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I get the impression that controller was the hardest role to design for to begin with. The system at all stages presented fewer controllers than members of other roles and seemed to struggle to differentiate them. In a system where classes really had truly different capabilities and M.O. than each other and tended to play very differently, the Invoker and Wizard were quite similar to each other, and the Psion was similar to those, albeit with a resource system that didn't work very well as implemented. (I don't believe that the PP concept used by the 4e psionic classes is fatally flawed, but I do think that the relative value of lots of high-impact actions compared to a mix of very-high impact and lower-impact actions wasn't pinned very well, especially in the case of the Psion.) The seeker does have some novel elements, but ended up being distinguished in most people's minds by the fact that it was simply less effective. The druid ended up being unique primarily due to the fact that it inherited the puzzle of how to handle turning into an animal, and while the solution they came up with does make for a more unique class, it doesn't make for a very pleasing representation of shapeshifting.

Part of it is that, unlike most roles, controllers tended to have the majority of their schtick bundled into their powers, rather than into class abilities. This meant that they tended to not have the same mechanical heart as most classes. A barbarian, a TWF ranger, a melee rogue, and an avenger are all melee weapon-using strikers, but they feel nothing alike because their mechanical hearts pull them in different directions. Their powers reflect this as well, but some of what makes them them lies in their mechanical hearts. (The barbarian is unusual among strikers in that its heart is mostly in its powers.)

If you're going to have classes that live mostly in their powers, their powers need to follow something of a general theme if you want them to feel distinct. I don't know if I can reasonably say that the Invoker and the Wizard really did that. The Invoker has a stronger leader streak, has summons that work a little differently, tends more towards radiant damage, and picked up a small martydom theme, but none of those are very pronounced (although the first is noticiable.)

I think that ultimately the reason that there wasn't a martial controller is that that space was eaten up in the rogue's controllerish subtheme and the fighter's defendery support powers.

I think the Berserker and the Barbarian are two different sub classes of the fighter.      Not all Barbarians need to be breserkers either.

It is interesting to note that while 4e has the greatest combined support on these forums of any edition, the pre-4e crowd is actually larger overall. This would indicate that the overall bias of these forums is actually geared toward pre 4e D&D.