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In my opinion, Steven Whittaker has been given a lot of unfair criticism this season. Apart from the failed midfield experiment against Brentford, I think he has had a good steady season, I would perhaps even have him in the top 3 for POS.

Watching Russell Martin''s shaky performance last night and a few others I can think of this season, he doesn''t get anywhere near the amount of flack that Whittaker gets and I believe that SW is the much better option at right back.

Having said that, if we do manage to get up, we will need to look at right back as an area to strengthen.

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I''m with you JBS.

There are a lot of Russell Martin fans on here who will disagree but why he was given a 3yr new contract is beyond me, I understand he is the ultimate professional who does extra training etc etc but he''s not good enough for a promotion push nor for the premier league if we make it.

Worries me how exposed he gets with pace against him.

Still don''t think he''s a centre back either, didn''t win a header last night unless unopposed and his distribution is the same time after time. We have a laugh where we sit and count the number of times he gives the ball away with his hopeful long punts

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"Still don''t think he''s a centre back either, didn''t win a header last night unless unopposed and his distribution is the same time after time. We have a laugh where we sit and count the number of times he gives the ball away with his hopeful long punts"

Thats what we used to do with Whittaker in the first half of the season. Fun isn''t it.

Whits has been great once he settled into AN team. Although he nearly gave a goal away I thought he was our man of the match. Has been really good since AN''s come in after a poor first half along with Olsson

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It certainly keeps me entertained when the games is dire, which a lot of the early season ones were....

Years ago before I moved stands we used to play the corner game, everyone put a quid in (there were 8 of us) and every time there was a corner we passed the money on until the final whistle.

Made losing all the better when you got beer money

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yep, you''ve got to have something. We used to play ''how many tackles will Darrel Russel make before he gets booked''

it wasn''t as fun as your game as it was so short lived, though we did get two stints at it tbf

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I honestly don''t believe our problem was in defence last night, believe it or not.There was one goal and replays suggest it was Whittaker''s man that caused the problems. It was a lucky goal which came at the end of a period of pressure.I believe both Whittaker and Martin have their merrits. As for Martin''s 3year contract - he is more than deserving in my eyes.The defence was pushed and pulled quite a bit last night, but I felt that was because of the way they attacked through midfield and pulled our defence out of position. This contrasted with the way they played which saw their two central midfielders protect their back four brilliantly which allowed them to maintain their shape well.Their general pace, up front and wide especially, proved difficult for us to handle.At the end of the day, the best team or teams in the league are seen at the end of the season, not at the begining. If Martin is not a good championship player then neither is Whittaker. I feel both are, but Martin is the better of the two.

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did very well going forward last night, much better than olsson on the other flank, and thought he was a better MOTM option than Howson.

However his prime job is to defend and for both the goal and the late bamford chance he was exposed for strength and pace.

IF we get promoted the back line will need improving with better first choice players - less important at champs level, although better cbs would be needed.

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In my view we need a bigger centre half pairing for Bassong, 6''4 or bigger and a pacey forward thinking full back, in the mould of Nathaniel Clyne (although clearly won''t be getting him) but that kind

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The original point that I was making is that I feel Whittaker has been an unfair scapegoat this season when in actual fact he has had a pretty decent season, whether he will be good enough for the Prem, if we get there, is a matter of opinion and yes, we may need to strengthen in that department.

I think technically he is a very good footballer though, perhaps lacking a bit of pace.

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[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]did very well going forward last night, much better than olsson on the other flank,  [/quote]

He''s a better footballer than Olsson. Olsson has got a bit more pace but sometimes you have to wonder how much of a football brain he''s got.

 

 

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All season long GJP!

 

Unfortunately folk are readying their scapegoats before the fat lady sings. Hopefully, with our support Whittikar and Ollson can still play a huge part in getting us promoted...

 

 

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Whittaker is pretty good going forward to give him his due, but defensively he''s just not got it.

He can''t defend set pieces and is caught out of position far too often. When he is in position, people ghost past him regularly.

The goal against Boro, was his man.

The goal against Bolton was him getting turned because he made a terribly weak and ill-advised effort at a tackle. He also made a woeful effort at a pass to RM which put the Bolton striker clean through on goal in the first half.

First goal against Huddersfield he got caught ball-watching and out of position. Second goal against Huddersfield started with him having their player pinned in the corner, and he was somehow given the slip and allowed the ball to come in.

Millwall''s consolation goal he has the player pinned to the touchline and gets turned inside out, made to look very silly resulting in a burst into the box and a penalty.

Almost every goal we concede seems to come from his inadequacies defensively. That''s not unfair scapegoating, that''s just reality. All the highlights are on the Youtube channel, take a look and see if I''m wrong.

As I said, he is pretty good going forward, and no doubt he has improved massively since AN came in, but he was truly awful first half of the season, and he is the weakest link in that defence which is why he consistently gets exploited and almost every goal we concede comes from his side.

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Amazing really that Whittaker has played as many games as he has if he can''t defend.

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What I would say though is that Whittaker is not a great defender. But neither is Martin.

 

Similarly Ruddy is not a great goalkeeper. Johnson is not a great midfielder and Jerome is not a great striker.

 

 

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So far this season it has been Whiittaker who is rubbish, Martin is not a Central Defender or Captain, Wes is to lightweight, Grabban can''t score for toffee, Johnson can''t pass, Olson wants out, Hooper is lazy, Redmond doesn''t score enough, Vadis is always injured, Howson goes missing, and Ruddy is not good enough!

No doubt they have over performed this season based on how poor some posters think they all are. Sometimes the best players don''t make the best team.

AN and the team need us to lift them - and at least they look like a team now, working hard for each other. If we don''t go up I won''t be turning on any of the players - I think they have given everything sine AN arrived.

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He''s still the obvious weak link in the team, Positioning is poor quite a bit of the time and his lack of pace can be easily exposed (see the Bolton game). Lets wingers get crosses in too easily and leaves gaps in behind.

His best attributes are all going forward- good crosser, can take a man on and is willing to carry the ball. Think at times he has looked good this season as other teams have sat back and let us come at them. I don''t think having Howson in front of him helps either as too often he has nobody to play the ball forward to.

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I think he''s played well in the last few months within his own ability. He should really be a squad player than a first choice for me though. Don''t think he needs to be shipped out of the club but would like to see that position strengthened in the summer with Whits covering right/left back from the bench next year.

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