Why Russell Martin?

[GJP 79]

[quote user="City penguin"]

[quote user="Graham Humphrey"]Yeah but if anyone saw any of our players play at Leyton Orient and stupidly judged them all on that one match you''d never want to see them play for us again.
[/quote]

apart from that was just one example of poor performance, name me one game where youve gone away thinking god yeah he was awesome today. So its not a stupid judgement. And finally why were pboro so eager to get rid of him as they already had a very poor defence in the champ and couldnt make it into their team?

[/quote]

How often does anyone come away from a game thinking a fullback was "awesome" ???

It''s one of the least glamorous/headline grabbing roles on the pitch.

(That''s not to say fullbacks aren''t a very important part of the team).

I''ve never seen Spillane have anything more than an average game. Oh yeah, sure, he scored a good goal but then Ryan Jarvis scored a good goal against Liverpool but that didn''t make him good enough in general.

[Lambo 0]

Martin''s come in and done a solid job for us this season.

I fail to see the gripe some people on here have with him.

As mentioned previously, he''s not flash, doesn''t grab headlines but he''s done a job.

 

[Graham Humphrey 13]

[quote user="GJP"]

[quote user="City penguin"]seriously he is so average, most of the time he does nothing and nothing wrong but thats not good enough. Hes not going to add anything to our team net year and spillane is such a better option, stronger,faster,taller,more comfortable on the ball, better going forward, plays it simple and picks the right pass more often.[/quote]

Well Spillane probably is a little taller than Russell Martin. You''ve probably got that bit right.

As for the rest of it....deary me. Especially the bit about Spillane being faster, that really does show that you don''t know what you''re talking about.

[/quote]But Spillane came through our academy so he must be good [*-)]

[Beauseant 0]

[quote user="City penguin"]seriously he is so average, most of the time he does nothing and nothing wrong but thats not good enough. Hes not going to add anything to our team net year and spillane is such a better option, stronger,faster,taller,more comfortable on the ball, better going forward, plays it simple and picks the right pass more often.[/quote]

 

The legend of Spillane continues to grow. Soon enough he''ll be leaping tall buildings at a single bound and stopping speeding bullets. I really don''t see how you can make statements like that to be honest. Spillane is a promising player and was playing really well before his injury, but Martin has been virtually ever present during the crucial part of the season and has been quietly efficient. Since when was doing nothing wrong a bad thing? Perhaps you would prefer a fullback who occasionally stopped on the overlap to do a bit of juggling or a bit of sword swallowing?

Fullbacks SHOULD be unobtrusive and get the job done, which is what Martin generally achieves.

 

[city-till-i-die 7]

[quote user="Beauseant"]

[quote user="City penguin"]seriously he is so average, most of the time he does nothing and nothing wrong but thats not good enough. Hes not going to add anything to our team net year and spillane is such a better option, stronger,faster,taller,more comfortable on the ball, better going forward, plays it simple and picks the right pass more often.[/quote]

 

The legend of Spillane continues to grow. Soon enough he''ll be leaping tall buildings at a single bound and stopping speeding bullets. I really don''t see how you can make statements like that to be honest. Spillane is a promising player and was playing really well before his injury, but Martin has been virtually ever present during the crucial part of the season and has been quietly efficient. Since when was doing nothing wrong a bad thing? Perhaps you would prefer a fullback who occasionally stopped on the overlap to do a bit of juggling or a bit of sword swallowing?

Fullbacks SHOULD be unobtrusive and get the job done, which is what Martin generally achieves.

 

[/quote]i wish they would of done this last saturday[;)]

[Beauseant 0]

[quote user="city-till-i-die"][quote user="Beauseant"]

[quote user="City penguin"]seriously he is so average, most of the time he does nothing and nothing wrong but thats not good enough. Hes not going to add anything to our team net year and spillane is such a better option, stronger,faster,taller,more comfortable on the ball, better going forward, plays it simple and picks the right pass more often.[/quote]

 

The legend of Spillane continues to grow. Soon enough he''ll be leaping tall buildings at a single bound and stopping speeding bullets. I really don''t see how you can make statements like that to be honest. Spillane is a promising player and was playing really well before his injury, but Martin has been virtually ever present during the crucial part of the season and has been quietly efficient. Since when was doing nothing wrong a bad thing? Perhaps you would prefer a fullback who occasionally stopped on the overlap to do a bit of juggling or a bit of sword swallowing?

Fullbacks SHOULD be unobtrusive and get the job done, which is what Martin generally achieves.

 

[/quote]i wish they would of done this last saturday[;)][/quote]

 

Would have made for a more entertaining afternoon mate![Y]

Still, the bloke behind me would have just been saying " call that sword swallowing? we''ve got no chance next season, they swallow 10 foot ones in the Championship"

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,557]

I think people are expecting too much of our fullbacks. When playing a diamond formation fullback are expected to stay further back and provide more of a defensive role otherwise it is very easy for teams to counter down our flanks. Martin is more exposed on the right than drury as Smith tends to tuck in more than Lappin does. If Martin was bombing forward and Smith is tucking in then we are exposed of the right. Also, full backs shouldn''t be jumping into tackles against wingers but should be moving them into positions where they can''t cross or can only make a snap cross, which are less dangerous. Look at players like Ashley Cole, he doesn''t make an awful lot of challenges but stops wingers from getting past him by closing off space and forcing teams inside.

I think some Norwich fans are very use to us playing with a lot of width, this has been our game plan for as long as I can remember with such wing wizards as Fox, Eadie, Huckerby, Gordon et al. With a diamond you play narrow and expose teams who strech themselves too wide by doubling up on one of the centre backs.

[Divs crew! 0]

Wasn''t good enough for Peterborough? Look what happend to them!...........He has bad games,every player does,but when Grant holt got sent off i didn''t see anyone getting on his back didn''t that cost us points?.Russell Martin has done a good enough job for me,after all they play as a team and didn''t we just win the league? ...........Orient  game was poor they all were wasn''t just Russell that had a bad game.I didn''t see anyone getting on Forsters Back when he got sent off twice..........surely thats letting the team down? or maybe i am wrong i mean lets take along hard look at Tranmere and the game itself? Yes the ref played his part in our down fall but no 1 player was outstanding..............so back off Russell Martin hes done a job that needed doing and he is by far a better player than JO ...........simples! and to all those moaners out if you could do better why aint you playing for the team?

[ROBFLECK 132]

you are always going to find somebody to moan about

[Brighton Yellow 0]

Russell Martin is actually a quality player, he has a very good footballing brain and is one of the best we have had in that position for a while.

If anything he suffers from not having a player with which he is able to link up with in a an attacking sense due to the diamond formation.

I think he has been one of our best buys for a while.

[The gut 0]

[quote user="cosmos67"]Wasn''t good enough for Peterborough? Look what happend to them!...........He has bad games,every player does,but when Grant holt got sent off i didn''t see anyone getting on his back didn''t that cost us points?.Russell Martin has done a good enough job for me,after all they play as a team and didn''t we just win the league? ...........Orient  game was poor they all were wasn''t just Russell that had a bad game.I didn''t see anyone getting on Forsters Back when he got sent off twice..........surely thats letting the team down? or maybe i am wrong i mean lets take along hard look at Tranmere and the game itself? Yes the ref played his part in our down fall but no 1 player was outstanding..............so back off Russell Martin hes done a job that needed doing and he is by far a better player than JO ...........simples! and to all those moaners out if you could do better why aint you playing for the team?[/quote]

That''ll be a good idea, a message board where only championship and premiership players are allowed to post concerning players'' abilities.

I am not getting the impression that people are moaning about Martin, but that they either think he is not good enough for the championship or are doubtful that he is. He has done well for us, who out of our first team hasn''t, but realistically that same first team needs strengthening with better players brought in fot the bigger challenge. In my opinion I think he will struggle in the championship, I can''t see too much wrong in thinking that. Comparing him to Semmy is irrelevent, his performances were not the benchmark for championship success.

[shefcanary 2,388]

Next year expect to see us play 4-5-1 more often, espeically away from home.  That should reduce the exposure of RMartin to pace, although CMartin will be filling one of the wide midfield berths.  Unless of course the transfer pot swells unrecognisably from that which we have got used to dealing with.

[Northamptonncfc 0]

''''How often does anyone come away from a game thinking a fullback was "awesome" ???

It''s one of the least glamorous/headline grabbing roles on the pitch.''''

Every now and then, but more from an international level when you used to have fullbacks with amazing flair like Cafu or more technical players who read the game like Maldini. There has been some very entertaining fullbacks though, but it is a position associated with consistency and steady performers.

On the subject of Russell Martin I don''t rate him at all, his positioning is terrible and he loses the ball a lot. If anyone can remember the first half against Huddersfield at home they could of least had three goals due to his awful sense of positioning, we''d get punished in the Championship. We need a right back with decent positioning, strong defensive abilities and someone who knows how to pass a ball.

[Mister Chops 7]

[quote user="Beauseant"]

[quote user="City penguin"]seriously he is so average, most of the time he does nothing and nothing wrong but thats not good enough. Hes not going to add anything to our team net year and spillane is such a better option, stronger,faster,taller,more comfortable on the ball, better going forward, plays it simple and picks the right pass more often.[/quote]

 

The legend of Spillane continues to grow. Soon enough he''ll be leaping tall buildings at a single bound and stopping speeding bullets.

[/quote]Excellent.

[Yellowbeagle 0]

[quote user="GJP"][quote user="City penguin"]

[quote user="Graham Humphrey"]Yeah but if anyone saw any of our players play at Leyton Orient and stupidly judged them all on that one match you''d never want to see them play for us again.
[/quote]

apart from that was just one example of poor performance, name me one game where youve gone away thinking god yeah he was awesome today. So its not a stupid judgement. And finally why were pboro so eager to get rid of him as they already had a very poor defence in the champ and couldnt make it into their team?

[/quote]

How often does anyone come away from a game thinking a fullback was "awesome" ???

It''s one of the least glamorous/headline grabbing roles on the pitch.

(That''s not to say fullbacks aren''t a very important part of the team).

I''ve never seen Spillane have anything more than an average game. Oh yeah, sure, he scored a good goal but then Ryan Jarvis scored a good goal against Liverpool but that didn''t make him good enough in general.

[/quote]

Mark Bowen and Ian Culverhouse often left me thinking they were awesome. Can you actually post anything without looking for a chance to run Spillane down? As for Martin I will judge him when he''s been given a chance at the higher level, Lambert obviously rates both players at this level and his opinion is good enough for me, i dont think for one minute he''ll keep players (Martin or Spillane) in the side when they arnt performing.

[GJP 79]

[quote user="Yellowbeagle"]

 Can you actually post anything without looking for a chance to run Spillane down? [/quote]

Yup. I think I''ve probably made a quite a lot of posts that have nothing to do with Spillane. Have I touched a nerve?

Put it this way...

I think there''s a chance I could run Spillane down a little less if:

1 - Some people stopped doing the same to Russell Martin
2 - Some people were a bit more realistic with how good a player Spillane is (or isn''t)

I''ve got nothing against Spillane as such, I just think he''s a very average young player and I doubt he''ll ever go on to be a big player for Norwich. People might not believe me at the moment, they might think they know better, but in a few years time we''ll know I was right.

For me, Russell Martin is becoming a bit like the new Gary Doherty on here. A decent player who comes in for a ridiculous amount of criticism by people who like to think they know a little bit but actually know sod all.

[Morisons Prozac 0]

[quote user="GJP"]

[quote user="Yellowbeagle"]

 Can you actually post anything without looking for a chance to run Spillane down? [/quote]

Yup. I think I''ve probably made a quite a lot of posts that have nothing to do with Spillane. Have I touched a nerve?

Put it this way...

I think there''s a chance I could run Spillane down a little less if:

1 - Some people stopped doing the same to Russell Martin
2 - Some people were a bit more realistic with how good a player Spillane is (or isn''t)

I''ve got nothing against Spillane as such, I just think he''s a very average young player and I doubt he''ll ever go on to be a big player for Norwich. People might not believe me at the moment, they might think they know better, but in a few years time we''ll know I was right.

For me, Russell Martin is becoming a bit like the new Gary Doherty on here. A decent player who comes in for a ridiculous amount of criticism by people who like to think they know a little bit but actually know sod all.

[/quote]

Here Here!

[Largey 0]

I actually think at the moment, Spillane is a better attacking option then Martin, and Martin is a better defending option than Spillane.

When Martin had to cover at CB midway through the season, he played very well. Defensively, he looks quite assured. His crossing can sometimes leave a bit to be desired, but he must be very fit as he is always bombing past the ball down the wing to put the crosses in. I think if he can improve his accuracy with crossing, we may have a top right-back here.

He does seem to be the scapegoat. Against Carlisle, he chested down a Carlisle cross for Forster to collect, but Jamie Afro came in and nearly nicked it into the net. I''m not sure if this was over-confidence by Martin, or very poor judgement. I''m hoping it was a confident back-pass that Forster wasn''t expecting.

[The gut 0]

[quote user="GJP"]

[quote user="Yellowbeagle"]

 Can you actually post anything without looking for a chance to run Spillane down? [/quote]

Yup. I think I''ve probably made a quite a lot of posts that have nothing to do with Spillane. Have I touched a nerve?

Put it this way...

I think there''s a chance I could run Spillane down a little less if:

1 - Some people stopped doing the same to Russell Martin
2 - Some people were a bit more realistic with how good a player Spillane is (or isn''t)

I''ve got nothing against Spillane as such, I just think he''s a very average young player and I doubt he''ll ever go on to be a big player for Norwich. People might not believe me at the moment, they might think they know better, but in a few years time we''ll know I was right.

For me, Russell Martin is becoming a bit like the new Gary Doherty on here. A decent player who comes in for a ridiculous amount of criticism by people who like to think they know a little bit but actually know sod all.

[/quote]

Good tactic. I hope it doesn''t take off.

[RichT - The Biscuit 0]

Don''t understand all of this about RUM, he has been solid for most of the season, nicely likened to Eddy.

How many times has Spillane actually played at Right Back, I remember a couple of games before he went to Luton and less than half a dozen this season, surely not enough to be put up on a pedestal!

I don''t think is that far off Drury as far as consistency is concerned, again someone who put on a pedestal, don''t get me wrong I think he''s a great defender but not great as getting crosses in, yeah he supports the attack but I have this thing with Drury whereby it really bugs me that he spends so much time concentrating on crossing it properly he forgets to get his head up to see who has made what run, therefore most of his crosses sale over the forwards heads!!!

[Yellowbeagle 0]

[quote user="GJP"]

[quote user="Yellowbeagle"]

 Can you actually post anything without looking for a chance to run Spillane down? [/quote]

Yup. I think I''ve probably made a quite a lot of posts that have nothing to do with Spillane. Have I touched a nerve?

Put it this way...

I think there''s a chance I could run Spillane down a little less if:

1 - Some people stopped doing the same to Russell Martin
2 - Some people were a bit more realistic with how good a player Spillane is (or isn''t)

I''ve got nothing against Spillane as such, I just think he''s a very average young player and I doubt he''ll ever go on to be a big player for Norwich. People might not believe me at the moment, they might think they know better, but in a few years time we''ll know I was right.

For me, Russell Martin is becoming a bit like the new Gary Doherty on here. A decent player who comes in for a ridiculous amount of criticism by people who like to think they know a little bit but actually know sod all.

[/quote]

So anyone who doesnt agree with you knows sod all?, the term ''Pompous and ass'' comes to mind. I happen to think that Russel Martin is a steady player and have no desire whatso ever to run him down. But you cant complain about people running one player down when you do exactly the same for different one. I''m not saying Spillane is going to be some world beater but the fact you struggle to see any good performances in Spillane, suggest that you dont know as much you seem to think you do?

[Divs crew! 0]

And the fact that we are all missing is!............Pual Lambert "sir" brought him here in the first place.Now do you think he would have brought a crock of shite? Did he not get our team back in the championship as champions in the first season after relagation? Like i said i before yes hes had bad games........Name a player who hasn''t?........You moaned about OT and now your moaning about RM you wont ever be satisfied.But Sir Pual is the boss he picks the team not me or you........so lets start the  "he didn''t have a good game" or "he can''t kick a goal kick as good as" thread on here every weekend after a game ....absolutley pointless!...........RM done the best he could do for Norwich,for that we should be gratefull as too all the team that done us proud............so get of his back and enjoy the moment they dont happen often at Carrow road.

[GJP 79]

[quote user="Yellowbeagle"][quote user="GJP"]

[quote user="Yellowbeagle"]

 Can you actually post anything without looking for a chance to run Spillane down? [/quote]

Yup. I think I''ve probably made a quite a lot of posts that have nothing to do with Spillane. Have I touched a nerve?

Put it this way...

I think there''s a chance I could run Spillane down a little less if:

1 - Some people stopped doing the same to Russell Martin
2 - Some people were a bit more realistic with how good a player Spillane is (or isn''t)

I''ve got nothing against Spillane as such, I just think he''s a very average young player and I doubt he''ll ever go on to be a big player for Norwich. People might not believe me at the moment, they might think they know better, but in a few years time we''ll know I was right.

For me, Russell Martin is becoming a bit like the new Gary Doherty on here. A decent player who comes in for a ridiculous amount of criticism by people who like to think they know a little bit but actually know sod all.

[/quote]

So anyone who doesnt agree with you knows sod all?, the term ''Pompous and ass'' comes to mind. I happen to think that Russel Martin is a steady player and have no desire whatso ever to run him down. But you cant complain about people running one player down when you do exactly the same for different one. I''m not saying Spillane is going to be some world beater but the fact you struggle to see any good performances in Spillane, suggest that you dont know as much you seem to think you do?

[/quote]

You''re sort of generalising what I said and sort of putting words in my mouth.

I''d just like to look at players equally and even things out a bit. I think there''d be a few people who agree with me that R Martin has come in for a bit too much criticism whereas Spillane has come in for a bit too much praise. And that ain''t right because Martin has done more for us this season than Spillane has.

Next season will present a tougher challenge though and we''ll see if either of them can make the step up to Championship level.

 

[The gut 0]

[quote user="GJP"][quote user="Yellowbeagle"][quote user="GJP"]

[quote user="Yellowbeagle"]

 Can you actually post anything without looking for a chance to run Spillane down? [/quote]

Yup. I think I''ve probably made a quite a lot of posts that have nothing to do with Spillane. Have I touched a nerve?

Put it this way...

I think there''s a chance I could run Spillane down a little less if:

1 - Some people stopped doing the same to Russell Martin
2 - Some people were a bit more realistic with how good a player Spillane is (or isn''t)

I''ve got nothing against Spillane as such, I just think he''s a very average young player and I doubt he''ll ever go on to be a big player for Norwich. People might not believe me at the moment, they might think they know better, but in a few years time we''ll know I was right.

For me, Russell Martin is becoming a bit like the new Gary Doherty on here. A decent player who comes in for a ridiculous amount of criticism by people who like to think they know a little bit but actually know sod all.

[/quote]

So anyone who doesnt agree with you knows sod all?, the term ''Pompous and ass'' comes to mind. I happen to think that Russel Martin is a steady player and have no desire whatso ever to run him down. But you cant complain about people running one player down when you do exactly the same for different one. I''m not saying Spillane is going to be some world beater but the fact you struggle to see any good performances in Spillane, suggest that you dont know as much you seem to think you do?

[/quote]

You''re sort of generalising what I said and sort of putting words in my mouth.

I''d just like to look at players equally and even things out a bit. I think there''d be a few people who agree with me that R Martin has come in for a bit too much criticism whereas Spillane has come in for a bit too much praise. And that ain''t right because Martin has done more for us this season than Spillane has.

Next season will present a tougher challenge though and we''ll see if either of them can make the step up to Championship level.

 

[/quote]

So you''re the equaliser!

[Captain Fantastic 0]

[quote user="City penguin"]if anyone saw him play at leyton orient you would never want him to put our colours on again.[/quote]

I agree with this 100%, he had a nightmare involving a foul throw and not even being able to catch the ball when Lambert through it to him.

[Captain Fantastic 0]

[quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"]

I think people are expecting too much of our fullbacks. When playing a diamond formation fullback are expected to stay further back and provide more of a defensive role otherwise it is very easy for teams to counter down our flanks. Martin is more exposed on the right than drury as Smith tends to tuck in more than Lappin does. If Martin was bombing forward and Smith is tucking in then we are exposed of the right. Also, full backs shouldn''t be jumping into tackles against wingers but should be moving them into positions where they can''t cross or can only make a snap cross, which are less dangerous. Look at players like Ashley Cole, he doesn''t make an awful lot of challenges but stops wingers from getting past him by closing off space and forcing teams inside.

I think some Norwich fans are very use to us playing with a lot of width, this has been our game plan for as long as I can remember with such wing wizards as Fox, Eadie, Huckerby, Gordon et al. With a diamond you play narrow and expose teams who strech themselves too wide by doubling up on one of the centre backs.

[/quote]

I think you have got the wrong end of the stick.. it''s quite the opposite. You rely on your full backs to give you width when playing the diamond formation. If they didn''t get forward then there would be no width at all!

[ncfc4eva 0]

Seen russell martin countless times now, what worries me is the guy at times doesn''t even look willing to put in a tackle, also looks like he''d snap in half if he does. As a right-back, or left back for tht matter, one of the first things you are taught is to stop the cross!! I have never in my life seen a full back allow so many crosses into our box and this was highlighted at the leyton game, albeit non of the team played particularly well. Not got a bad touch and can stroke the odd 15 yard pass inside or down the line, but in terms of defending he really needs a pair of spillaines balls.

[Lurd 0]

On year on... How many mugs in this thread?

[G 0]

[quote user="Larry David"]On year on... How many mugs in this thread?[/quote]

When we first got Russell Martin were you saying this boy can take us to the Premier League judging by his performances? I wasn''t i''ve been proved wrong just like Jackson but judging by there performances at first i think we were right to not feel confident in them but now credit where credit is due they have been superb.

[Lurd 0]

[quote user="G"]

[quote user="Larry David"]On year on... How many mugs in this thread?[/quote]

When we first got Russell Martin were you saying this boy can take us to the Premier League judging by his performances? I wasn''t i''ve been proved wrong just like Jackson but judging by there performances at first i think we were right to not feel confident in them but now credit where credit is due they have been superb.

[/quote]

Ive never doubted anything Lambert''s done.