Outstanding Contribution

[J R Hartley]

Indeed. He's a club legend. The only shame with that video is that those moments of genius that we got used to have been few and far between in recent seasons. I wonder why that is?

Change of position?
Ball flying over his head?

[Eric the Half a Bee]

Change of position?
Ball flying over his head?

First one, yes. Second one, no.

Just my opinion, but we saw the best of Whittingham when Dave Jones was manager. Whitts was a bit of a marmite figure during his first couple of seasons with us - undoubtedly talented but lazy, for every good game there'd be a long spell of nothing. He was in the side more than out, but hardly the first name on the sheet.

Jones put him on penalty duties one season and it reaped dividends. Suddenly Whitts was hungry for putting the ball in the net. The brilliant goals kept coming. He was one of the best free kick takers anywhere. Jones played him out on the left usually, occasionally on the right, but gave Whitts a free role.

When Malky took over, he wanted to make Whittingham a more all round midfielder - he wouldn't accept players not putting in a shift. I recall a tale Malky once said that he showed a video of some tackle that Whitts had made to him time and time again.

Getting a more defensive game out of Whittingham, and trying to make him a playmaker was, for me, a mistake. His first season under Malky was excellent, but during the season we won promotion, he was eventually "rested" due to poor form, probably a month or more later than many City fans wanted.

Whittingham's form in the Premier League matched the club's. In truth, he's never got back to those great days, mainly because he's been asked to play a different game from the one Jones wanted. I have issues with Jones' management, but he got Whittingham playing at his very best. It's worth remembering that Jones was sacked almost 6 years ago. The moments of Whittingham brilliance we've seen since then have been few in comparison with his form under Jones.

So yes, a different role is to blame in some way. Hunger might be another - he's famously lazy (I remember years ago one City player suggesting Whittingham would never leave the club because it would mean him having to move and set up his gaming machine). Balls over his head? Nah. We saw plenty of that under Dave Jones, when he thrived.