Obafemi Martins shows professionals pride

By: j | November 29th, 2008

Through the balance of Newcastle’s match against Middlesbrough, Obafemi Martins was unquestionably the major attacking threat including his left-footed drive that beat ‘Boro keeper Ross Turnbull but clanged off the the cross-bar. However twenty-minutes after the break thirty-three year-old veteran Mark Viduka was brought on for him. Naturally there was a series of rationale reasons why the Aussie hit-man was brought on, not only to re-unite him upfront with Michael Owen, possibly serve up a scoring strike against his old club as well as an overall boost to the troubled year to date, however it can’t be overlooked that Obafemi provided the Magpies their attacking pulse. Unfortunately he didn’t appreciate being substituted and immediately made his way down the tunnel as opposed to joining his teammates.

This will naturally be the subject of much debate and will need to be dealt with by Joe Kinnear. While Obafemi treated the situation incorrectly and should have made his way to the bench, it also needs to said that club needs to deal with a problem dealing with playing time. While in the past the Nigerian international has often been described for this pace and raw athleticism, has sharpened his game to a fine point and he should be a regular from start to finish. This is a perplexing problem with the leadership of Michael Owen and Mark Viduka incredibly important for the club during the tough stretch run but it is also impossible to deny Obafemi’s game is on the rise with considerable more upside. As you throw in the possibility of Michael Owen moving elsewhere with his contract set to expire shortly, this situation needs to be dealt with efficiently and with an eye towards the future.

When asked of the situation Newcastle coach Chris Hughton said:

“It’s not an issue, you always want players to be disappointed when they’re substituted. Oba didn’t want to come off and that’s a good thing.”

I’ll throw this over to readers for constructive comments. How would you treat the situation of him storming off the pitch, if it even needs to be more than a behind-the-scenes talk and how would you put together you lineup? Please be aware that there is considerable concern of whether Michael Owen will resign with the club and Mark Viduka’s fitness level leaves a lot to be desired.