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Losing our whitts

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I think we all accept that lack of pace is Whittaker''s main weakness.

I won''t comment on views denigrating his positional awareness as I mostly view from the small screen nowadays and perhaps appreciation of such fineries is more difficult to assess.

However, like Chris Hughton, Neil Adams, Alex Neil and Gordon Strachan and probably one or two Scottish League managers before them, I can also appreciate the positives in his game.

He has been more than a pretty good attacking full-back throughout, especially at Championship level, but also on many occasions in the Premier League.

Furthermore, he came free and I don''t suppose that there was much of a signing on fee, and almost certainly not on the level of that reportedly enjoyed by Mulumbu.

He has had a creditable career at Carrow Road and, like Russell Martin, owes the Club nothing.

From ''sicknote'' Vaughan through to RVW and now on to Naismith, Mulumbu, Jarvis (IMO) and Bamford, and more and off the top of my head, we have had a procession of players who have yet to provide nearly a fraction of the value for money that Steven Whittaker has.

As with Martin I feel that some of Whittaker''s extreme critics are exhibiting selective memories.

I''m not sure whether I would want his contract renewed, and like many situations at Carrow Road at the moment things are not clear cut.

One thing for sure and that is if he is kept on he would continue to give his all.

In an ideal situation it would be an emphatic "no way," but that ideal situation would also include a City team packed will Premier League class players and with us being hot favourites for promotion next season.

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be nice to have a youth player as cover play 10 / 15 games next season

this annoys me how are the youth ever going to play get game time if we give contracts to old players who are not good enough just for cover

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Some people seem to think we survived last season!

We are gunning for promotion next year.

Whittaker was our Wembley RB.

As others have said ... why waste the money on this position? Chuck all the cash at two new strikers!!!

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People keep taking about not spending money on this position yet I''ve not actually seen anyone suggest we buy a new right back! Just that with Pinto and Martin on the right and Olsson, Brady and Toffolo on the left we don''t actually need him. The people wanting to spend money on the position are those who want to give Whittaker a new deal!

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[quote user="norfolkngood"]be nice to have a youth player as cover play 10 / 15 games next season

this annoys me how are the youth ever going to play get game time if we give contracts to old players who are not good enough just for cover[/quote]That''s a good point but what we don''t have is the bigger picture in AN''s mind in terms of the final squad. Whitts is just there as cover in case there are injuries to Pinto and Martin early season. Bennett will be injured/sick about 25% of the season too. We''ll have to get shot of Bassong to free up some wages for the strikers we desparately need, plus we might not have the final squad assembled until deadline day, which means about 5 games into the season? The nightmare is we lose Klose on deadline day with no chance to get cover, leaving only Martin and Bennett.

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I like Whittaker in fact I prefer what he has to Martin going forward, happy with him in the squad.

But I expect pinto to start and either RM or Whittaker as cover. Now I am sure both are on a pretty good wage and we do not need three backs. The advantage is that he has said he needs to be playing and hence it may be a mutual decision as we will be unlikely to offer him first team football with other squad members.

He has been a great servant and one that still has a few years as a starting right back, which is what he wants. I just feel we cannot offer him that. Now if he is happy changing his status then he is a good squad player for us in the tough championship. But I would like us to trim our wage bill with some of the players that have reached their peak or where we cannot offer them what they want.

I think it is tough but think it will not work with whittaker, I would like to know how our midfield group works, tettey, howson, Dorrans, VOO, O''Neil, mulumbu and Andreu before we mention Thompson and Madison. You would say that tettey, howson and o''neill are first choice from last season. So do we trim the wage bill and for

The youngsters a go and add one quality addition.

Really want AN to explain the whole mulumbu situation, real let down.

What a summer AN has a lot of situations to resolve across the first 11, the bench, the under performing Naismith, RVW, Lafferty, potential departures of Redmond and klose, the centre back pairing, which youngsters can add something to a promotion push or who need another loan spell. So many questions, as many agreed the transfer window can dictate a lot about the next season, reducing the wage bill adding his own players, filling a depleted striking group.

Hurry up window, get here so we can start addressing another important campaign by bringing in better options and the departure of those who can achieve in a higher league or wish for first team football elsewhere.

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[quote user="can u sit down please"]Anyone that doesn''t rate Dorrans, imo has never played.

Rarely wastes the ball. A players player.[/quote]

Agree with this

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Dorrans has his best years behind him and offers nothing, doesn''t create and doesn''t break up play, really not sure your statement is right, I''ve played in Anglian combination during the late 80''s and I don''t rate the Dorrans we have today!

For me even O''Neil gives us more along with Howson, Tettey, Wes and I even rate Vadis more the little we''ve seen of him.

But hey each to their own opinion, I''m just a little lost to what you see in Dorrans?

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"But hey each to their own opinion, I''m just a little lost to what you see in Dorrans?"

You might be right Indy, but may be the answer to your question lies in AN''s assessment of the player in the news feature of this site, lower down in the article which starts about Redmond.

I, personally, would also like to see this player sold as I see him as just the type of ''not one thing, not the other'' performer who''s presence in the squad blocks the path for youngsters to progress.

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Unbelievable if he gets a new contract. That would suggest that Martin will be a back up centre back and dear old Prudence is back with a vengeance and to hell with the ambition.

Will a long stay in the Championship be on the cards. With potential developments like this it would seem so.

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I like Dorrans and I think his style is better suited for us in the Championship. We''re going to be a team that has more of the ball and is on the front foot more than in the Premier League, so someone who can keep the ball and dictate tempo is important.

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[quote user="Katie Borkins"][quote user="Essjayess"]The reasonings from so many posters about Whitts i find  amazing, all of a sudden hes good enough as a champ RB?...sorry no..not even as cover. What is the aim for City this coming season? Promotion back to the Prem or comfortable mid table alongside Leeds, Wolves, Forest and our southern cousins?Its totally clear now that any idea of a major freshen up at this club has disappeared, we are going with the same old faces that we have gone with these past few seasons. Only, the Whitts of this world will no longer cut the mustard this time around, there are now far to many good and savvy teams in the Champs for City to be one of the 3 to go up. If Pinto got injured i could feel assured if Martin came in at RB, but Whittaker?..the likes of Newcastle, Villa, Brighton, Derby,  Hull or Wednesday, and  some other teams, would have a field day.Sorry but, retaining guys like Whittaker is a perfect recipe for duelling it out with Ipswich this coming season as to who will finish 8th or 9th or 10th.[/quote]
Would that be the same Steven Whittaker who made 48 appearances in our 2014-15 promotion season from the Championship including 25 games under Alex Neil?
Again I repeat, he is perfectly good enough as cover and we have bigger priority areas to fill.
[/quote]Im  well aware of his appearances / performances 18 months / 2 yrs ago, and he had some good moments, but also already  many weak moments, followed by being the worst defender in the Prem. We have perfectly good cover in RM, we do not need 3 RBs, and i repeat, what is Citys aim for the coming season? If its to be an average mid table Champs team then yes ok, Whitts may just  be good enough cover  in that scenario.

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Your argument has zero logic. He was our first choice RB the last time we were promoted, and would be good enough as second choice this season. The idea he is now an average Champs player is all in your head with no evidence to support it.

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Plenty (myself included) didn''t think he was all that even in the promotion season. He got forward well but I always felt he was the weak link at the back.

By your logic we don''t need to make a single signing- all these players got us promoted two years ago and clearly nothing ever changes in football....

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No but as I said earlier even if we let Whittaker go we don''t need to sign another right back. Pinto and Martin are enough there, we don''t need three right backs.

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The only better RB in the Champs last season was Simon Francis.

It''s one of those Litmus tests in football. If you don''t think Whittaker is a good player you aren''t worth listening to.

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The defence was so bad last time in the Champs we had to get Bassong back from Watford , that defence included Whittaker and Martin who should be released this summer , past their best ages ago and better suited to league 1 football and that includes the Scottish national team .As one poster said the other night How crap is Scottish football , answer very crap .

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Opinions on Whittaker depend upon where one is coming from it seems. Ie. our expectations for next season and our consequent squad fillers.

A bit like the question about a bunny rabbit. .... cuddly or nutritious?

Stephen Whittaker ..... useful or useless.

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[quote user="GJP"]The only better RB in the Champs last season was Simon Francis.

It''s one of those Litmus tests in football. If you don''t think Whittaker is a good player you aren''t worth listening to.[/quote]

I have a similar litmus test- if you make ridiculous blanket statements like that then you''re not worth listening to. Funny that.

I thought he was average at best in the Championship. Looking at Squawka it seems I''m not alone as they ranked him as the 65th best defender that season (I assume more than one of the 64 above him are right backs). Again I know these are not the be all and end all but it does suggest that you might have quite a few people you don''t think are worth listening to around.

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The bruital truth is Martin and Whitts should have been replaced last summer when we had the money, now we''re here again and we have no choice but to stick with these players.

Whitts is decent enough as back up at this level and Martin is a cert to start next year alongside no doubt Bennett or Bassong.

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Whether we like it or not, we are now a Championship and we therefore have to judge our squad on Championship standards. On the assumption that Pinto stays, Whittaker would represent excellent cover in that position.

He''s already won promotion from this level once with us, has won caps for Scotland and has Premier League experience. You will be very hard pushed to do better at this level in terms of cover. The added bonus is that he can also cover the left back position as well. Making him a very useful squad member - if he wants to stay.

A lot of people will make the comment that they don''t think he''s good enough to play at Premier League level. However, the reality is that we''ve got a massive fight on our hands to return to that level and so that will be lovely problem to have if we actually make it.

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[quote user="CanaryOne"]The defence was so bad last time in the Champs we had to get Bassong back from Watford , that defence included Whittaker and Martin who should be released this summer , past their best ages ago and better suited to league 1 football and that includes the Scottish national team .As one poster said the other night How crap is Scottish football , answer very crap .[/quote]You realise we had the best defence in the league when Neil came in right? And Martin was in the championship team of the year, as voted by fellow players and managers? Basically makes everything you''ve said look ridiculous.

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