Steven Whittaker

[Katie Borkins 1]

If he had been playing today we would have at least earned a draw.  Much better at Right Back than Russell Martin.

Dreadful management by Neil to drop him.  Smacks of pandering to the boo boys.  Neil needs to be his own man and not suck up to the great unwashed who know as much about football as I do about Ukranian folk dancing.

Man up, Alex Neil.

Come back, Steven Whittaker.

[lake district canary 4,825]

It''s almost as if you are enjoying this.  We lost today and you mocking doesn''t help that one bit.

[Katie Borkins 1]

[quote user="lake district canary"]It''s almost as if you are enjoying this.  We lost today and you mocking doesn''t help that one bit.[/quote]

I am well aware we lost today. It isn''t about that.

It''s almost as if your finger is on the pulse of a corpse.

I am pointing out that the Pink Un whipping boy was missing from action today and we still looked fragile at the back and got little joy on the right hand side going forwards - therefore maybe Whittaker isn''t the son of Satan and people need to recognise that three Scotland managers plus three Norwich managers might not all be wrong.

If you think this will be as much as a ripple in the pond that is NCFC team selection, you are once again more stupid than I give you credit for, and rest assured I give you shedloads in that regard.

It is more a note to the bellends who pin our whole team''s frailties on one player that they need to look at themselves and consider counselling or maybe a Level 3 coaching badge.

That may include you.  I don''t know, and I don''t care.

[Barclay seats 4849 the 3rd 0]

I am guessing that if we had Wisdom at right back today instead of Martin , we would have looked far more solid .

[havemyhowsonit 0]

Noooooo!

Steven Whittaker is the worst player we''ve got on the books to date. 100% fact

[lake district canary 4,825]

[quote user="Bor Loves You"][quote user="lake district canary"]It''s almost as if you are enjoying this.  We lost today and you mocking doesn''t help that one bit.[/quote]

I am well aware we lost today. It isn''t about that.

It''s almost as if your finger is on the pulse of a corpse.

I am pointing out that the Pink Un whipping boy was missing from action today and we still looked fragile at the back and got little joy on the right hand side going forwards - therefore maybe Whittaker isn''t the son of Satan and people need to recognise that three Scotland managers plus three Norwich managers might not all be wrong.

If you think this will be as much as a ripple in the pond that is NCFC team selection, you are once again more stupid than I give you credit for, and rest assured I give you shedloads in that regard.

It is more a note to the bellends who pin our whole team''s frailties on one player that they need to look at themselves and consider counselling or maybe a Level 3 coaching badge.

That may include you.  I don''t know, and I don''t care.

[/quote]

a) Where on earth did I suggest anything about effect on team selection? b) You are a fool if you think that your mocking of  those that have the opinion that Whittaker is not worthy is of any note.  You think you are funny and clever but can''t take crticism and respond to it with an anger and heavyhandedness that is as ugly as it unpleasant.  Peace and love to you too.

[Katie Borkins 1]

Well then shame on Alex Neil, who despite seeing Wisdom every day in training, decided Martin was the right option.

Satanic Scottish baldy hatstand.

[mrs miggins 0]

He also decided up until last week that Bennet wasn''t good enough to start at CB. He changed his mind and did what most people have wanted him to do.

Bennet was the best player on the pitch for us today.

[GJP 79]

Apart from Tettey, Jarvis and Brady.

Bennett did fine but Rondon is nothing special and there wasn''t too much for him to deal with.

[Hairy Kenneth 0]

Will be interesting to see what Bennett is like against other more attacking teams-WBA had 1 striker and 10 behind the ball for much of the game today. I don''t think there is much to choose between Bassong,Martin and Bennett at CB-ultimately the players we have at the moment are just not good enough. Will better players want to join us in January when they could be relegated a few months later?

Really disappointing the centre of defence wasn''t addressed in the summer-I know they tried but were the targets beyond us as a club?

[mrs miggins 0]

Totally agree HK

[hogesar 10,761]

[quote user="mrs miggins"]He also decided up until last week that Bennet wasn''t good enough to start at CB. He changed his mind and did what most people have wanted him to do.

Bennet was the best player on the pitch for us today.[/quote]

Jarvis and Brady played better than Bennett..

Bennett was solid but Rondon was almost always targeting Bassong for any one-on-ones and in reality Bennett was given very little to do.

[mrs miggins 0]

(In response to Hog)

Personally thought Jarvis was poor. He tried hard, but like in his days with West Spam, he gets to the by-line running out of space and end up floating the ball in and curving it away from the box, which were mostly overhit, completely ineffective.

I agree that Bennett was given little to do but if Martin was there, as we''ve previously seen, it often turn into something for the defence to deal with. When a high ball came to Bennett he did what a CB is supposed to do; bring it down if he''s got enough time, header it back to the keeper or (strong) head it up the pitch. If that was Martin he''d head it to the nearest West Brom player ahead of him I''m afraid to say. Martin is used at CB because he''s good with the ball (to help dictate our play), however Bennett was good on the ball today (ironically Martin was absolutely woeful in possession today for some reason).

What Bennett had to do he did well - he did his job. For me him and Mbokani were the best players for us today.

[GJP 79]

I have to say, as a winger, when you beat your defender and cut the ball back/get something into the box you have done your job pretty well.

That''s harder than winning unchallenged headers and playing safe, sideways passes. Much harder.

[hogesar 10,761]

[quote user="mrs miggins"](In response to Hog)

Personally thought Jarvis was poor. He tried hard, but like in his days with West Spam, he gets to the by-line running out of space and end up floating the ball in and curving it away from the box, which were mostly overhit, completely ineffective.

I agree that Bennett was given little to do but if Martin was there, as we''ve previously seen, it often turn into something for the defence to deal with. When a high ball came to Bennett he did what a CB is supposed to do; bring it down if he''s got enough time, header it back to the keeper or (strong) head it up the pitch. If that was Martin he''d head it to the nearest West Brom player ahead of him I''m afraid to say. Martin is used at CB because he''s good with the ball (to help dictate our play), however Bennett was good on the ball today (ironically Martin was absolutely woeful in possession today for some reason).

What Bennett had to do he did well - he did his job. For me him and Mbokani were the best players for us today.[/quote]

Jarvis wasn''t poor. I understand what you''re saying but when you get to the by-line (and we''re not exactly bombarding the box with numbers or options in the game today, remember) the logical or, should i say, best based on playing the percentages is to play it over the goalkeeper and aim for the far post. Why Mbokani never went to the far post I have absolutely no idea. Him and Brady were good on the left both as a defensive unit and an attacking one.

I don''t agree with some of your Martin criticism although I do agree he was really poor on the ball today. And I was pleased Bennett kept it simple and done the simple things well. Do I think he''s better than Martin at CB? Not at all. But Bennett didn''t do anything which would make it fair to drop him.

[GJP 79]

Mbokani likes to attack the near post - fair enough.

But as an experienced forward he should have read the kind of ball Jarvis was likely to put in and adapted to it. He didn''t and that was a bit poor of him.