Russell Martin

[Eccles from Beccles 0]

Sorry, not good enough today, had at least 2 decent chances to score and fluffed them, I''ve no idea how he has become our top scorer😉😉😉

[damn that Ralph Coates! 47]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/34299547

BBC don''t agree with the Russ Martin doubters...

[morty 0]

"Visiting skipper Russell Martin, who earned the Canaries a point against Liverpool last week, led from the back, winning the ball back seven times as well as making seven clearances, but ultimately left disappointed."

[pliff 4]

Unfortunately, as I wasn''t at the game it is difficult to criticize but listening to Chris Gorehams commentary "Martin fails to deal with cross" for equalizer, heard it all before, in the EPL you have to be consistent in your role. We have a great squad but my concern is do we have enough. Loving it so far but 3 points today would have been massive.

[morty 0]

Oh, so you didn''t go to the game today, but sounded bad on the radio?

[winkyicon]

[Guest]

Thing is, if you constantly focus on a player''s mistakes whilst simultaneously ignoring their good play it''s possible to make anyone seem crap.

Ultimately Martin brings a lot to the team, and statistically is one of the better defenders in the Prem this season.

[Hoola Han Solo 448]

Martin was decent today and certainly no worse than any of our other defenders.

Interesting that Seb mentioned he was a good leader and communicator and that they''d forged a good understanding together. I think I''ll trust the opinion of the guy that works with him every day rather than the experts on here who watch on the radio.

[wcorkcanary 4,329]

Never commented on Russ before as i feel he is unfairly judged for not being the perfect centre half.

Under scrutiny , there are mistakes in the painting of the Cistine chapel, Brad Pitt has bad breath and some apples have blemishes.

Russ is alreet, good enough. for now.

[Eccles from Beccles 0]

It''s Angelina Jolie who has bad breath, not Brad Pitt!

[hogesar 9,618]

Good performance from Martin, and the team. Which is becoming the norm under AN.

Bring on Leicester.

[GJP 79]

[quote user="Wes Hooly Fan"]Martin was decent today and certainly no worse than any of our other defenders.

Interesting that Seb mentioned he was a good leader and communicator and that they''d forged a good understanding together. I think I''ll trust the opinion of the guy that works with him every day rather than the experts on here who watch on the radio.[/quote]

I''m not saying it isn''t true but would you have expected Seb to say anything else even if he thought differently?

[chicken 0]

Yes. It depends o the origanal question but he didn''t have to be as complementary about him and he could do that whilst remaining professional and without discrediting him.

So a stock answer or just a very plain one. To highlight specific parts of his character/game for praise suggests that Bassong is being sincere IMHO.

[Yorkshire Canary 118]

He is a club man through and through and yes he is not the best CB but neither is he the worst either and at this moment in time it is really him or Bennett and i dont think there is much to pick between them. If we only make one signing in January though a CB of better quality is top of the shopping list

[ZLF 271]

Defensively we do have issues;  two more preventable goals today as the MOTD commentary highlighted,  and the analysis was accurate in stating that concentration IS an issue.  We defended well for much of the game BUT FOR THE GOALS has become a regular mantra.   But for the goals all teams defend well...

Ruddy kept us in the game with a string (not just the one) of saves for the second week running.  He should have done better with the second equaliser,  even if it did rely on a very luck rebound;  the first was another case of a marker losing the man and being sucked too deep again in a run of the mill move.

It should be something we can improve upon;   if the current back 4 are unable to learn then there will have to be changes come Jan.     Scoring isnt the problem - a brace away from home should have been enough for 3 points yesterday.

[Mello Yello 2,281]

I was extremely disappointed that as Captain, Russell Martin should have taken responsibility and carried the unfortunate bedraggled pigeon off the field of play......

[ZLF 271]

[quote user="morty"]"Visiting skipper Russell Martin, who earned the Canaries a point against Liverpool last week, led from the back, winning the ball back seven times as well as making seven clearances, but ultimately left disappointed."[/quote]Sounds great - but a single set of stats barely tells the story - on that basis if martin led from the back what did Bassong do, he won the same number tackles (and didnt lose one),  made 5 more clearances, won 5 times as many headers,  made more interceptions was more successful with his passing and didnt lose his man for a goal.

Martin didnt play badly yesterday  - but nor was he our best defender - either actually at the game or in stats.

 

[Ray 111]

Zipper,

You forgot to mention that RM made an infinite number of more blocks than Seb ( 2 - 0) and played 6 times more accurate long balls than Seb (6 - 1), at an accuracy 35% higer than Seb''s.

Their successful pass %''s were 84.3% and 85%, so whilst you are correct (just) RM made 9 more successful passes than Seb or if you prefer it in a %, then it is 26.47% more.

Just love stats.

Not sure I agree he lost his man for the goal, I think he may have made a conscious decision to go to Payet (who was left unmarked on the wing) to attempt to cut out the cross and what was Tettey doing, from what I saw jogging back as Sakho left him for dead. When Sakho set off on his run Tettey was actually on the move and facing our goal and was closer to our goal than Sakho, when Sakho put the ball in he was about 10 yards behind him. I think the defence have every right to expect the midfield, especially the defensive midfield to track the runner, in this case Sakho freeing them up to take other actions.

[ZLF 271]

Over sensitive ray. As I said russ had a good game

But if you raise it its good deflection to Tettey but shall we overlook that when sakho started his run russ was with him, having been beaten in the challenge as he played the ball wide then chose to leave his man and then went too deep?

[morty 0]

I''m not saying the quote I posted was the be all and end all of opinions, I posted it to point out what an unbiased ( as far as I know) reporter said about him.Some people are analysing every single mistake, there is a middle ground to be had here. Martin is a good defender. He makes mistakes. Just like every single other player does. And the focus on it really has got a bit daft. Has Whittaker suddenly stopped making even one single mistake in games now? Or has he just been demoted to "reserve scapegoat"?

[Ray 111]

Zipper,

Not over sensitive, just taking the p*ss out of you and me re stats, it''s called banter!

Yes Sakho laid it off, that''s what he is paid to do, and laid it off to an umarked Payet on the wing! Yes he was with him when he laid it off but the midfield (Tettey on this occasion) let his man run when he was with him too, what should a CB do, if he had stayed with Sakho and he had stood still then he would have been berated for not covering the cross. CB''s and keepers often get the blame because they are the last form of defence when others have let them down.

[pliff 4]

[quote user="hogesar"]Good performance from Martin, and the team. Which is becoming the norm under AN.

Bring on Leicester.[/quote]

How is it a good performance by Martin when we concede goals I don''t give a toss about how many passes he made he is a defender and I am sorry when he is needed he is missing.

[lowlyfendweller 0]

Helluva sentence pliff!!

[Ray 111]

Pliff,

How good is a performance when our strikers don''t score and miss great chances and our CB is top scorer?

It''s a team game and all are culpable (or not) including midfielders who don''t track back putting defenders under undue pressure. Strikers need suppport from marauding FB''s and creative midfielders, they don''t create and score goals by themselves, midfielders need back up and support from defenders and need strikers to run into space and defenders, need I go on (I do hope not but have a nagging feeling I may have to).

As I have said it is often the last man who gets the blame, RM never goes missing, part of the problem is he is always there and therefore gets targeted by those who do not see the bigger picture, unlike those who are paid the big bucks to select teams.

[Grant Holts Moustache 105]

Pliff Martin was there when needed on a number of occasions covering for others mistakes. He was the one clearing the ball off the line in the 90th minute at 2-1. There was another occasion when we were over run with 3 on 2 and he took up a position to block a pass effectively covering two men. At the same time he was directing a third man on where to come back to so as soon as he was in position he could go to the man with the ball.

I also lost count of the number of times he provided a passing option in tight situations helping us to control the tempo and not needlessly hand it back or just put it long. It''s very easy to highlight areas that don''t work but they need to be taken in context alongside the things he does well for the team.

As for the stats presented on the thread don''t they just show good balance in the pairing we have? To me it sounds like they compliment each others strengths and weaknesses.

[Nuff Said 5,092]

Since Martin has been playing for us, terrorism and extremism is on rise, natural disasters have frequently occurred and we''ve had a Tory prime minister. FACT.

[firststeps 0]

I''m sat at the game, no defensive organisation, it''s poor captaincy once more. You Martin defenders are on a different planet.

[Hairy Kenneth 0]

Martin has been our best defender so far. The problems are caused by Howson and Tettey giving the ball away far too often.

[Hairy Kenneth 0]

Not that anyone is playing very well.

[firststeps 0]

If ever proof were needed!!! Are defence is cr*p!

[Hairy Kenneth 0]

All of our defence-can''t just single one out today. The style of play doesn''t help as the fb pushing forwards often leave the CB exposed.