must have a more influential leader to captain the team. He does not display confidence on the pitch and this can only be detrimental to those around him. I feel now that his performances at CB so destroyed his confidence that when he came back at full back, his performances there were nowhere near what they used to be.