Posts Tagged ‘obafemi martins’
The all new rumour reporting article system is in full effect! [Read the rest of this entry »]
Harry is linked to YET another striker!
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We all know that Martin O’Neill wears spectacles, and it appears as though the Aston Villa manager was wearing the rose-tinted variety on Monday night, after watching his team lose 2-0 at Newcastle. Obafemi Martins struck twice in the second half to give the Magpies a deserved victory, although the Villans gaffer is lamenting the fact that his team couldn’t put away their first-half chances. [Read the rest of this entry »]
Martin Laursen may have clipped the post with a header, while Ashley Young’s shot was saved at point-blank by Shay Given in the first half. Nevertheless, Newcastle were more than worth their 2-0 victory on Monday night, with the players once again proving tough to beat at home against a decent side. One player in the Magpies team wants the interim manager to stick around for a little longer. [Read the rest of this entry »]
Despite Newcastle having: 1) An already small squad and, 2) Having released four players from said squad this summer, there are stories linking almost half their squad away from the club, where according to Sky Sports:
Middlesbrough and Aston Villa are said to be keen on James Milner, Rangers are chasing Alan Smith, and Blackburn are keeping tabs on Abdoulaye Faye.
With Obafemi Martins interesting Arsenal and Michael Owen seen as a possible replacement for Dimitar Berbatov should the Bulgarian leave Tottenham, Keegan could have his work cut out during the close season.
Add to that the rumour that Damien Duff has put his house up for sale, Emre is constantly linked with a move away from Tyneside and Liverpool’s interest in Steve Harper, and before we know it Newcastle will be fielding all those youngsters they bought in January next season.
Will these players go? Do Newcastle fans care if they do? With the club also being linked, as per usual, with every single player on the face of the planet, they could surely replace anyone who left.
Anyone who doesn’t know Kevin Keegan is a Obafemi Martins! Surprised?? Well, when you get to know that at the time of the appointment of tthe Toon legend as the new manager of Newcastle United, the Nigerian international had no idea whatsoever who Keegan was, you would certainly be amused. At least, I was!
The former Inter Milan striker has admitted that it was only after talking to his Geordies team mate Geremie that hecame to fully appreciate who Keegan was and why there was so much of fanfare and hype at his appointment as the leader to shepherd the Newcastle flock. Martin remarks:
I honestly didn’t know anything about him. But I quickly learned things and realised what an important person he was.
It was Geremi who told me all about Kevin Keegan. He rang while we were both out in Ghana – Geremi was with Cameroon – to say that Keegan had been this great player and what a good manager he was for Newcastle.
When I got back we had to introduce ourselves to each other. I had an ankle injury but Keegan told me he wanted me back and fit to help the team. I told him I wanted that, too.
Now Martins certainly knows who Kevin Keegan is. And moving onto more serious matters, Martins speaks about a new contract with the club:
It should be sorted out in the next two weeks. I want to stay here because I love the fans and they love me. I can imagine playing for Newcastle for many, many years. I have settled in well, the area is cool and I’m happy.
A new five-year contract is on the cards it seems but Martins does have to improve to be a regular for Newcastle since there is supposed to be a massive revamp of the side in the summer with a plethora of new faces slated to be imported to St. James’ Park.
Newcastle United manager Kevin Keegan is jumping with joy at the return of several of his key players from African Cup of Nations duty and is confident that positive results will now flow for the Magpies. The likes of Abdoulaye Faye, Habib Beye, Geremi and Obafemi Martins have returned to St. James’ Park and Keegan can now reassemble the jigsaw.
Kevin Keegan says:
I am delighted to have Abdoulaye back. I have been very impressed with both him and Habib Beye.
They both played a part in Senegal’s tournament and now have a role to play here.
As far as Abdoulaye is concerned, he is a very good professional and he has done a very good job here.
He is a big lad and we certainly need some height in the team at the moment, but it is not only his height, he has great experience as well.
Can these returning African players stop the rot and improve Newcastle’s season? Keegan certainly thinks so and maybe they can.
Pace and power are just two qualities that Michael Owen doesn’t have, so Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan will be delighted to welcome back Obafemi Martins into the squad after the Nigerian’s African Nations Cup adventure. King Kev doesn’t seem that keen on Mark Viduka (how else can you explain not playing him against Villa?), so it must be a relief for Magpies fans that he might field somebody half-decent at holding the ball up rather than hanging around the six-yard box for a tap-in. The official United website carries the quotes:
“Oba will be fine, he just turned his ankle before he came back and he’s had to have a couple of days’ rest,” explained the black and white boss.
“We’re confident he will be back in training with the rest of the group by the end of the week.
“I’m looking forward to him joining us because I’ve seen quite a lot of him previously and I know what he can do. It’s just a case of having a close look at him on our training pitch now.
“He’s got great pace and he’s still our top goalscorer, even though he has been at the African Cup of Nations for the best part of a month.”
What he really means is surely “I’m looking forward to him joining us because it’s been relegation form since I joined, the natives are starting to get restless and the exciting matches I promised upon arriving at the club have failed to even look like materialising.”
ESPN Soccernet reports that Obafemi Martins is buoyant and enthusiastic as he returns to Newcastle after a disappointing African Cup of Nations adventure with Nigeria. Martins will be playing under a new manager after Sam Allardyce was sacked while he was in Ghana – and he has this to say about the chances of improvement under Kevin Keegan:
”He did a lot for Newcastle and all the fans love him. They call him ‘The King’ so I think it’s very, very good. It’s very good for him as well and we players are going to try our best for him, just to make him proud. Everything will have changed now, we have a new manager and he’ll have changed a lot of things that I don’t know. I think it’s not a problem for me to go back and focus on starting playing.”
Martins was marginalised by Big Sam in the first half of the season and the very first thing that the former Inter Milan striker must do is claw back into the starting XI, which won’t be too easy.
The Sun reports that Newcastle striker Obafemi Martins is going to be an obscenely wealthy young scamp. Apparently the African speed merchant has been offered a whopper of a contract:
“The Nigerian striker, 23, still has 3½ years of his current deal to run but is wanted by Inter Milan, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Manchester City.
“So new Toon boss Keegan has moved to keep hold of the former Inter star.
“Toon owner Mike Ashley has sanctioned a two-year extension to Martins’ contract and a 50 per cent wage rise to £90,000-a-week. As part of the deal Martins has agreed to forfeit a £13m release clause.”
The striker himself admitted he was chuffed to be staying, but he is clearly a man of few words, saying:
“These are exciting times and I want to stay.”
But is Martins really worth breaking the bank for?
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