I wouldn't get rid, maybe drop him for a few games. Or play him in his proper position i.e. not as a defensive midfielder
I can't really comment as I have only see one live game this season and the rest online. Is he really performing that badly? It seems, to me at least, the problems stem from poor selection and playing individuals outside their best position. Are you shifting blame on Whitts alone or is it the team as a whole not performing effectively?
No room for sentiment in the game, but getting rid of Whitts wouldn't solve anything. I'd be more inclined to get rid of Slade and replace him with a manager who'd utilise the players at his disposal in their best positions. This is all about tactics as much as players. Whitts is slow over the ground (God how many times have we said that), but he does cover a lot of it during a game. The problem is that he's been asked to occupy parts of the pitch where he's less effective. I'd keep Whitts at the moment and get rid of Slade. If we were then ambitious enough to get a player in like Adam, Bryson or Hoolahan to pep up our midfield and prompt our front line, it may be time to bring the curtain down. At the moment, I don't see anyone currently on the books capable of providing what he does.
Spot on Sparks. Without Whitts there is no one capable of holding the ball and making the simple passes to keep possession or the more creative ones - like the cross from which Ravell scored Saturday. The main problem in keeping possession is lack of movement around and in front of Whitts so he has to resort to sideways and backwards passes to people less adept at using the ball. As a result any pressing side pushes us backwards. We don't play in triangles, we don't support the player with the ball and look at the huge gaps we leave between midfield and our front players - probably because we lie too deep at the back and don't move up and back as a team. As Nat said, Whitts could do with a short break if only to refresh his batteries but we just don't have anyone capable of performing his role. While Kimbo could use a shot in the no. 10 role his covering and defensive abilities are zero and Ralls can work up and down left midfield no on else has the composure and skills to be the play maker.
Whittingham has undoubted qualities. His presence in the team is necessary only and it is a huge only, if City have other players who can (i) make up for his defects and (ii) bring the best out of him. Just having him to take free kicks and corners,a nd occasionally spray a long pass is misconceived. Yes City score most of their goals that way but how many goals do we concede due to his defects elsewhere on the pitch ie by not closing down opposing runners, and how many more would we score if someone else with the same creativity and skill but with more pace was playing? He is being played out of position. His best position is at the top of a midfield 3. However for him to be effective there, he needs the 2 other midfield payers to be better than Gunnarrsson & Adeyami who are quite frankly hopeless. So maybe it is not Whittingham whom we should be looking at but Gunnarrsson and Adeyami, particularly the former? Incidentally when did Whittingham last score a direct free kick? September 2012.
For me Whitts has been our best midfielder this season by a distance. However at his best this season hes been ok , mostly average and sometimes poor. However the rest of them have been near useless. Gunner and Noone have been much worse than Whitts. The problem mainly lies with our out of depth tactically useless manager. How he keeps picking seriously underperforming players and the same 4 midfieders and 2 strikers is behond me. The likes of Ralls and Harris must be wondering what is going on. Slade hasnt a clue and with him we are heading in one direction and thats downwards. Dropping Whitts wouldnt solve a thing. Axing Le Fondre , playing three central midfielders (one of which surely must now be Ralls ) would help us get the 5 wins we need to stay up.
Spot on. If our other attacking players were contributing the number of assists he was we'd be in playoff contention. Noone and Alf must be dropped and lets see if we're any better after that. Dropping the only player that makes assists cannot be the start of something better imo.
Precisely. I find it to be very strange that when our midfield is poor as it has been all season, Whitts is singled out for particular criticism. As the highest scoring midfielder, the joint second highest scoring player and the player who has provided most assists, Whitts is probably our most valuable player. The real problem with him and our midfield in general is that our useless manager plays him out of position.
Very strange for this forum - apart from the OP, there seems to be something of a consensus on this subject, viz. for all the criticism of his lack of pace, Whitts is not the real problem, it's the management of him within the side. Rightly or wrongly depending upon your opinion, Slade's disposal of Daehli and the exclusion Ravel whilst he was with us defines his tactical nous as very limited. He's eliminated options to vary the game plan and is stuck in rut that's pulling us down the table. The sooner he is moved on (along with Young who admittedly seems to have been forced upon him) the better. He is not radical enough to make the difference to a faltering team. True to say it was even a faltering club before Tan changed back to blue. Now that error has been put right, it's time to put the other glaring problem out to grass as well.
OS, Slade isn't going anywhere sadly - except possibly league 1 with City if he continues (mis)managing the team. Aside from the glaringly obvious deficiencies in the midfield and up front (Le Fondre ) City need a defensive coach who knows how to organise the defence. Again an opponent scored from outside the box; when will City's midfielders get tight on these players?
Nin - you could be right there, but not necessarily so. The worst thing that could have happened on Saturday was that we scored 2 goals in the second half - it gave Slade something to cling on to. If they'd stuck another couple or three on us instead of losing their way and we'd been demolished 5 or 6 nil, the **** would have hit the fan big time back in Tan Land. Tan changed his mind pretty quick enough on the back to blue when he was given a good reason or two to do so - a drubbing at that sort of scoreline could have had big consequences. That 2 goal lifeline gave Slade something to hang his hat on again mores the pity. I'm getting sick of the platitudes he strings out all the time in the pre/post match interviews, and I wouldn't be surprised if Tan is starting to get a bit disillusioned as well.
Brentford was the same, we were on for the massive hiding his 'tactics' (never has the term been used so loosely) deserved. Brentford attempted to shut up shop 2nd half, we made a slight adjustment and disguised what could have been a definitive day in Slade's time here. Watford absolutely destroyed us and a late undeserved consolation made the score look a lot more respectable than performance deserved. I actually commented to my Mrs at the time that making it 3-2 was the absolute worst thing that could happen if we didn't go on to get anything from the match. It's a pity Redmond's shot didn't skim under the cross bar to make it 4-0 in hindsight.
Boro put the end to Solskjaer's reign when City were woeful last September down here; maybe a thrashing tomorrow will be the straw that broke Slade's back. Or is that wishful thinking
I'd like it to get bought to a head ASAP so he doesn't get rid of any more players we might need whilst buying in players that the new guy wont want.
Is Slade not been given funds for any other than the reason that VT is biding his time for the manager he wanted? I still have a thought in my head that won't go away. VT gave Dave Jones no money on his last season. I still maintain that was because he knew he would sack DJ at the end of his last season. Then his new manager would be given a clean slate, and able to buy in who he wanted, without worrying about selling anyone. Does VT have a master plan by hoisting Slade on us and he takes us nowhere he will be seen as a saviour when he sacks him. Getting a new manager in for next season who will shake it up. Giving that manager sufficient funds to get us to the premier league? Does he have a real manager in mind? Remember VT is in it for the long term (his words) and my theory may not be as daft as it appears. Stuart Pearce will be available soon...
Bit Machevellian that Taff but with VT who knows? As for Pearce, no thanks. The words flatters to deceive spring to mind.
