Our last two games, in which he has been absent, have summed up the Whittingham dilemma as he approaches his 33rd birthday - Aston Villa beaten by a team that worked harder than them while playing to a fairly rigid game plan and then a feeble FA Cup defeat where we were crying out for a bit of "magic" as we showed skill levels that would have embarrassed a League Two side.
There's a thread on the go about City legends and I reckon I've seen no more than five of them since 1963, but, although it may not sound like it at times judging by what I say about him, Whitts is one of them. I'm so pleased he made it to a decade's service to the club - who is there who could beat him for the award of Championship Player of the decade 2007 to 2017? I can't think of anyone.