Obafemi Martins is head over heels for challenge of Birmingham boost

An enduring and endearing memory of Obafemi Martins in the black and white of Newcastle United, from 2006 to 2009, is the trademark somersault. Over and over he went, marking his 28 goals in 88 Premier League appearances in the dramatic manner of an Olympic tumbler. Gold-medal winning performances, all of them. Martins, an engaging free spirit, was head-over-heels in love with English football until injury and relegation took its toll and took him off to Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga. And then, in July last year, on to Rubin Kazan in Russia. Yet the goals had dried up and, consequently, the acrobatics, too. Only now, after a six-month loan move to Birmingham City, does Martins appear to have landed on his feet. There might not have been any aerial acrobatics in a drab encounter with Stoke City on Saturday but there were enough signs, enough dinks and jinks, on his debut to suggest that the Nigeria striker will be rocking and rolling again soon. And he promises a special show should he score at Wembley a week on Sunday, when Birmingham take on Arsenal in the Carling Cup final. "I am going to do it," Martins said. "You had to be careful in Russia, doing somersaults on the synthetic pitches. When it is too cold, you are going to be stiff. I only did it once. I think I will do it more here. If I score against Arsenal, I think I am going to do 10 or even more somersaults." Martins did not enjoy the solitude in Kazan – the capital city of the Republic of Tatarstan, 450 miles from Moscow – and hinted at a miserable existence away from his Yorkshire-based girlfriend and two children. Tyler, a son, arrived shortly before Christmas. "What was life in Russia like? I am not going to say anything about that," he said. "I am glad to be back in England, I feel at home here. I have my girlfriend and kids here; I missed them. It was difficult for them to come over. My girlfriend didn't like the four-hour flight and staying in Russia with the kids. I want to bring them up here." From Russia with love … clearly not. Birmingham have an option to sign Martins permanently, presumably if he plays a key role in helping the club stave off relegation, and he is up for the challenge. "If everything goes well," he said, "then of course I'm going to stay. I want to play, score goals and keep Birmingham up." Martins's last competitive match for Rubin was against Barcelona in the Champions League in early December. St Andrew's does not exactly bear favourable comparison with the Camp Nou, nor do Stoke with Barça. The stark beauty-and-the-beast contrast will not have been lost on Martins but at least his new team-mates demonstrated enough patience and vigour to secure victory via an injury-time header from Nikola Zigic, his seventh goal of the season. The Stoke manager, Tony Pulis, said: "We have played Birmingham on their ground and I am not sure Asmir [Begovic, Stoke's goalkeeper] has had a real shot to save in the 90 minutes. We are devastated to have got nothing out of that game. "Bentley shoots from the edge of the box straight at Asmir and unfortunately the kid has not held it and from that point onwards we are in trouble. I didn't think we deserved to lose the game. It's always a tough game coming to Birmingham. But you have to play the time out. There were three minutes added on and I think they scored in the 93rd minute." If Birmingham are to survive in the Premier League, much may depend on the little-and-large partnership of 6ft 8in Zigic and 5ft 7in Martins. "He is tall," Martins observed. "I hope to play more games with him." His next opportunity is at St Andrew's night and the somersaults are on standby. Birmingham's opponents? Newcastle, naturally.