Scapegoat

[lappinitup 629]

Russell Martin seems to have inherited the title from The Doc but is it fair?He isn''t the slowest player on the pitch, doesn''t have the turning circle of an oil tanker and doesn''t give away a penalty every game so is it a fair comparison? They do however roll him out to face the press every time we lose and he is a centre back so I suppose I can see some similarities. Just as well he isn''t ginger though. [+o(]

[It's Character Forming 1,160]

Who could forget when we had the Doc starting up front for us in the Prem ?  I think we all knew we were in trouble that season when that happened..

 

I also remember the Doc''s classic "bear hug" approach to keeping a striker under control.

 

Also when we''d won promotion from L1 and the final game of the season was a dead rubber at home against someone like Carlisle, they scored two goals from simple through balls played diagonally into the centre of defence which we completely failed to defend  It was no surprise to me that Lambert decided change at CB was needed for the following season and that was the end for Doc with us.

 

I think RM has suffered from Alex Neil''s neglect of our obvious weakness at CB which meant he ended up playing there in the Premiership when he was obviously not good enough.

[lincoln canary (& Golden Coppel) 0]

Played a blinder up front against Newcastle away, helped recuse a point.

We should have kept him as a striker......

[lappinitup 629]

[quote user="Its Character Forming"]I also remember the Doc''s classic "bear hug" approach to keeping a striker under control.[/quote]That''s what I mean, giving all those penalties away. I don''t think our Russ has ever given one away......

[ZLF 271]

never given a pen away? too busy watching from a distance, do his little jump to come to a stop... [;-)]

[pliff 4]

Couldnt have put it better myself ZLF but you did forget the pointing finger of blame towards someome else

[Rich T The Biscuit 562]

You have to be close to the opponent to give away penalties, not looking picking the person to blame for the inevitable goal that''s about to come from!!

To be fair though, RM is not as bad as the Doc, he was a level of his own when it came to ineptitude!?!?

[Indy 3,286]

The doc was a legend, like our very own Harry Kane when he arrived, couldn''t hit a barn door.......in defence he was unfortunately to be playing in the worse team we have ever had, made up of poor players not willing to put in a shift.

As for RM unfortunately if your the main voice of the team and you''ve under performed in two seasons as captain it''s down to you to accept the voices of frustration and it''s not being the scapegoat but what will come as captain, it comes with the territory.

I''m sure he took the adulation when we were promoted, rough with the smooth the same as supporters have to accept, good and bad seasons.

[Punting Canary 0]

Martin''s main problem in recent years has been lack of pace. No one can doubt his commitment or professionalism.

He got moved from right back to centre half as in his later years at right back he has no option but to back off his winger about 5 yards for fear of getting beating for pace. The problem is he backs off to the edge of the 18 yard box and further which also allows the winger to get space to cross, inviting pressure.

He isn''t a natural centre half and also finds himself dropping off the play to try and compensate for a lack of pace against through balls and balls over the top. Throw in the odd clanger at the back when on the ball and ultimately you have problems on both fronts which effects the confidence of those around you. Good Club man but ultimately the years have been catching up with him for a while.

[Dr Greenthumb 746]

Russell Martin is not a very good centre back and deserves criticism. But he can''t be a scapegoat every time

[Bill 1,788]

I wonder if Derby County have a scapegoat