Martins has dismissed suggestions that he could leave Newcastle United by predicting he will stay at St James's Park for as long as Sam Allardyce remains as manager.So Much For The 'Allardyce/Martins Rift'!
Martins has dismissed suggestions that he could leave Newcastle United by predicting he will stay at St James's Park for as long as Sam Allardyce remains as manager.Martins was dropped to make way for Michael Owen and the No 9 was the subject of widespread speculation in the summer with claims the Nigerian international did not fit into Allardyce's plans following the arrivals of Mark Viduka and Alan Smith.
But Martins, who scored his fifth goal of the season in the 3-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur on Monday night, says his relationship with the Magpies manager could not be better.
Martins: "It was a very good result for the team, another three points at home and a good goal for me as well, so I'm very happy with things.
"I feel settled in English football. Glenn Roeder was right, it wasn't that easy for me to come to Newcastle and it took me a few months to learn new stuff about the Premier League, English football and living in Newcastle.
"I had to adapt to the style of football and it took me some time, but I'm very happy here. Things are going well.
"I didn't really feel as though I had to prove myself to a new manager when Sam Allardyce came, I just knew I had to work hard and he would see what I could do.
"I'm happy and settled at Newcastle, I never took any notice of the stories saying I'd leave in the summer and, if Sam Allardyce is here for five years, I will be here for five years also.
"I'm happy and settled at Newcastle, I never took any notice of the stories saying I'd leave in the summer and, if Sam Allardyce is here for five years, I will be here for five years also.
"That is how much I enjoy playing for him. I don't think I'll be going anywhere while Sam is here. I'm scoring goals and I'm playing games, that's all you can ask for as a striker.
"My goal return is 22 goals in 50 games which is almost a goal every other game.
"I don't set myself targets of say 20 or 30 or even 40 goals in a season, I just try hard to score as many goals as I can.
"They say a good mark of a world class striker is a record of a goal every other game and I'm quite close to that at Newcastle. That is something I'm happy about, I just concentrate on trying to keep scoring a goal every other game because that will keep me in the team.
"My record has been like that through most of my career, but there is no way I can compare myself to Alan Shearer. he was a great, great player.
"When I wear the number nine shirt I'm just trying my best to do as well as he did, but he played something like 500 games. I'd like to try and do that.
"People have said two small strikers cannot play together but I think 'of course we can'. We are both good players and that's the most important thing.
"It's the same with Mark Viduka or Shola Ameobi, I think I can play with all of them."