Steven Whittaker on 4 year deal!

[Lets be aving you! 0]

Hughton has a very good record on making signings with a very limited budget, which gives me confidence.

 

I understand the concern about the 4-year deal and the versatile-but-master-of-none point.

 

But ... Whittaker''s injury record is excellent. And if he is up to Prem-level quality (a big if coming from the Scottish league, and none of us can really tell without seeing him), this will turn out to be a shrewd move. It will add some much-needed experience to the defence.

[Yellow Wal 314]

The one thing that most people seem to have missed is that Whittaker is Free.

Under normal circumstances he would have commanded a fee of a few million. Hughton had to work quickly otherwise other clubs would have taken him. He obviously wants to sort out his personal position as soon as possible, as has Naismith.

Whether he is good enough ........ he will be part of the squad and have the opportunity to show the manager (AND the supporters!) whether he is good enough or not but he definitely wants to play at the highest level that he can, which surely means that if he doesn''t make it with us he will want to return to Scotland so that he can further his international career. If he returns to Scotland, or moves anywhere else for that matter, we surely will be getting a fee for him.

Surely that makes this a no brainer. Heads we win, tails we win!

[spencer 1970 207]

I''m not trying to dig up old dirt but this is a quote from my Rangers pal. A season ticket holder who not only knows his football but is semi-pro so can play the game too. I respect his opinion massively...

"Btw, Whittaker is a good player but much better as a midfielder than defender. Actually pretty useless as a defender."

...I sincerely hope he is wrong as we surely dont need any midfielders, and if he''s right we have 2 substandard RBs IMO.

[pete_norw 0]

[quote user="spencer 1970"]I''m not trying to dig up old dirt but this is a quote from my Rangers pal. A season ticket holder who not only knows his football but is semi-pro so can play the game too. I respect his opinion massively... "Btw, Whittaker is a good player but much better as a midfielder than defender. Actually pretty useless as a defender." ...I sincerely hope he is wrong as we surely dont need any midfielders, and if he''s right we have 2 substandard RBs IMO.[/quote]

Well watching the Celtic match he played very well in defence, pity he had to go off when he did,

[Indy_Bones 441]

[quote user="pete_norw"]Well watching the Celtic match he played very well in defence, pity he had to go off when he did,[/quote]Oddly enough I thought he looked a bit suspect defensively but certainly liked to get forward and seems to be a player who gives 100%I think I''d prefer to start with Russ at RB and Whittaker used as a utility player where needed, but it''s very early days and somewhat unfair to make a call based on 20 mins in a friendly so this could all change.