Chris Martin

[Sexydadbod]

Never been Martin's biggest fan, not because he hasn't been good for us because his goalscoring record shows he has but because the way we previously built our whole team around him. This caused us many problems if we were off form or he was injured- as seen in the infamous second half of the 14/15 season. I think it's better for the team and for him that he isn't necessarily a guaranteed starter. He's looked very sharp recently and hope he continues his form because when he's on form- he can provide us 25-35 goals a season with his goals and assists

[Parsnip]

I put in the Reading matchday thread that i expected nuge/winnall because they were the obvious choices based on merit. 

But form's out the window now and i fully expect a Vydra/Martin front line against Fulham and i'm pretty f****** psyched out of my pretty little f****** mind about it.

[Ninos]

21 minutes ago, VulcanRam said:

Martin offered next to nothing at all for the time he was on the pitch today. I'm glad he scored but it was a meaningless goal in the context of the game. Did nothing for me to suggest his efforts warranted a start next time. Not that anyone else did of course.

I agree with bits of the above by @Leicester Ram, but one point: Russell's goal had nothing to do with Martin, and everything to do with Johnson.

I'm not criticising him by the way, he was no better or worse than anyone, but the game was crying out for Vydra to link the midfield and attack, but turns out after the event he wasn't fit despite for some reason being on the bench. Thorne too may well have made a difference with his passing ability. But to say after watching that 90 minutes that somehow it has elevated Martin to must-play status is wrong imo.

Spot on, and Rowett knows Vyds is the difference maker in attack. Winnall nor martin will start after the international break. And you’re spot on with Thorne too 

[Whoneedshuls]

ledley Thorne 

lawrence vydra Johnson 

 Martin/nugent

hopefully that'll be the front 6 to start against Fulham but can't see it happening...  

[DRBee]

1 hour ago, Ninos said:

Whoopety do ... he got a consolation in a thrashing. Martin is largely irrelevant as an impact player, rather it’s not starting Vydra that cost us up front. Rowett knows that too although rumblings are he’s not fully fit. Who knows. Now we just cross our fingers and hope Vyds is still confident moodwise after the strange droppings. Winnall and Martin are both impact subs on this team. 

Funny how we won on Tuesday with Martin starting.

[RoyMac5]

39 minutes ago, VulcanRam said:

Martin offered next to nothing at all for the time he was on the pitch today. I'm glad he scored but it was a meaningless goal in the context of the game. Did nothing for me to suggest his efforts warranted a start next time. Not that anyone else did of course.

How long was he on the pitch? What was the score when he came on? Didn't he set up Lawrence for a 1 on 1? No goal is meaningless we played 7 minutes injury time. #blinkered

[PodgeyRam]

2 minutes ago, DRBee said:

Funny how we won on Tuesday with Martin starting.

And with Winnall starting. 

[DRBee]

19 minutes ago, Parsnip said:

I put in the Reading matchday thread that i expected nuge/winnall because they were the obvious choices based on merit. 

But form's out the window now and i fully expect a Vydra/Martin front line against Fulham and i'm pretty f****** psyched out of my pretty little f****** mind about it.

You got it as wrong as Rowett did.

[DRBee]

Just now, PodgeyRam said:

And with Winnall starting. 

A change cos of Ledley being unfit was forced on us so moving Johnson from his best position was unfortunate but understandable. so why not stick with Martin and Winnall up front given we had won the game and done well? Rowett blames today on lack of energy , but his tactics and team selection played a part.

[Parsnip]

1 hour ago, DRBee said:

You got it as wrong as Rowett did.

How the frig do you know? Any other team selection could have seen us succumb to our worst defeat in 70 years.

[loweman2]

[kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong]

2 minutes ago, loweman2 said:

We all have mate,we all have?

[cannable]

Has to start.

Has to.

Him and Matty.

[Leicester Ram]

14 hours ago, VulcanRam said:

Martin offered next to nothing at all for the time he was on the pitch today. I'm glad he scored but it was a meaningless goal in the context of the game. Did nothing for me to suggest his efforts warranted a start next time. Not that anyone else did of course.

I agree with bits of the above by @Leicester Ram, but one point: Russell's goal had nothing to do with Martin, and everything to do with Johnson.

I'm not criticising him by the way, he was no better or worse than anyone, but the game was crying out for Vydra to link the midfield and attack, but turns out after the event he wasn't fit despite for some reason being on the bench. Thorne too may well have made a difference with his passing ability. But to say after watching that 90 minutes that somehow it has elevated Martin to must-play status is wrong imo.

My point wasn't that Martin had set up our wingers to score goals, more that after all the playing time Vydra and Nugent have had, none of our wingers have enjoyed any success with them on the pitch.

You can say that's down to the quality of our wingers but both Lawrence and Russell are fairly proven goal scorers at this level. Russell had an off year last year but he averaged about ten goals a season previously.

[europia]

16 hours ago, jono said:

I am middle of the road when it comes to CM. Lots of respect for his abilities with a few niggling doubts about his flexibility in some set ups, but he looked very sharp today, on his game and brought a some much needed subtlety to the front line. I sort of got my wish to see him and Nuge together but the circumstances weren't ideal. Delighted he added to his tally, happy birthday Chris

Deserves a start, sooner rather than later. 

 Although we appear to have great striker options (on paper) I think the club has been very slow to go out and get that one top striker that will make the difference. I remember when Burnley splashed all their cash on Andre Gray. It seemed like they had put all their eggs in one basket but in the end it worked for them. 

[RoyMac5]

26 minutes ago, europia said:

 I remember when Burnley splashed all their cash on Andre Gray. It seemed like they had put all their eggs in one basket but in the end it worked for them. 

Would it have worked if they hadn't changed their way of playing to suit Gray?

[cannable]

30 minutes ago, europia said:

 Although we appear to have great striker options (on paper) I think the club has been very slow to go out and get that one top striker that will make the difference. I remember when Burnley splashed all their cash on Andre Gray. It seemed like they had put all their eggs in one basket but in the end it worked for them. 

Was that not because they lost Ings though?

[Sparkle]

He wasn’t on the pitch for very long and scored a good goal and put Lawrence clean through on goal as well which is not bad considering how long he was on the pitch

[lrm14]

Plan A is to just defend until they're knackered with the hope of getting a goal on the break, then giving it a real go at the end. If we concede a couple early we have absolutely no clue what do and that was something that yesterday highlighted.

Martin surely has to start now. We're lacking that bit of creativity to unlock defensive teams, which is exactly his specialty. He's put in some excellent performances off the bench recently and scored yesterday which is exactly what earned Winnall his start. The same should apply to Martin.

 

[europia]

6 hours ago, cannable said:

Was that not because they lost Ings though?

Yes that probably funded the Andre Gray deal (if I recall correctly), however it was Gray who made the difference in that successful season. That was my point really.