Ben Whiteman

[snootyfenooty]

Why don’t we do what Wolves did with EEL last season?? Bring him back to spend a few days with the squad, assess where he’s at and if he’s come on and is good enough, he stays with us; if he needs more development, he can be loaned back to Donny.

Win, win. What’s the problem?

That's too simple, it will never work.

 

[bonobo]

I think, if as assumed, Wilder signs one central midfielder i.e Leonard. Then he may leave it at that. I think he is quite comfortable with Basham as an option and rotating the back line, even if not all fans feel the same. He tried to sign Dominic Quina on the last deadline and there was serious interest in Ricky Holmes over the summer.....so I think he might be looking for someone in the attacking midfield role, instead. I have no idea, what long term faith Wilder has in Carruthers, but he is clearly not having an impact at the moment....so we lack options beyond Duffy.

 

[AWetFlannel]

We can't know if he's ready or not until we try him out. We would've said the same about Brooks had he gone on loan to Chezzzy.

 

[Pinchy]

We can't know if he's ready or not until we try him out. We would've said the same about Brooks had he gone on loan to Chezzzy.

Ah, givimarun eh? Tryimout. I was hoping for a bit of Sunday League U-15 thinking. I am seldom disappointed. Isn’t it time for young Reed to gerranuvatry as well? He pays his subs and washes the shirts too you know.

Those who are advocating bringinimback have probably seen him play half a dozen times between you. They just get better and better...

 

[SteveBlade]

Well, we're forced to play a centre half in midfield at times, and our only other option is Carruthers, who's been poor.

So, unless we're getting one or two midfielders in, or if he's worse than Carruthers, he needs to come back.

 

[stringer]

Well, we're forced to play a centre half in midfield at times, and our only other option is Carruthers, who's been poor.

So, unless we're getting one or two midfielders in, or if he's worse than Carruthers, he needs to come back.

What if Basham is a better option than Whiteman at the minute?

 

[SteveBlade]

What if Basham is a better option than Whiteman at the minute?

We'd need better, but we'd still need another midfielder. If Whiteman is somewhere in between Carruthers and Basham, it's not brilliant, but it's an improvement.

 

[BushBlade]

We can't know if he's ready or not until we try him out. We would've said the same about Brooks had he gone on loan to Chezzzy.

We can't know, as supporters, but Whiteman's progress will be closely monitored by CW and his staff. If they think he's ready, they'll recall him. If they think he's not ready, they won't.

It seems he's doing quite well at Donny and getting a decent number of goals for a CM so I'd be surprised if he doesn't play for us again, might not be this season though.

 

[BushBlade]

Ah, givimarun eh? Tryimout. I was hoping for a bit of Sunday League U-15 thinking. I am seldom disappointed. Isn’t it time for young Reed to gerranuvatry as well? He pays his subs and washes the shirts too you know.

Those who are advocating bringinimback have probably seen him play half a dozen times between you. They just get better and better...

Almost as bad as assuming CW's teams played hoof...

 

[sheffielder]

What if Basham is a better option than Whiteman at the minute?

Wouldn't that be kicking the can down the road and leave us with the issue at RCB again

 

[stringer]

Wouldn't that be kicking the can down the road and leave us with the issue at RCB again

Play the RCB on the bench easy this lark!

 

[sheffielder]

Play the RCB on the bench easy this lark!

which currently leaves us with CCV and Carruthers being option, whichever we pick. I like CCV but I think he needs a break

 

[snootyfenooty]

Wouldn't that be kicking the can down the road and leave us with the issue at RCB again

I'm coming round to the conclusion that it wasn't Coutts' absence alone which coincided with our dip in form. It was playing Basham in midfield. Apart from him being unable to contribute anything positive to midfield, it left our defence looking like a sieve in his absence and our goals against number went from being one of the best to bang average. A double whammy if you like.

If we had left Basham where he was and just juggled the midfield options around, even though we would have had some consequence in our results, it would have been nowhere near as bad as it turned out. That defensive performance against Derby where we played our best back 3 bore this out, they never got a sniff.

I would bring Whiteman back if for nothing else just to ensure Basham doesn't get roped into playing in midfield again.

 

[BushBlade]

I'm coming round to the conclusion that it wasn't Coutts' absence alone which coincided with our dip in form. It was playing Basham in midfield. Apart from him being unable to contribute anything positive to midfield, it left our defence looking like a sieve in his absence and our goals against number went from being one of the best to bang average. A double whammy if you like.

If we had left Basham where he was and just juggled the midfield options around, even though we would have had some consequence in our results, it would have been nowhere near as bad as it turned out. That defensive performance against Derby where we played our best back 3 bore this out, they never got a sniff.

I would bring Whiteman back if for nothing else just to ensure Basham doesn't get roped into playing in midfield again.

What midfield options could we have juggled around? Put Fleck in Carruthers shirt and play him as a ringer?

The balance we need to strike is what is beneficial for the club, now, and what is beneficial for Whiteman going forward (which should benefit us in the long term). I absolutely agree that we need another CM from somewhere. Don't ask me where from though.

 

[snootyfenooty]

What midfield options could we have juggled around? Put Fleck in Carruthers shirt and play him as a ringer?

We had Carruthers and I assume we play midfielders in our reserve and junior ranks. They may have just been making the numbers up but so was Basham in that position. Our defence would have remained intact however and that was the other point I was trying to make, i.e. the defence was hopeless without Basham. So we ended up with a lousy midfield and a lousy defence.

 

[BushBlade]

We had Carruthers and I assume we play midfielders in our reserve and junior ranks. They may have just been making the numbers up but so was Basham in that position. Our defence would have remained intact however and that was the other point I was trying to make, i.e. the defence was hopeless without Basham. So we ended up with a lousy midfield and a lousy defence.

Personally, I think playing Carruthers or an untested youth in CM would have had the same outcome, we'd have lost.
But I agree we don't want to see Bash anywhere but RCB which is why another CM is, for me, the most important signing for this window. That's as close to a 'need' as you'll get.

 

[Mendi]

 

[Slim Man]

In talks with Donny over a permanent move. Think this could potentially bite us on the backside.

 

[Houso]

In talks with Donny over a permanent move. Think this could potentially bite us on the backside.

I think he's far from being certain to go on and make it at this level. Donny supporters have been damning him with faint praise all season.

I'm of a view that if he goes, then fine. If he stays, then fine.

I'm confident that Leonard and Evans are better players.

 

[BushBlade]

In talks with Donny over a permanent move. Think this could potentially bite us on the backside.

No, it won't. We'll have a decent sell on clause in case he becomes a top player. It's a bit disappointing as I thought he might be able to step up but if CW and his staff don't, he's better off at Donny.

 

[bertieblade]

We should have a sell on clause and an option to buy back at a set fee

 

[Slim Man]

I think he's far from being certain to go on and make it at this level. Donny supporters have been damning him with faint praise all season.

I'm of a view that if he goes, then fine. If he stays, then fine.

I'm confident that Leonard and Evans are better players.

Right this minute maybe, but he's younger than both. His goalscoring stats are fantastic too.
Their supporters have been split on whether he's one of their best players or whether he's actually 'all that'.

I think they're better players, I'm certainly not confident about it I don't know enough about them.

 

[Ricky]

Pointless selling him now. If he has a good end to the season with Donny, he becomes hot property. Especially as he's a headline grabbing, goalscoring type.

 

[FinchleyBlade]

He has barely been able to get into a poor Doncaster side in the past couple of months, and until recently he was getting plenty of criticism from Donny fans.

Not sure how he can be good enough for us if barely good enough for them.

 

[BigBed]

Not pointless if it means we can bring in a better, ready to go, perminant signing.

 

[Slim Man]

He has barely been able to get into a poor Doncaster side in the past couple of months, and until recently he was getting plenty of criticism from Donny fans.

Not sure how he can be good enough for us if barely good enough for them.

That's a reach.

 

[robbiez666]

It's a shame, I thought he had the potential to be a good footballer. He scores goals as well and has been played out of position at Donnie. It would make more sense to me to loan him out and assess at the end of the season, but Chris obviously sees him in training.

Presumably this means we've signed Evans as well as Leonard.

 

[BerksBlade]

Not sure where Whiteman would fit in if we have Fleck, Leonard, Lundstram (and possibly Lee & Carruthers) vying for 2 midfield slots, with Coutts back at the end of the season. I suspect Regan Slater may have jumped ahead of Whiteman as well. If we can get a reasonable fee for him, we should probably sell now.

 

[blackydog]

Evans to Evans and back to Evans...

 

[Berlin Blade]

No, we are 7th (bastard Villa) and need to spend a few million on the players Wilder requires to get us in position for a crack at promotion.

Why prefix 'we need to get players in' with 'we need to spend loads of money to get them'? Does it make them any better players if you've had to pay through the nose?

Would you rather have Adam Reach or Mark Duffy?

Would it make you feel better if we approach a player towards the end of his contract and instead of getting them on a free, offering £2.5million for them? Would it make them score more goals?

Is there any correlation in putting your club in jeopardy and getting success? I imagine Sunderland are top of the league then with their wage bill.

So glad we signed Ross Mcormack for 15 million rather than Leon at 50k.