Whitbread.......looks like the joking's over!!

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 1,735]

.....almost a figure of fun for the past year given his injuries, which prompted the ''Is he still alive?'' style comments aswell as calls to cancel his contract.

His recent performances, culminating in an ''imperious'' performance yesterday seemed to have justified those who said that ,when fit, he is actually the BEST defender of the lot at the club.

He also has the advantage over the other defenders of being comfortable on the left hand side of the two.

Ward is going to find it hard to get back in (unless Lambert tries 3 at the back?).

It looks like it''s now a question of Whitbread and one other!

[Willmeister 35]

I posted a Whitbread thread at the exact same time, great minds and all that...

[Yellowfuture 71]

I didn`t go yesterday but am glad to hear this, he came with a pretty good reputation and hopefully he will now go on and have a good run in the team, he can only improve.

[Gingerpele 0]

Yeah, i thought he would never play again, but now he could possibly become out best centre back.. (Not fair to say he''s ''better'' than Barnett yet, but personally i prefer Whitbread to Barnett already....)

He''s obviously got some mental toughness to come back into the game like that, he''s been here for a year, yet had only played about 20 minuets before his first start a month ago...

[ron obvious 1,495]

Not sure about MoM, but certainly looks assured & classy. I do think he can be out-muscled on occasion. Wasn''t he guilty of a hospital pass to Ruddy, who did well to shank it sideways for a throw? He put his hand up for it afterwards. Barnett is possibly the more effective defender. He can look a bit like Bambi on ice sometimes, but he has great powers of recovery & he wins 99% of headers - a prodigious leap with good timing. I think he put Ruddy in trouble with a back pass as well though.Thought our full backs looked a bit off today.

[shiplee15 0]

I always sed once he was fit he''d be a brilliant centre half for us and i''m glad I wasn''t made to look stupid!

I thought it was a great signing wen we got him and I''m glad to see hes staking his claim!

[CDMullins 436]

How was his distribution on Saturday?

Was ''iffy'' against Sheff Utd, I wasnt convinced.

Barnett is still my first choice, rock solid!

[Davo 0]

I think most of the sensible posters on here have always said something along the lines of "let''s get him fit, see him play a few games in a row, then make our decision".

Let''s face it it''s hard to judge a player until he has played several games. Most of the derogatory comments came because he has been out of about 18 months. In foot ball that''s a long time especially as he played a couple of game for us last season and has then been out since. Injury plagued?

Some players are unlucky, an ankle cruciate ligament injury followed by a knee injury means a long long tiem out of football and there''s always some hesitation that the player is injury prone. However they are completely separate injuries caused by different events.

Sure there''s always some uncertainty on how a player will come back from these types of injuries, Shearer had a Cruciate ligament injury and came back from it, Owen has had ligament, hamstring, calf etc. injuries all of his career and now look at him, washed up.

Hopefully Whitbread will be like Shearer rather than Owen. Only time will tell.

Davo

[ZiggyPiggy 0]

I was at the game on Saturday. Whitbread didn''t win a single header that I saw and had to be bailed out by Barnett a couple of times. I will still give him time to get match fit, and he can''t be as bad in the air as he has been so far in a City shirt surely, but "imperious" as the OP said? Deary me. Couldn''t disagree more.

[GJP 79]

[quote user="GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary"]

he is actually the BEST defender of the lot at the club. 

 It looks like it''s now a question of Whitbread and one other![/quote]

In my opinion Barnett is the best defender at the club and I still think he''ll be the first centreback on the teamsheet.

 

Infact I even think there''s a good chance Ward will come back in alongside Barnett when he''s fully fit and the time is right to bring him back.

 

(Not saying I don''t rate Whitbread, I just have a feeling that''s the way the manager will look at it)

[Carlos Valderrama 0]

I think that if the bloke can stay fit for the rest of the season, have an injury free summer and pre-season then he could be immense next season. The amount he was out of the game with injury is never good, he needs some time to get the confidence in his ability, and confidence in his body. That said, its like having a new signing...

[Jim Smith 2,314]

Thought he was very good. both Whitbread and barnett read the game really well and the fact Whitbread can pass the ball out of defence is a real bonus. There were also a couple of occasions when they broke one on one with him and he channelled the player away from goal before winning possession. The one slight weakness I have seen is that he can be outmuscled by big, strong strikers but that may be a fitness thing.

Any problems on saturday were primarily caused by the midfield giving the ball away in stupid areas. i also thought that both our fullbacks were not on their game. Drury didn''t look right and whilst russell Martin has been overridingly great this season his final ball still leaves me really frustrated half a dozen times every game. We get into so many good areas only to hit the first defender with crosses or turn and play it sideways. Just sometime wish he would fizz it across first time.

[Fiery Zac 1,066]

Whitbread has been fantastic since his return to injury, and bearing in mind his first couple of games back were against QPR and Cardiff, makes it all the more impressive.The only weakness i have seen is his lack of pace, a couple of times he''s been outdone in a race for the ball through the defence. His other all round play usually covers for this, being in the right place at the right time, cutting out long/through balls and cover from the other CB. Its good to see not much other critisism about this which means hes covering for it well or im just wrong about it. Either way hes finally shown how good he can be with a decent run of fitness and has rightly, in my opinion, won his starting place in the back 2.

[ZiggyPiggy 0]

I just hope that he proves me wrong. Same as I did with Anthony Mac. It hasn''t happened with the latter but I can see that if he works on heading and strength then he may well be a very decent back up to ward and barnett.

[jammis 0]

I like the idea of Whitbread and Ward as a pairing. Barnett is definitely the strongest in the air but his play when the ball is at his feet is questionable, and as we''re meant to be a footballing team, lumping it forward might clear our lines but doesn''t help us build attacks.

[26mjw 0]

[quote user="GJP"]

[quote user="GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary"]

he is actually the BEST defender of the lot at the club. 

 It looks like it''s now a question of Whitbread and one other![/quote]

In my opinion Barnett is the best defender at the club and I still think he''ll be the first centreback on the teamsheet.

 

Infact I even think there''s a good chance Ward will come back in alongside Barnett when he''s fully fit and the time is right to bring him back.

 

(Not saying I don''t rate Whitbread, I just have a feeling that''s the way the manager will look at it)

[/quote]

Bingo. Good shout.

[Lambo 0]

Zak was due a rest tonight IMO. Good call by Lambert.

[GJP 79]

[quote user="Lambo"]Zak was due a rest tonight IMO. Good call by Lambert.[/quote]

Maybe so but it''ll be interesting to see what happens now going forward.

 

 

[Hackney Canary 97]

[quote user="Lambo"]Zak was due a rest tonight IMO. Good call by Lambert.[/quote]

Disagree. I thought it was a rare example of Lambert getting something badly wrong. We already had one enforced change (Tierney in for Drury) in the defensive line and, with Whitbread playing very well, there seemed no desperate need to make another. I thought Ward was loose tonight, lots of tentative early touches and positional hesitancy contributed to us being pulled out of shape after a bright opening.