Thoughts on Whittaker so far?

[Juice-Terry]

A bit sh*t to bring this up now after the penalty conceded (might have been a dive actually?) at Dens, but what's everyone's opinion of him so far?

[HappyAsHellas]

All players new to a squad, manager etc will take a bit of time to bed in and he wont be any different. Certainly seems more effective in his forward play than Gray but I'll give it a bit more time.

[greenlex]

Off the pace. A few games under his belt and he will be just fine.

[neil7908]

I think he's been fine. The defence definitely needs some work as we're leaking goals too easily. He's certainly partly responsible but he's not been any worse than others and definitely gives us something going forward.

[Pretty Boy]

Remove the penalty incident (and probably the rest of the 1st 10 minutes) yesterday and I thought that was as well as he's played since returning.

Deacon will give a few players a fright this season but once he was sussed out it was Whittaker and Barker who were forcing him to adapt and defend rather than attack. By the 2nd half he was so frustrated by Whittaker he'd resorted to throwing himself to the ground every 5 minutes.

[California-Hibs]

Scored 1, set up 2, played in 3 different positions.

I like him. Yes he's had two big errors but he's offered a decent amount of an attacking threat and has been solid enough. 7/10.

[Heisenberg]

Same as before. Good going forward, dodgy defensively.

[Smartie]

He's shown some glorious stuff going forward.

Good goal against Patrick and there was a touch on his left foot to kill a ball in the box before getting a shot away in the Accies game that was just beautiful. He adds an awful lot to what we offer going forward.

There were always question marks over his ability to defend and none of those doubts have been eased. We've lost goals from his area of the park or as a direct result of his challenges every week. My biggest concern about our season so far has been the sloppy way we start games, the fact that we give every team we play a goal start and Whittaker has often been sleeping when those goals have gone in.

Overall I think he's done well though. We may just need to play in a way that we see the best of him in an attacking sense but that his defensive side isn't as exposed.

I'm delighted to have him back, but he needs to do better defensively.

[Mango Man]

I think he will come good, not very good at defending one on ones, not much pace now but will get a bit sharper I think, thought it was odd dropping Stevenson for him though.

[southern hibby]

Tin hat on but here goes.

Our version of Taviernier ( by that I mean good going forward but defensively not as good as Could be).

What he does offer though is depth in the team by slotting in where needed.

GGTTH

[B.H.F.C]

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I'm delighted to have him back, but he needs to do better defensively.

Think that applies to all our defenders to be honest. No clean sheets in the league tells its own story and most of them have had some kind of individual error leading directly to a goal. Off the top of my head Whitty diving in for the penalty yesterday, McGregor doing likewise last week, Hanlon gifting a goal last week, Efe being out of position against Partick. Even going back to the Arbroath game in the league cup we conceded and absolutely shocking goal from a short corner.

IMO we need to get a settled backline and run with it for a few games. I don't think the chopping and changing helps.

[snooky]

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Tin hat on but here goes.

Our version of Taviernier ( by that I mean good going forward but defensively not as good as Could be).

What he does offer though is depth in the team by slotting in where needed.

GGTTH

That's where I am on this, SH. 100%
A handy utility player.

[Onion]

Great signing who will take a few games to get to grips with Scottish football and Hibs/Lennons style. We could all do with a settled back 4/5 soon as I'm convinced the constant changes are the reason for us continually losing early goals.

[danhibees1875]

How many players would sign for a club and before August is out have played in 3 different positions?

He has tough competition in all 3 too; we have a huge expanse of midfielders, a club-captain and solid RB in Gray, and the ever present Stevenson at LB.

I wanted to see 4-4-2 with Whitts at LB on Saturday, and I think it mostly worked! My concern going up to Perth would be how he would deal with O'Halloran (who I think is RW anyway?) - with this task in mind I would maybe bring LS back in and shift Whittaker to the right of a back 4.

[Sammy7nil]

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Scored 1, set up 2, played in 3 different positions.

I like him. Yes he's had two big errors but he's offered a decent amount of an attacking threat and has been solid enough. 7/10.

I agree, we are lucky to have him. If he were to play in the same position week in week out he would be more consistent.

P.S. None of our defenders have covered themselves in glory so far so I don't understand why Whittaker appears to be getting most stick.

[Firestarter]

He's a class act.

[broondog]

same as before judging by what I've seen this season. great option going forward, struggles defensively, a bit slower than his younger days which is to be expected. doesn't make it in our first team but great backup option to have.

[Nicho87]

One on ones he's a liability I think. The non tackle on Josh windass. And yesterday's lunge was silly. Needs time to sharpen up. Overall same as first time. Good forward. Prefer gray defensively

[Smartie]

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Tin hat on but here goes.

Our version of Taviernier ( by that I mean good going forward but defensively not as good as Could be).

What he does offer though is depth in the team by slotting in where needed.

GGTTH

Interesting comparison and a fair one. Tavernier is a bit of a joke figure for us and we've certainly seen the worst of him. He's been hung out to dry by successive The Rangers managers, isolating him in a defensive position when he can't defend. Tavernier clearly has something about him, he's superb going forward and I honestly think he should be a very good player for them - if they could find a system or formation that doesn't expose his defensive shortcomings.

Exactly like Whittaker.

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I agree, we are lucky to have him. If he were to play in the same position week in week out he would be more consistent.

P.S. None of our defenders have covered themselves in glory so far so I don't understand why Whittaker appears to be getting most stick.

That's also fair.

I was behind bringing back Gray and dropping Ambrose as we've looked very suspect defensively down that side.

I didn't see the game yesterday so I don't know how much better we were but it sounds like we still lost a silly early goal.

TBH the only defender who hasn't made a serious mistake defensively this season (as far as I can remember anyway) is Lewis Stevenson, who has imo been as solid as ever. He did put in a few dodgy deliveries against Accies though and isn't as potent going forward as Whittaker so I suppose making that change was worth a shot.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

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Same as before. Good going forward, dodgy defensively.

I agree.

[matty_f]

I don't think he's especially dodgy defensively. I do think he needs a couple of games to get his sharpness up but he's been competent so far and definitely adds to our effectiveness when he joins the attacking moves.

[HFC 0-7]

Not sure about his defending at times. He struggled a couple of times against Rangers, once in particular he got really wrong footed and never really busted a gut to get back. He does offer quite a lot going forward though.

[MWHIBBIES]

Had a good game after the penalty incident. Lovely cross for Stokes goal.

[ancient hibee]

Good user of the ball but I prefer him on the right where his defensive weakness is less apparent.

[LancsHibs]

Rather he didn't play LB. would rather play Stevenson in that position, in fact I was hoping that we would sign a LB to give LS some serous competition/cover for that position.

[hibbymark]

I think his passing has improved when going forward. Sundays ball into Stokes for our equaliser was the type of cross we've been screaming out for from wide areas for years. He also seems better in the air than I remember. Defensively he seems to show his man either inside or outside and one drop of the shoulder later he's all over the place. Looks slow and as mad as it sounds too tall for a fullback.
Back in the real world with my green tinted glasses off if Whittaker was the player that left us or the one who was superb at Rangers he wouldn't be anywhere near Easter Rd

[Brooster]

Very steady indeed. Strong, good in the air, can tackle, can pass and can deliver. Hopefully he is now a fixture at left back.

[CB_NO3]

Think he has been very good. Very comfortable on the ball, good passer of the ball, model professional and great addition.

[Bishop Hibee]

Mixed bag. If he gets a run at right back he'll be a great asset playing with Boyle in front of him.

[Scouse Hibee]

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Very steady indeed. Strong, good in the air, can tackle, can pass and can deliver. Hopefully he is now a fixture at left back.

Nah not for me. Very good player but certainly not as a regular left back.