I can't believe people still fall into the trap of underrating the hard-working but unsexy midfielder so happily.
I've pointed out a few times it's exactly the stuff people used to say about Ashbee, and people always say ah no that was different. No it wasn't. Ashbee was very unpopular during our rise up the divisions. The vocal moaners at games would always target him, kids didn't celebrate him like they did Stuarts Elliott or Green among others. There was the odd wise old dad type who'd point out that he did a lot that went unseen but they were the minority and their voices weren't heard over those shouting about how **** he was. Only once he captained us to a third promotion and became objectively a legendary figure in our history did it become popular to like him.
And Meyler was the same. Again, people say now that we lack that type of player but when he was playing he was the one people moaned about most. The one who covered every blade of grass, put his body on the line and was always available despite his body taking a battering over the years, and had a disproportionately good scoring record for the amount of talent he had. But people used to pile on him all the time for not being as easy on the eye as Huddlestone, Livermore or Koren. Easy mistake to make in the moment, but you'd think we'd learn and start to spot the pattern.