Oba and out!
At last it looks like Newcastle United fans can celebrate a new striker.
Is he 21? Is he 28? Is he from Cameroon? Is he from Nigeria?
My opinion is nobody will really care how old he is or if he comes from Mars - as long as he scores goals.
And so it appears to be Obafemi Martins who will join Shola Ameobi and Albert Luque in their mission to bring goals to Newcastle.
With 28 goals in 88 games ObagoalâÂÂs record seems good enough to me considering Serie A is usually a League dominated by defences.
We did hear that Portsmouth tried to get Martins with a last gasp bid but perhaps it would have been too dangerous for he and Lomana Lualua to be on the same pitch as each other given their identical backflip goal celebrations!
Realistically I donâÂÂt think Pompey had a sniff of getting Martins once the Lagos-born star knew United were in the hunt.
I mean be honest, playing at crumbling Fratton Park every fortnight with no European football or running out in front of the Gallowgate in front of 52,000 and UEFA Cup football to boot.
It isnâÂÂt bad is it?
I think ã10million is a fair price for Martins and when you look around on what was available and what else was on offer it could turn out to be a shrewd buy by Glenn Roeder.
Roeder has admitted he wanted pace in his team and especially upfront, now I believe he has got that in Martins.
The United boss will also give Martins the choice to wear number 9.
Should he accept I think that is massive statement from the player and indicates he can live with life in the big time.
His education has come at Inter Milan watching the likes of Ronaldo, Vieri, Adriano, and Recoba amidst the backdrop of the San Siro which all also bodes well for the future.
Good luck Obagoal - the whole of Tyneside is behind you.
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Lee Ryder - Proudly born and bred on Tyneside, the Chronicle's chief sports writer has followed the fortunes of the club over the last three decades as a Toon fan and football writer.
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I'm glad we have a striker, but baffled that we've spent ã10m on a player almost identical to Michael Owen in style. We now have a ã27m strike partnership but surely they can't both play together?! What happens when Michael Owen is fit - who does Glenn drop?
I'm also intrigued by Glenn saying Martins was his main transfer target all summer. Hasn't he been saying all summmer that he only wants players who are proven in the Premiership and not foreigners whose character he is unsure of? Martins has never scored 20 goals per season in any league let alone the Premiership!
I'd love it if Martins proved me wrong, but I'm pretty sure the record Lee stated above doesn't include about 1000 substitute appearances and from what I've seen and heard, I'm really not sure if he's going to be the goal-getter we so desperately need. Plenty of pace I'm sure, but a proven goalscorer? Time will tell - like I said, I would love him to prove me wrong but I'm unsure.
One thing I am sure of is that I would have preferred Saviola for ã3.5m as his goal record is simply outstanding and everyone knows he is top class player who has done it at the highest level.
Although I have seen little of Obafemi Martins, I think that he will turn out to be a great signing for us. Freddie and Glen are to be congratulated in sticking to their guns in the long drawn out process in getting him. Has Freddie started to develop some common sense at last? Is this the man who paid an astronomical amount for a player on a free just months earlier? I am gradually coming round to love Freddie - just a little. Perhaps the influence of Glen has something to do with it.
Looking at the players available for selection tonight can you imagine what we would be getting from Souness at this time. From Roeder not a mention that we do not have one fit striker available, he just tells those players that are available, to get on with it. He expects them to win and he gives them and us the confidence that we will. He is turning out to be the manager that we really needed after the traumatic days of Souness.
I am not sure if my sums are correct but the recent comings and goings have resulted in a net expenditure of ã7.5 million for two players of the calibre of Duff and Martins. Good going, Freddie.
Who cares, were gonna win the league
Just watched the game and Martins signature could not have come at a better time ..tonight showed just how much we need a new number 9 and a big pat on the back for the fellow for wanting to take the shirt.a very good performance against a very poor latvian mob but nevertheless into europe we go and well done Glen.But lets put one thing to bed and that is luque is not a great player in fact he is not even a good player and never in a month of sundays is the bloke going to make it at Newcastle .He was absolute rubbish tonight against possibly the worst team we have faced in recent times , i have read all the shouts on here and taken most with a dose of salt but was still optimistic that he just needed time to adjust.Well that bubble has now burst the bloke couldnt trap a bag of cement and couldnt hit a cows rear end with a banjo . Sorry to all the dreamers but it aint going to happen.Getting back to martins the way he strutted on to the pitch was a good sign ,we need confident players and first impressions are good (Albert sort of shrugged in) the fellow looks full of confidence and cant wait to see him down the villa on sunday....and even if he doesnt score a sackfull we could probably make a few bob loaning him out to Gateshead Harriers for the 100m...Jackie
Howay Jackie, Luque was asked to lead the line on his own tonight - it's hardly his natural position, he's a creative forward not a target man. His job was to play off the defender's shoulder tonight to stop Ventspils pushing up the pitch and making a game of it, and he did a very disciplined job, enabling players like Milner, Duff and Zogs to use the space between midfield and attack. He might have had a couple of dodgy touches but they were near enough the only touches he had all night, as he was fairly isolated playing alone up front and the service to him, although frequent, was not the most accurate.
Saviola must be special Adam...you are obsessed...anyone else got views on him? Martins is an unknown quntity to me but if he scores goals then its better than what we have already got...Ameobi will be a good foil for the quick lagos man. Owen has shown that he can play with anyone. It's the managers job to pick players that compliment each other and i'm sure Glenn is looking at this season first, and worrying about Owen next season when he's available.
We will have to agree to disagree on this one Adam i have read your postings on here and i know you speak a lot of sense on most subjects and i agree with a lot of your comments but Luque isnt gonna make it ..he will join the group of world stars who flop at sjp...thommason,anderson guivarch ,saha the list goes on not saying he is a bad player away from here (watched your luque can play tube video) but doesnt do it for me nor do i think he ever will in the black and white stripes...really hope im wrong as we could do with the player on your video but cant see it happening ..Jackie
I agree with adam. I am somewhat unconvinced by the purchase of Martins. I am pleased that he has pace and that he can frighten defenders, but we need a striker who can score goals and has a record of doing so.
Saviola again would have been a good signing. He is a fantastic player and someone we could sign given there are 4 days of the transfer window still remaining.
However, I think that we should get Woodgate back on loan. He is an exceptional talent, a great defender and someone who would shore up our back line.
Fair point Jackie, although I still harbour hopes of him settling... it could still happen! I think maybe it's just the confidence issue - things seem to affect him more than others, and if he has one bad touch and hears the crowd groan, he seems to struggle to pick himself up, and sadly this keeps happening with him still not being match-sharp.
Also agree with tooonarmy84 - I would LOVE to see Woodgate back in our defence, he would improve our team so much. It's only a loan as well - so it wouldn't cost us! Woodgate, Bridge and another striker? Then we're laughing!
(I heard on ESPN yesterday that Gravesen has agreed terms with Celtic - not sure if we needed him anyway?)