What next for Cardiff City legend Peter Whittingham after Bluebirds pull off Bristol City stunner without him?
Monday 16th Jan 2017
By Paul Abbadanato
Warnock's Cardiff produce sensational second-half fightback with new-look line-up, so what does the manager do for next game against Burton?
Video thumbnail, Paul Abbandonato on Cardiff City's win over Bristol City
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.
Peter Whittingham celebrates after scoring for Cardiff City against 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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