Derby County's Senior Communications Officer Tom Loakes
looks at the impact striker Chris Martin has made since returning to the first-team fold and the qualities he can bring to Phillip Cocu's side moving forward.
I had to pinch myself at 3:02pm on Saturday 28th September to check it wasn’t 2014 all over again.
Chris Martin wheeling away in celebration at Pride Park Stadium was a sight we were all well accustomed to five years ago.
In fact, he notched an impressive 61 goals in the 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons combined.
That’s some return.
He was, quite rightly, regarded as one of the most lethal frontmen outside the Premier League.
When Martin, who had scored 64 goals for the club in 186 games prior to the start of this season, put Derby ahead inside 90 seconds against Birmingham City, it felt like old times.
So much so, I was waiting for Craig Bryson to charge into the box to double Derby’s lead!
Joking aside, life is about ups and downs and to say the last few years have been a challenging time for Martin is an understatement.
He’s spoken openly that, at various times since August 2016, he didn’t think he would be donning the colours of Derby County again.
Since then, he’s had three spells out on loan.
Previous managers Nigel Pearson, Gary Rowett and Frank Lampard wanted to go down a different route when it came to the type of striker they wanted to lead the line.
While Martin has admitted, with hindsight, the decisions to move away temporarily weren’t always the right ones but were instead made out of a burning desire to play first-team football.
The first of those loan spells away from the club began at Fulham in 2016/17, although he did sign a new contract with Derby until 2020 whilst with the Cottagers.
He notched 11 goals for Fulham as they narrowly missed out on promotion, taking his return to 72 in four seasons in the Championship.
A brief return to Derby under Gary Rowett followed, but he was behind David Nugent, Matej Vydra and on-loan Sam Winnall in the pecking under.
He ended up joining Reading on loan for the rest of the season in January 2017. One goal in ten appearances was a disappointing return, but during his time with the Royals he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis.
It had a detrimental impact. He lost weight, felt fatigued, spent time in hospital and had to adapt to the medication he was provided to control the illness.
It also meant that he was playing catch-up last summer as Derby’s players reported back to prepare for the new campaign.
He missed a large chunk of pre-season, after a minor issue with the illness in the close season, by which time David Nugent, Jack Marriott and Martyn Waghorn had established themselves as Lampard’s frontline options.
So, the suitcase was packed again.
Martin spent the season on loan at Hull City, scoring twice from 31 games in a mixed campaign.
He returned to Derby in the summer and under a new manager, the question was once again asked: “What does this mean for Chris Martin?”
Under Phillip Cocu, Martin has been given a new lease of life.
Listening to the 30-year-old talking to the media recently, he appears to be in a good place in his life.
Whilst many felt his time at the club was up, Martin has been quietly working behind the scenes to get himself to the level required to be part of Cocu’s plans.
There was no early season sulking and he earned praise from his team-mates for the way he was going about his work.
He took part in extra sessions with Cocu’s coaching staff, mainly on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, and the hard work is beginning paying off.
Martin gained match sharpness with Darren Wassall’s Under-23s and when Cocu came calling after the September international break, it was Martin’s time to shine.
The reception he received in his brief cameo off the bench against Cardiff City last month, if he needed reminding, showed just how much he is still adored by the Derby supporters.
Cocu said after the 1-1 draw with the Bluebirds: “It is always good to see, as a manager, that a player is loved by the fans.”
He also laid down a challenge to Martin and said: “There is a lot of competition in this area of the team, so it is up to him to keep his good work up and make it difficult for me to make the choices.”
Challenge accepted.
Martin didn’t want his cameo to be just that either.
He said afterwards: “I made it my mission to be involved this season and everyone has to prove themselves every week.
“The reception is just a small piece of the puzzle in what I want to achieve. I don’t want that to be it.”
His goal at Leeds United recently, his first for Derby in almost two years, was another poignant moment and not just because of the dramatic nature of the strike to earn Cocu’s side a point.
It was his first Rams goal since November 2017.
As Martin set off in celebration towards the Rams supporters tucked away in the corner of Elland Road, Sky Sports’ commentator Daniel Mann described the moment perfectly.
“Out of the wilderness. On to the scoresheet. Chris Martin!”
Understandably, the question on everyone’s lips was would Martin start against Birmingham.
He did, his first for the club since December 2017. And he scored, again.
For good measure he got an assist too, setting up Martyn Waghorn’s coolly taken finish after half-time in the 3-2 victory as the Rams netted their first home win of the season.
He followed that up with another goal in the 2-2 draw against Barnsley a few days later, scoring from close range to display his predatory instincts as the home side failed to clear a loose ball.
Martin was also named in the staring line-up the win against Luton Town too before the international break as the Rams claimed a second home in succession.
Cocu isn’t picking Martin because of his popularity amongst supporters and it would be unfair to say Martin’s game is all about goals either.
After the victory against Birmingham, Cocu commented: “For me it is no different if a boy is 18 or 30; you just have to show your best and your value for the team.
“I will put the best team on, but not only look at the individual player. If I think the team will work out the best with this option, they will start. After his hard work and goal at Leeds, he deserved a start.
“He did great, not only with the goal but also he tried to keep the ball against two tall centre-backs, dropping, link-up play, leading also because with his personality he is important in the team.”
Cocu makes a more than valid point.
Martin’s link-up play, ability to drop deep and bring others into play is as good as any other frontman in the Championship.
There’s a YouTube video showcasing Martin’s abilities which I watched recently and, if I’m honest, I had forgotten how influential he had been, and can be, for Derby.
While his goals are always the moments that stand out, he certainly contributed with more assists that he’s given credit for.
I’m well aware any individual can look good on a YouTube showreel; but Martin’s footballing intelligence and awareness really does stand out.
I mentioned this to Martin last month in a chat prior to him spending time with one of the communications team for an interview with club’s matchday programme.
He joked at the time: “Have you had to remind them I used to be good?!”
In another interview earlier this year, whilst on loan at Hull, Martin admitted that he feels a more rounded player for his recent experiences.
He said: “I think you’re constantly evolving and learning different things.
“It doesn’t look like it from a stats point of view, but I do feel like I’m a better player. I’m more rounded, I’ve learned more and constantly picked up new things.”
At 30 years of age, there’s plenty of miles left in the Scotland international striker’s legs.
Martin has announced himself back on the scene and he’s certainly given Cocu another welcome option to call upon in attack.
Martyn Waghorn and Jack Marriott don’t need to prove themselves to the Rams’ faithful, they have shown during the last year they are more than capable of leading the line to great effect.
Their qualities should not be ignored nor underestimated either. Waghorn put in another superb shift out wide against Birmingham and scored a well-taken goal himself, while Marriott came off the bench to set up Jamie Paterson’s matchwinning strike.
It’s going to be interesting how Cocu utilises his strikers moving forward but it’s certainly a good problem to have.
Hopefully this is just the start for Martin and it certainly makes for a romantic story that he’s stepped out of the shadows and into the limelight.
Maybe 2019 is the new 2014, after all?
