What next for Cardiff City legend Peter Whittingham after Bluebirds pull off Bristol City stunner without him?
Warnock's Cardiff produce sensational second-half fightback with new-look line-up, so what does the manager do for next game against Burton?
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BY PAUL ABBANDONATO
16 JAN 2017
After 10 years of truly fantastic service, 400 appearances and almost 100 goals, Peter Whittingham is rightly already afforded legendary status as a Cardiff City footballer.
This is a man who 'does what he wants' and has displayed a set-piece expertise similar to that provided by David Beckham through the 1990s and early noughties.
Whittingham is one of the most beautiful footballers anyone could have watched in Welsh football over the past decade, purveying the ball smoothly with that wand of a left foot and conversely also unleashing fearsome goal-bound strikes with it, too.
But he also presents Bluebirds boss Neil Warnock with something of a dilemma moving forward because possibly for the first time since joining the club in 2007, Whittingham may not be guaranteed his automatic first team spot any more.
Football being what it is, everyone has an opinion.
To many, many Bluebirds fans Whittingham is far too good a player to leave out and his set piece expertise is essential for a Cardiff side who often rely upon corners and free-kicks for their goals.
To others, he is part of a midfield that sometimes looks too static and requires greater legs and energy if Warnock's Cardiff are to become real force to be reckoned with in the Championship.
And so to Ashton Gate on Saturday where Whittingham, having missed the New Year's Bank Holiday triumph over Aston Villa through injury, was brought straight back into the fray for the Severnside derby with Bristol City.
Warnock clearly loves what he brings to the party, who wouldn't? But the manager's substitutions turned defeat into victory... and Whittingham was one of those who made way as part of that equation.
Maybe Warnock's five at the back tactics for the first 68 minutes didn't suit Whittingham. Maybe the lack of numbers going forward was the reason he was unable to fire the team as chief playmaker, or offer the support Kenneth Zohore and Anthony Pilkington required up top.
Maybe Cardiff would have produced their stirring last 20 minutes fightback whoever was on the field at the time. Whittingham included.
Whatever, the fact is that with the lacklustre Bluebirds trailing 1-0 to a Brian Murphy own goal and appearing to be going nowhere, Warnock made a huge call as he shook things up tactically for the closing quarter.
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On came wing fliers Junior Hoilett and Kadeem Harris who totally transformed the match with their pace, purpose, direct running and fresh energy.
The men chosen to make way for them as Warnock went for broke were Joe Bennett and Whittingham.
Coincidentally or not, the Bluebirds were transformed. Whereas they had looked one-paced and lacking in creativity, suddenly they were able to go through the gears and seemed likely to score every time they approached the Bristol City penalty area.
As we know, they did find the net three times in an 11-minute salvo, Pilkington (two goals) and Harris spearheading a thrilling 3-2 triumph as Cardiff achieved back to back League wins for the first time in more than 10 months.
Even a Tammy Abraham strike, which put Bristol back into the lead for the second time in the match, wasn't going to deny these new front-foot, full of belief, more positive Bluebirds.
It was a welcome triumph, three more points in the climb up the table, very much a squad victory.
But it also gives Warnock plenty of thinking to do as he ponders the best line-up to beat Burton this weekend when Cardiff will seek to make it a hat-trick wins on the trot, something that hasn't happened for two years.
Against Villa, in what was a real war of attrition, Aron Gunnarsson, Joe Ralls and Sol Bamba dogged it out in a new-look midfield and put the Bluebirds on the front foot as Warnock's men prevailed.
Gunnarsson and Ralls got better as the game wore on against Bristol City and appear to be Warnock choices for those central midfield spots. After their hugely impressive cameos, Hoilett and Harris have surely got to play against Burton, too.
Ditto Pilkington, while either Kenneth Zohore or Rickie Lambert is needed up front.
Something has to give, though, because Whittingham also has to be factored in.
Warnock can only pick XI and one has to be a goalkeeper and four others defenders!
It may be young Harris is the fall guy, sent on against tiring Burton defenders in the closing moments as he was against Bristol City. A squad thing.
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But that would mean Warnock ditching his fastest player and many fans will feel Cardiff can't really afford to do that.
The pedestrian nature of the side was starkly evident during the first 70 minutes at Ashton Gate when the Bluebirds were laborious at best, before Harris and Hoilett turned proceedings on their head with their vibrancy and dynamism.
Rightly or wrongly, you kind of felt under Russell Slade that however certain players performed, they would still be in the team the following week. Whittingham was one of those, a shoo-in for the starting XI. As he has been for pretty much his entire Cardiff career. Rightly so, too.
Warnock won't be shy of making tough decisions, but opting to leave out perhaps the most talented footballer on the books would be the hardest call of the lot.
It's something Warnock will probably be pondering in the coming days ahead of Burton.
But you write off Peter Whittingham at your peril.
Cardiff definitely looked better without him on Saturday. He'll probably respond against Burton by becoming man of the match!
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