Why I think Peter Whittingham is Jesus....In Cardiff at least

Compared to most, I am at the baby stage in the life of supporting Cardiff City. At only being 17 and following The Bluebirds since 2006, I have not seen the talent that majority have had the privilege to see. Ofcourse, I am talking about the class such as the late great Robin Friday. The prowess of John Toshack. Thanks to my dad and granddad, I went to Ninian Park in the early 2000s so managed to see hero Robert Earnshaw do what he does best. But in the last 5 years I have managed to see some of the best ever players to wear the blue shirt. To name a few, Jay Bothroyd, Kevin McNaughton, Eddie Johnson (?) and Craig Bellamy. As great as these are, they all fall short of the best player I have seen in the capital...Peter Whittingham.

Just a quick search on Wikipedia can make you even more impressed at how Peter has progressed from the very start of his life. Born in Nuneaton, Whittingham attended a school that failed to take football as a serious sport and enforced Cricket and Rugby. However little time Peter had to play football, he used it wisely as he was snapped up by Premier League big boys Aston Villa. Unfortunately I cannot remember exactly who they were playing, but I can recall being very impressed when I saw him on the TV, albeit very vaguely. 'Whitts' is certainly a different player then compared to now. Rarely he slots in his old position on the left flank, but his heart, talent and importance lies in the centre midfield position.

I know a lot of Cardiff fans that if given the option, would marry Peter Whittingham's left foot. His crosses, passes, shots and dribbles he manages to do with his left peg would not be out of place in the Premier League. It is quite staggering that we have held on to this gem for as long as we have. Not only that, but there seems to be no real interest in him at all bar the odd ridiculous bid, I won't name any names...Nottingham Forest. £1,000,000. Yes, a crappy £1,000,000. It begs the question 'Is he really that good? or do we overrate him?'. No.

Since the 09/10 season Peter has used his left foot to elevate Cardiff City to the higher end of the Championship. He picks a pass from anywhere, has the talent to execute it, has the composure to slot 99% of penalties home, has the technique to curl free kicks and has the cheek to shoot from anywhere and always test the keeper. As well as all these pros to his game, the main one was his dribbling ability. Sadly, Whitts was never blessed with pace to he couldn't run around them. He wasn't blessed with the build of Didier Drogba so he couldn't go through them. He had to settle for the other method. Walk around with and make them look stupid. His close control and dribbling means that defending against the ex U21 international is a 'nightmare'.

So we have established just why exactly Peter Whittingham is one of the deadliest attacking players in the Championship. But what do you need to be THE complete midfielder?. A defensive ability. As said, Peter hasn't got the physique of a building. He used to go missing in games if City didn't have the ball which led to very harsh criticism. That criticism is no more though as Whitts has developed his defensive game and in my eyes is now the complete midfielder. The other criticisms were that he was lazy. Here is Peter talking about that stick:

They think I'm lazy but the truth is I'm very laidback, that's all.

"The ProZone figures prove I'm one of the top three runners in the team and that's what the boss pointed out.

"And if people do perceive that I don't care, well, they're wrong."

Well said Peter, Well said.

Not only is he the best player on the field but he is a great role model. It's hard to imagine him partying and drinking. A wild Peter Whittingham Friday night probably consists of a can of coke, some FIFA12 on Xbox then having a piece of wholemeal toast. In a time where footballers generally have a bad image, Peter Whittingham is showing that you can be at the top of your game and not be falling out of nightclubs at 3am and sleeping with hooker... Aside from his quiet off field persona, Peter is very relaxed on the field, especially when he scores. If you scored a 94th minute winner in the Play Off final against Swansea to send City up, how would you celebrate? Run naked across the field doing the ayatollah?. Pick up an advertising hoarding and sprint the length of the pitch with it?. Or run across the Swansea end doing the 'Shhhhh'?.

Whittingham would probably stand from where he hit the ball, turn around, smile and if he is feeling really passionate, he might even yell out a 'Yeah!'. Peter refers to his (lack of) celebration reasons in an interview with 'The Sun'

"All I do is run to the fans and wait for my team-mates to mob me.

"It's rubbish really. Someone has suggested that I do the Maradona 'belly flop' when he rushed off the bench to salute Argentina's qualification for the World Cup — but I don't reckon that's me.

"And if I did work something out I'm afraid I might affect my good run. You know, jinx myself.

"So I think I'll stick with being boring because I'd rather be that and score than have a pre-arranged celebration that never gets used."

'I always wanted to stay at Cardiff and it's a case of wanting to get to the Premiership with Cardiff.'

So Peter Whittingham is now the best player I have seen in a City shirt, albeit that I have only been following Cardiff City for a relatively short period of time. Have you been following Cardiff City for 20+ years? Does Peter enter your list of elite players for CCFC? is he 'fit to lace the boots' of legends such as Earnshaw and Dwyer?. What we can all agree on, is that for the sake of Cardiff City, we hope you stick around Pete! (Jesus)