Should Newcastle have sought striker’s return to St James’ Park?
I was somewhat surprised by the transfer news that former Newcastle United striker Obafemi Martins had secured a return to the Premier League with Birmingham City on a loan deal until the end of the season. The 26-year-old Nigerian striker arrives from Rubin Kazan in Russia, where he was signed from Wolfsburg after three years in the north east. He has returned to England for personal reasons, wanting to move closer to his family, but should Alan Pardew have made an effort to get Martins in a black and white shirt once again?
Personally, Obafemi Martins is one of my favourite Newcastle players of recent years. This was possibly for the unpredictable nature of his play, his ability to score unbelievable goals and of course his memorable back flip celebrations. His bullet of a strike against Tottenham will stay with me for a long time (according to Sky Sports it flew into the back of the net at a speed of 84mph), but were these moments of brilliance simply too few and far between?
In the three years Oba spent at Newcastle he scored 28 Premier League goals in 88 appearances, which is not the worst but conversely not the best record in the world, at just shy of 1 in 3. For a player who cost Newcastle a fee in the region of £10 million, more was probably expected of him. When Newcastle were then relegated to the Championship he initially stated his desire to help the Magpies return to the Premier League, but it didn’t take long for the Nigerian international to jump ship. Loyalty doesn’t seem to be one of his attributes.
After an unremarkable time in the German Bundesliga and then in the Russian Premier League it is a surprise to see Martins return to England, as much for the fact that he was reported to fritter away his huge wages last time. With his return, though, I would have liked to see Newcastle make a move for him, especially given the current striking options at St James’ Park. Andy Carroll’s injury is frustrating to say the least, and the likes of Shola Ameobi, Peter Lovenkrands, Leon Best and Nile Ranger aren’t exactly top class. Carroll and Martins up top; I’d have loved to have seen that!
My desire to see Obafemi Martins in a black and white shirt once more might purely be for nostalgic reasons, and for remembering his performances for the club being better than they actually were. It will be with a heavy heart that I watch Martins play in a Birmingham shirt, and if he scores against Newcastle in one of the two Premier League meetings this season then my feelings towards him will probably change. However, despite being inconsistent, Martins was an exciting talent and could well prove to be a real coup for the Blues.
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He was crap. He had no awareness of players around him and gave the ball away so often I sometimes thought he was playing for the opposition. His first touch was so bad his second was a tackle. His occasional flashy goals don’t compensate for his overall wastefulness and negative impact on the team.Birmingham are welcome to him.
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Well said Murvar why would we give him a chance again anyway he stabbed us in the back once already.
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Agree with murvar. He’s terrible at holding the ball. Has speed but doesn’t know how to use it… how many times did he score for nufc on an 1vs1 situation?
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no way we should go anywhere near this headless chicken of a player again, nee loyalty, he jumped ship because he thougt he was to good for us. Bet hes got a good few splinters in his ass from warming all them benches on his travels.
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