Not signing a CB and the Whittaker bashing

[havemyhowsonit 0]

Games like today proves how badly we miss a quality CB especially against pace.

As for Whittaker. Well I haven''t got all night to comment. Rather put in Norman wisdom

[mrs miggins 0]

We didn''t lose today because Whittaker isn''t very good, or that we should''ve got a different CB.

If we had the best RB and CB in the world today, we still would''v lost with the tactics we carried out today.

Howson gave the ball away for the goals as well, however we still would''ve lost had he not played.

[Branston Pickle 4,149]

Eh?

Our cb''s were fine today - IMO it was a very harsh penalty, quite how the ref had a clear sight enough to be sure is one to look at later, but I don''t recall us getting a soft decision like that in years. As for Whittaker, I usually stick up for him on here, but his passing today was dreadful - far too many possible openings were denied us by his wayward attempts; he was also outpaced and therefore not in position to cover well for their second goal - but I suppose his pace or lack of isn''t something he can do much about!

[chicken 0]

What I find interesting is that Martin is the one that normally gets highlighted as the weaker CB and yet today, for me, I felt he was stronger. Some massive covering tackles.

[BarclayWazza 93]

I really dont know what the point in Whittaker from a defensive perspective is. Always stands off the player, almost never prevents the cross and so many times you see players go past him like he''s not there.

[grefstad 0]

[quote user="BarclayWazza"]I really dont know what the point in Whittaker from a defensive perspective is. Always stands off the player, almost never prevents the cross and so many times you see players go past him like he''s not there.[/quote]

Yep. Schlupp breezed passed him, and Whitts just gave up before he scored 2-0. Worst "defender" we have in our ranks. I hoped for Wisdom to start to cover for the pace threat by Vardy or Schlupp, but Wisdom was not used. Also quite regularly Whitts is caught out of position, and on his off days, when his passing also is poor, he is a real liability.

Whitts is better going forward than Wisdom, but we would not be having this discussion if we had got a new CB in and moved Martin to RB.

Whitts is at best a mid Championship rightback, sadly.

[GJP 79]

Not Whittaker''s best game. But it''s not an easy position to play.

Right back is fairly easy to play when you''re not expected to push on much but when you are playing that high up it''s tricky.

And of course he wasn''t helped by Howson being a bit lost on the right.

No worse than Martin was at RB last time we were in the Prem.

[nutty nigel 7,902]

Unsurprisingly I agree with GJP again. If you look at the goal from just the highlights then it will appear that Whits is out of position and playing catch up. But he can''t be everywhere and brave fullbacks high up the pitch have been a major part of Alex Neil''s game plan. This was why Brady was put back to left back. He''s braver going forward than Olsson.

Martin was our best CB again today.

[Iwans Big Toe 382]

[quote user="Branston Pickle"]Eh?

Our cb''s were fine today - IMO it was a very harsh penalty, quite how the ref had a clear sight enough to be sure is one to look at later, but I don''t recall us getting a soft decision like that in years. As for Whittaker, I usually stick up for him on here, but his passing today was dreadful - far too many possible openings were denied us by his wayward attempts; he was also outpaced and therefore not in position to cover well for their second goal - but I suppose his pace or lack of isn''t something he can do much about![/quote]

Yes our whole defence is doing fine. Especially if you say shipping in two goals a game as fine, which many on here do apparently.

[BroadstairsR 2,273]

I am a bit of a closet Whittaker fan and often feel that he is treated harshly on here. There are quite a few assets to his footballing ability and they are somewhat unconventional assets, IMO.

He cannot be railed for lack of desire either.

He has had some excellent moments for the Club over recent seasons, especially in attack, but his vulnerabilities do tend to stick out like a sore thumb at times.

When he is bad, or has bad episodes of defensive frailty, then he is very bad.

Mini-admirer or not, I often think that a more classy replacement, if on the horizon, might do a more solid job.

He has been consistently favoured by our last three managers though.

Personally, I don''t favour the Whittaker or Martin debate in the full-back berth, but more the Whittaker or new replacement idea. He has benefited somewhat from having little realistic competition at times, especially as the Elliot Bennnett for wing-back ideal seems to have subsided.

[DDD In The Fine City 1]

Russell Martin seems unable to head a clearance to any of our players but straight on the nose of the opposition perfectly fine, does he just shut his eyes and hope? As for John ruddys distribution an absolute joke, couldn''t get further away from his target if he tried

[Stylish Canary 0]

Reality was Neil got out thought by his much more experienced counterpart all part of his learning curve

[hogesar 10,762]

Martin was our best defender in the back 4 on Saturday. Obviously some of the Martin-bashers won''t see it that way but everyone around me in the lower barclay thought the same as I did.

As for Whittaker, it''s a bit harsh because he''s not blessed with loads of pace and is asked to play high up the pitch. I do think he had a poor game though, even in an attacking sense and simply linking up play. However, he was very, very isolated. Second goal is a perfect example as Howson''s come more central and then lost the ball. Whittaker has literally no cover, there''s little he can do.

And either way i''d rather have Whittaker there than Wisdom.

[Ray 111]

DDD,

Or is it that our midfield went missing and didn''t attack the clearing header as well as the oppo?

If you are under pressure from an opposition forward then to be able to pin point your clearance is difficult, typically the defender will head it out as high and as far as possible, giving the midfield the chance and time to compete for the ball, obviously the oppo will win some but on Saturday we seemed to let them win them all, there was a sort of malaise about them, summed up by Howson only jogging back when they scored their second, having just lost the ball.

Re John Ruddy, I was impressed with Declan Rudd''s distribution of the ball in the WBA game and he was under pressure on a few of those occasions.

[Holtcantshoot 0]

[quote user="BroadstairsR"]I am a bit of a closet Whittaker fan and often feel that he is treated harshly on here. There are quite a few assets to his footballing ability and they are somewhat unconventional assets, IMO.

He cannot be railed for lack of desire either.

He has had some excellent moments for the Club over recent seasons, especially in attack, but his vulnerabilities do tend to stick out like a sore thumb at times.

When he is bad, or has bad episodes of defensive frailty, then he is very bad.

Mini-admirer or not, I often think that a more classy replacement, if on the horizon, might do a more solid job.

He has been consistently favoured by our last three managers though.

Personally, I don''t favour the Whittaker or Martin debate in the full-back berth, but more the Whittaker or new replacement idea. He has benefited somewhat from having little realistic competition at times, especially as the Elliot Bennnett for wing-back ideal seems to have subsided.[/quote]

You''ve summed up Whittaker very well here. First four games of the season this year he was one of our best players, however last couple he''s been absolutely atrocious. If only his off days could be slightly less...off

[Barclay seats 4849 the 3rd 0]

Immense for Scotland last night .... Playing LEFT wing back !!

Getting forward ,,, tracking back ,, plenty of good crossing .

It''s a real shame that lewandowskis marker let him go for the equalising goal that rules Scotland out of the finals 😱

[lake district canary 4,830]

Both Poland''s goals were from the opposite side from Whittaker, Hutton making the mistake for the first and the same player being beaten for the second. All reports of the match saying the defence were otherwise good througout the match. Martin and Whittaker played well. 

[BroadstairsR 2,273]

I thought Whitts. had a good game, but then I''m a closet Whittaker supporter usually afraid to reveal himself on this forum.

[Wibble 153]

I was just here looking for somewhere to buy quality fake passports

[It's Character Forming 1,204]

[quote user="BroadstairsR"]I am a bit of a closet Whittaker fan and often feel that he is treated harshly on here. There are quite a few assets to his footballing ability and they are somewhat unconventional assets, IMO.

He cannot be railed for lack of desire either.

He has had some excellent moments for the Club over recent seasons, especially in attack, but his vulnerabilities do tend to stick out like a sore thumb at times.

When he is bad, or has bad episodes of defensive frailty, then he is very bad.

Mini-admirer or not, I often think that a more classy replacement, if on the horizon, might do a more solid job.

He has been consistently favoured by our last three managers though.

Personally, I don''t favour the Whittaker or Martin debate in the full-back berth, but more the Whittaker or new replacement idea. He has benefited somewhat from having little realistic competition at times, especially as the Elliot Bennnett for wing-back ideal seems to have subsided.[/quote]

^^^ This.