Interesting YP Martis Interview?

[rovinrover52]

Published Date: 12 April 2010
Shelton Martis endured a wall of silence at former club West Bromwich Albion for most of a stop-start 2009-10 – and Sean O'Driscoll didn't have to talk up the merits of Doncaster Rovers when he made his move in February.
The 6ft 1in Dutch defender admits the communication lines between himself and the Albion management fused during the latter stages of his time at the Hawthorns, when the centre-back says he didn't know where he stood.

And while it was a bit of a surprise to be told the club had accepted a bid from Rovers – where he enjoyed a brief loan spell last term – he admits it was a weight off his shoulders to be handed a second coming at the Keepmoat Stadium.

It was all a far cry from the start of the season when the 28-year-old – signed by former Baggies boss Tony Mowbray from his former club Hibernian for a bargain £50,000 in the summer of 2007 – was a regular alongside Jonas Olsson.

Martis, who had only tasted morsels of action in his first two seasons at Albion, started the first 10 games alongside the Swede as Roberto de Matteo's outfit blazed a trail at the top of the Championship and signalled their intentions to return to the Premiership Promised Land in the most emphatic way possible.

In the process, the former Excelsior and Eindhoven player looked to have nailed down a first-team spot at long last, even managing to score Albion's first goal of the season in a 1-1 opening-day home draw with Newcastle United.

All told, Martis featured in six winning line-ups in a bountiful opening two months, lining up in the heart of the defence for the 3-1 home win over Rovers on September 15 and being part of the side who mauled Middlesbrough 5-0 in their own back garden in a top-of-the-table clash four days later, with all seemingly set fair.

But a poor display in a 3-1 reverse at the end of the month at Barnsley saw Martis consigned to the sidelines and it was the beginning of the end for the Dutchman, with the game at Oakwell representing the last one he started in Albion colours in the Championship.

Martis did briefly feature as a late sub over the festive season, and was expected to provide cover for African Cup of Nations call-up Abdoulaye Meite in January.

But the arrival of Romanian international Gabriel Tamas pushed him back down the pecking order, with his final Baggies start – and first in over three months – arriving in the 2-0 FA Cup third-round win at Huddersfield Town on January 2.

Midlander O'Driscoll offered Martis a lifeline in South Yorkshire hours before the closure of the transfer window on February 1 and the defender was happy to receive the warm embrace of a manager who clearly rated him.

On leaving the Black Country, Martis, who locked horns with old club Albion in a juicy personal assignment yesterday, said: \"It was a bit of a surprise. But it was also a relief, they clearly didn't think I was good enough or whatever, I just didn't know what the situation was.

\"But I've got a chance to play with Doncaster at the same level and aim to take it.

\"I never expected to leave the way I did because I was enjoying my time there, even though at some points, I wasn't playing.

\"It just never really worked out; not from me – I just didn't know what they were thinking and the way I left was frustrating, really.

\"I'm enjoying my time here at Doncaster now and I really love it and am playing regular football. I'm learning all the time and me and Jimmy (O'Connor) have done okay in the centre.\"

Working with an accomplished technician such as O'Driscoll was a big selling point for Martis, who memorably scored the goal which ended a fraught 13-match winless streak for Rovers in November 2008 when they triumphed 1-0 against Ipswich Town in a critical televised encounter at the Keepmoat.

That victory was one of the turning points in Rovers' campaign with O'Driscoll's polished outfit largely carrying on from where they left off in a sizzling second half of last season in 2009-10, when they have again won plenty of points for artistic merit.

Rovers' progression was such that ahead of the Easter programme, the
Championship minnows were even daring to think the \"Impossible Dream\", namely gatecrashing the end-of-season play-offs.

Disappointing defeats to relegation-haunted Plymouth Argyle, who virtually stole an Easter Saturday win at the Keepmoat, and top-six rivals Blackpool – the surprise Championship packages this season along with Rovers – ultimately put paid to that.

But Martis is confident his new club can be up there in the reckoning against next season, with he and his team-mates taking their recent blows firmly on the chin.

The Netherlands Antilles international said: \"We should have beaten Plymouth and there disappointment as a group after that. We dominated in the first half and for the most part in the second, but then we just dropped a level and it wasn't so fluid. It was frustrating, really.

\"That's football. But if you have ambitions to go up, you have to deal
with those situations.

\"But we've had a good season and while the play-offs might be a bit difficult this season now, next season, that's my aim really.\"

Rovers' continental style has drawn envious glances from football fans across the land and Martis has acclimatised well to life at the club, as you'd expect from someone schooled in Dutch soccer, whose purist approach to the beautiful game is legendary – right back from the days of Rinus Michels' total football of the 70s, espoused by the likes of Cruyff and Neeskens et al.

And Martis admits Rovers' style is akin to many sides 'back home' across the North Sea.

He added: \"To be fair, a lot of sides do play like this in Holland in terms of building up from the back and it's enjoyable to be involved in such a side.

\"For a spell against Plymouth, we kept the ball for I don't know how many passes and looked so comfortable. We dominate possession and as a defender, you've just got to keep your concentration.

\"The manager is very technical and knows what he wants to achieve. He can chop and change the system and last year, we played three at the back. He communicates really well and wants you to think about what you do – almost like a Dutch coach!

\"For him, it's about how you play and if you play well, the results will come

[CusworthRovers]

Mr Frost isn't playing anymore n/t

[RobTheRover]

West Brom Promoted at little Donny.