Impressed with Martin's Media abilities....

[Evil Monkey 52]

It seems that it''s not just on the pitch that Martin is making a name for himself... I found the interview with him this morning to be very good - he seems far more articulate and less prone to cliches than some of the experienced players (don''t get me started on Doc)... he comes across as intelligent, but humble and knows he''s still got a lot to learn about the game... but overall he seems to have his head screwed on...http://new.pinkun.com/content/ncfc/story.aspx?brand=PINKUNOnline&category=Norwich&tBrand=PinkUnOnline&tCategory=Norwich&itemid=NOED07%20Mar%202007%2012%3A30%3A03%3A430Anyone agree?

[Syteanric 1]

agreed monkey, seems to me he has a future and as logn as he practices what he preaches will do very very well indeed

jas :)

[Master J-Do Pur 0]

I always like to see players taking responsibility for a loss rather than blaming the ref. Grant said it was the case when i came in and it was obvious that our defence switched off near the end

[BlyBlyBabes 0]

Agreed 100% Monkey. Just read the article and was just about to post a thread entitled, light-heartedly,   ''Martin for Manager'' or similar when I saw your thread. Story below for ease of reference.

Goalscorer Martin not blaming officials

Teenage striker Chris Martin reckoned he struck lucky last night in scoring for City for the fourth game in a row - but was disappointed to see his second goal ruled out in the 2-1 defeat by Derby.

Martin gave the Canaries the lead after 51 minutes with a powerful right-foot shot that Derby ''keeper Stephen Bywater let through his hands, his one fumble of a busy night''s work.

“I think I got a bit lucky,” said Martin, now with five senior goals to his name in just nine appearances, four of those as a substitute.

“It slid under the ''keeper''s hands but I just got my head down and took a strike on it and luckily it crept in the near post.”

The 18-year-old was denied an even better goal, however, by the linesman''s flag.

He said: “I went through and slotted the ball away and thought I''d scored until I heard the referee''s whistle. I was very disappointed. I haven''t seen it played back but I don''t think I was offside, but I think he should have brought it back for a free-kick anyway.”

However, Martin did not blame official Lee Probert for the result.

He said: “A few of the lads weren''t too happy with his performance but we can''t really blame the ref. We were sloppy towards the end there, giving the two goals away, and I think we need to take a bit of responsibility for that.”

Martin was more than a match for man mountain Derby defender Darren Moore and admitted: “He''s a very strong lad. I won''t play against much stronger than him. I''m still learning a lot. To play against players like that I think you have to come off them and not try to play against them because he''s always going to be stronger than me. Don''t make it out to be a fight.”

He added: “I think we played very well in long periods of the game. We were very unlucky. They just snatched a victory towards the end.

“We need to go to Cardiff and be positive there and I think we can win the game.”

OTBC

[Freeza 0]

Yeah I made this point in my Blog - Freeze Frame (find it on the Pink ''Un Website Homepage) - this week.

Nice to know that the academy isn''t producing a conveyor belt of PR robots and that Martin has a mind of his own, good lad!

[a1canary 0]

Totally agree and thought the same when reading the above article. I was a little concerned when everyone was talking about his supposed arrogance/confidence but it''s clear now it is exactly the right kind of confidence. The kind that you can see, that speaks for itself and doesn''t have to me overemphasised by the person in question who knows he doesn''t have to ''act'' confident - it''s just there naturally. Ashton has it in spades too. McKenzie and Henderson by accounts however, has the wrong kind of confidence - it''s the same as in any other walk of life, anyone who has to over act their confidence does so to cover up their own shortcomings. Martin appears to recognise that his shortcomings can be overcome through learning, not through hiding them behind a facade. To recognise this at 18 takes maturity well beyond his years. The academy, Martin himself, and most of all his parents must take great credit for that.