Time to give our star player a rest

FORMER Cardiff City star Nathan Blake has urged Malky Mackay to remove talisman Peter Whittingham from his starting XI, insisting: “It’s time to give our star player a rest.”

Whittingham’s form has been the subject of much debate among City supporters in recent weeks, with the Bluebirds maestro failing to find the net since the 2-1 win over Watford on October 23.

That run of 22 matches without a goal has seen Whittingham’s influence diminish in a deeper central midfield role, although he remains the club’s joint top scorer after hitting seven Championship goals in the nine matches prior to the start of his barren run.

The former Aston Villa star has featured in 34 of Cardiff City’s 37 matches in all competitions this season on top of a remarkable 156 appearances in the previous three seasons.

And, despite insisting Whittingham remains one of the most important players in the Cardiff squad, Blake, speaking on his weekly live debate show on WalesOnline, said the 28-year-old needs to be rested in order to rejuvenate himself for the final promotion push.

"He looked tired against Derby and off the pace, for me,” he said. "I wouldn’t say drop is the right word, rested is what I would say. He has hardly missed a game for two or three seasons. Sometimes, as a manager, you have to do what you think is best for the team. Personally I would take him out and tell him ‘whether you like it or not, I’m telling you that you look tired now.’ He is beginning to flag and needs a week’s recovery of just doing light sessions and then come back into the fold. It is not dropping him, just giving him an opportunity to get his energy levels back.”

The Bluebirds’ next match sees them host promotion rivals Leicester City at Cardiff City, and Blake admits pulling Whittingham out of the team in the potential absence of skipper Mark Hudson and Craig Bellamy would be a big call for Mackay to make.
Hudson has, however, targeted the Foxes clash for his comeback from an ankle injury, while Bellamy’s calf problem is not expected to keep him out of the selection mix.
Tuesday’s match is undoubtedly critical in City’s quest for promotion, with Mackay sure to have reservations about replacing his most gifted player for such a vital fixture on the back of just one win in four matches.
But Blake says every game from now on is of huge importance.

“To take your main central midfielder out, lose your main centre-half and your number one striker in Bellamy - that would be the heart of your team. It would be a big decision. But every game is going to be a big game from now on. If you think you can’t take one of your mainstays out with 11 games to go, it is going to be even harder with fewer games left,” Blake added.


http://www.walesonline.co.uk/footballna ... -32936049/

A rest? we have only had 10 league games this year, hardly exhausting.
I do agree he was off the boil last night but so was gunnar, I think Derby came with a game plan and it worked a treat.

I certainly wouldn't "rest" him V Leicester, I think he will be the difference next Tuesday.

I wonder if Mr Blake feels we lacked a captain on the field last night

last time Blake criticised one of our players, saying he should be dropped, he come back far stronger and has been our most consistent and most reliable player all season (and we all know what that is)

hopefully MM will realise that whitts is under performing and snaps him out of it! we all know he has the quality, and know how deadly he is when he has a clear chance...the fact we haven't had a penalty in x amount of games means he's not scoring as many goals as he usually does, and that's probably dented his confidence! lets just hope he snaps out of his rut and gets back to being one of our best *positivity alert*

Our star player is Hudson imo

last time Blake criticised one of our players, saying he should be dropped, he come back far stronger and has been our most consistent and most reliable player all season (and we all know what that is)

hopefully MM will realise that whitts is under performing and snaps him out of it! we all know he has the quality, and know how deadly he is when he has a clear chance...the fact we haven't had a penalty in x amount of games means he's not scoring as many goals as he usually does, and that's probably dented his confidence! lets just hope he snaps out of his rut and gets back to being one of our best *positivity alert*

Hudson has been excellent for a few seasons, I doubt Blakes nonsense effected that.

Sorry if I missed it but "Bellamy out for Leicester"

What is the problem and how long is he sidelined for?

I thought I would have seen this news if it had been posted. Again if I missed it soz.

Whittingham needs to be replaced for the next game on current form and Kimbo given a chance to impress

Ok re-read it Bellamy "may" be out for Leicester doh!

Ok re-read it Bellamy "may" be out for Leicester doh!

Lets hope Hudson is back then because without those two we have no leadership on the pitch

Havent heard the name filip kiss for a while, good solid player to play infront of defence to strenghen defensive line. And all this about witts but gunners isnt looking the bees knees either. Time for kimbo to step up.

Havent heard the name filip kiss for a while, good solid player to play infront of defence to strenghen defensive line. And all this about witts but gunners isnt looking the bees knees either. Time for kimbo to step up.

Who's filip Kiss?

Havent heard the name filip kiss for a while, good solid player to play infront of defence to strenghen defensive line. And all this about witts but gunners isnt looking the bees knees either. Time for kimbo to step up.

Who's filip Kiss?

'the sliding Slovakian' He played 27 games last season, solid defensive mid, to help defense when huds is out, cause you could see city missed him against derby big time. Just a option, but whitts and gunners seem to be struggling and if your midfield arent playing well than the whole team will struggle. whitts looks so dejected compared to whitts at the beginning of the season.

Havent heard the name filip kiss for a while, good solid player to play infront of defence to strenghen defensive line. And all this about witts but gunners isnt looking the bees knees either. Time for kimbo to step up.

Who's filip Kiss?

'the sliding Slovakian' He played 27 games last season, solid defensive mid, to help defense when huds is out, cause you could see city missed him against derby big time. Just a option, but whitts and gunners seem to be struggling and if your midfield arent playing well than the whole team will struggle. whitts looks so dejected compared to whitts at the beginning of the season.

You're right about Whitts looking dejected, his body language says it all. seems he's lost confidence.

Havent heard the name filip kiss for a while, good solid player to play infront of defence to strenghen defensive line. And all this about witts but gunners isnt looking the bees knees either. Time for kimbo to step up.

Who's filip Kiss?

'the sliding Slovakian' He played 27 games last season, solid defensive mid, to help defense when huds is out, cause you could see city missed him against derby big time. Just a option, but whitts and gunners seem to be struggling and if your midfield arent playing well than the whole team will struggle. whitts looks so dejected compared to whitts at the beginning of the season.

You're right about Whitts looking dejected, his body language says it all. seems he's lost confidence.

To me the whole team looked tired and played with little conference.

Havent heard the name filip kiss for a while, good solid player to play infront of defence to strenghen defensive line. And all this about witts but gunners isnt looking the bees knees either. Time for kimbo to step up.

Who's filip Kiss?

'the sliding Slovakian' He played 27 games last season, solid defensive mid, to help defense when huds is out, cause you could see city missed him against derby big time. Just a option, but whitts and gunners seem to be struggling and if your midfield arent playing well than the whole team will struggle. whitts looks so dejected compared to whitts at the beginning of the season.

You're right about Whitts looking dejected, his body language says it all. seems he's lost confidence.

Set him up a deck chair abd let him have a few weeks by the dugout
even better give him 3 weeks off, he always comes back raring to go and confident

Resting Whitts is all well and good but who can step in and take the role? Whittingham pulls the strings and sets our rhythm. It's not a job for any player.

Can Cowie, Mutch, Kiss or Ralls do a similar job alongside Gunnar? I'm thinking No.

In my opinion the only ball players we have capable of this job are McPhail (is he finished?) and Kim Bo Kyung who isn't a sitting defensive central midfielder.

Malky will always play Whittingham until he has other options.

His form will return.

whittingham really did look dejected against Derby. I feel sorry for him. Hes expected to play about 3 roles in the centre of the park and the man himself will be first to admit hes not the best tackler in the world
Dont drop him. Give the man some help, kimbo and cowie are more than competent footballers and we looked outstanding in midfield aginst wolves with cowie grafting there
Not a fan of the media singling out one players like Nathan Blake often does.Im backing wittingham 100%,the formation we play at home just doesnt seem to be working at the moment