" IT IS GREAT TO HAVE THE FREEDOM "

Walesonline

Thursday October 23rd


Cardiff City midfielder Peter Whittingham: Russell Slade has given me a licence to thrill.

Peter Whittingham has put his new-found success in a Cardiff City shirt down to being given a licence to thrill by Russell Slade.

The Bluebirds midfield man faced calls for him to be axed after misfiring this season under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and then the caretaker management team of Scott Young and Danny Gabbidon.

Many Cardiff fans called for Slade to instead go with either Tom Adeyemi or Kagisho Dikgacoi as Aron Gunnarsson’s midfield partner... but the new boss resisted the demand and has been rewarded with Whittingham rediscovering his form.

Revitalised Whittingham has smashed two goals during wins against Nottingham Forest and Ipswich... and he admitted Slade’s tactics were the reason behind his sudden revival in fortunes.

“The gaffer is encouraging me to get forward, create and go for goal,” said Whittingham, who previously frustrated by Bluebirds supporters by playing too deep and being ineffective.

“I like to be further forward, shooting and taking things on. Maybe I wasn’t doing that before because my role was to sit back a little more. It’s good to have that freedom.

“The manager has been really good and he is telling me to look for openings, trying to create and score myself.

“It’s great having Gunnarsson next to me. He is playing really well and breaks up so many opposition moves.

“Having him there gives me the confidence to look forward myself. I still have defensive responsibilities, of course, but Aron is such a help in there.

“We’ve played together for a fair time and we know each other’s game really well.

“Craig Noone and Anthony Pilkington are also doing great jobs in the wide areas. They have been quite tucked in to help Gunnars and I out, which really helps the team.”

Whittingham was speaking as he joined Bluebirds captain David Marshall at the launch of Cardiff City Community Foundation’s football performance centres. The two stars joined in the coaching as pupils from Cowbridge Comprehensive School were put through their paces.

“Cardiff City have a good record in these areas and it’s brilliant to see this scheme helping youngsters progress,” said Whittingham, before turning his attention to Saturday’s away clash with Millwall.

The Bluebirds are going for a third successive victory under Slade and that would send them into the home match against Leeds the following weekend full of confidence.

“We produced good team performances to beat Forest and Ipswich, but we can’t rest on those wins,” said Whitts.

“Two victories on the bounce are great and if we can earn three points against Millwall we would be right back up there, but we know how tough it will be at the Den.

“Millwall have great fans and they make that stadium pretty hostile. But we are in good form, hard to beat and confident. We’ll take the game to Millwall.

“Every player knows they have to play consistently well to keep their place in the team. The amount of quality in our squad is frightening.

“I’ve scored in the last two matches, but it’s no good being satisfied with that, I have to go out there at Millwall and play at the same levels again if I am going to keep the shirt.

“We are really enjoying the gaffer’s approach to training and matches. It’s about pushing on, continuing to do what we did against Forest and Ipswich.

“We didn’t make a great start to the season and we are still working to catch the leading group.

“That means picking up points on a regular basis and our match at Millwall is the next chance.”

Great performances in last two games certainly,
Long may it continue Whitts.

Hope we can pick up another win at the Wall....

I will never understand this tactic of getting Whitts to sit back.

Are they hoping he sits between the defence and midfield to pick up the ball and look for the counter? I don't know, but he's shown (again) that he belongs in the opponents half, spreading the ball and using his magical left foot from 20+ yards out to trouble the goalkeeper.

Long may it continue, if we use our players properly, we have such a strong squad.

It always strikes me as quite unbelievable how it takes manager after manager to see the blindingly obvious Anyone who has ever seen just 10 mins of what Whitts is about can see that he has to play as an attacking midfielder and he will get goals as DJ once did, why DJ, then Malky then OGS all insisted on stifling the guy is beyond me

I will never understand this tactic of getting Whitts to sit back.

Are they hoping he sits between the defence and midfield to pick up the ball and look for the counter? I don't know, but he's shown (again) that he belongs in the opponents half, spreading the ball and using his magical left foot from 20+ yards out to trouble the goalkeeper.

Long may it continue, if we use our players properly, we have such a strong squad.

everyone that's that just because he can pass long it means that he's exactly like Pirlo, a regista which is crap.

whitts was trained as an old style wide midfielder in the days when they didn't need pace to play on the wing and then moved infield under jones where he shone.

we don't play a system that allows us to have a midfielder who just sits back, all of them have to go forward creating play at the same time or we just get stuck with too much pressure in the middle of the park and we hoof it.

in the modern game its more about roles than positions and now that we have proper pairings whitts isn't afraid of making a mistake because he knows gunnar will always be there.

Wasn't exactly rocket science was it?
But still credit to Russ all the same.

Well done Slade and Whitts, outstanding couple of games, gunner deserves plenty of credit too to let him, of his job....