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Confirmed Ben Whiteman - Sold

Confirmed Ben Whiteman - Sold

I’d say thanks Ben for your efforts over the past 5 seasons. Always available and never given enough credit for his input on here. He seemed to come out of his shell last season once we signed better players like Dobbin,Devine, Armstrong and Jebbison. It’ll be interesting to see how he performs in a more attacking team like Wrexham. Disappointing end to his stay but as they say, that’s football.
New players, new style possibly.
 
raefil said:
Good luck fella, in life you have to do what you have to do, especially when you have a young family.
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& this is the point missed by virtually everyone else, who in the same position would have done the same thing, its 1 last major payday for him/ set his family up for life, ok the way its been manufactured leaves a bit of a sour taste but thats football, the power is with the players now a days after jean marc bosman
 
Terry flemings left foot said:
& this is the point missed by virtually everyone else, who in the same position would have done the same thing, its 1 last major payday for him/ set his family up for life, ok the way its been manufactured leaves a bit of a sour taste but thats football, the power is with the players now a days after jean marc bosman
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Thing is, he's not run down his contract. He's gone on strike with a year left (while being club captain). He could and should have honoured his contract just as he would expect the club to do if he missed a year through injury. He chose to act like a selfish cunt and he will be held to account for those actions. If you have no intention on honouring contracts you agree to, ensure you have the relevant release clauses inserted etc.
 
Not really sure what to make of this sorry saga. The move is best for all parties. Things had got stale for Ben here. And doubling(ish) our money on a 30 y/o is good business.

Whiteman is a good footballer but very limited physically. Too immobile to play any higher than the Championship and can’t put his laces through a ball for toffee.

However, he has a good football brain, a good touch, retains possession well and does pass the ball far more positively than he’s given credit for. Him, Armstrong and Devine combining was enjoyable to watch.

I don’t blame the guy for a second for requesting and then “forcing” a move given his age and given how utterly tinpot and unambitious our own club is. Good luck to him. Wrexham’s trajectory is upward. We are destined for League One.

How he orchestrated his exit is perhaps a bit grating. But it’s nothing I will lose sleep over. Players come and go, they use what leverage they have sometimes to make a move. It happens.

Folk slating BW would be better, imo, asking themselves why our captain of 5 years chose to leave us to a team with 0 top flight history, 1 week before the season starts. And ask the people in charge of our own club why Wrexham are a brighter prospect than PNE.

I honestly think some of the responses here/elsewhere to BWs departure are pathetic. That the guy has had to close the replies under his IG farewell is a terrible reflection on our fanbase.

I probably won’t applaud the guy whenever he plays against us. But I certainly won’t boo. I fully expect this post to be deeply unpopular.
 
raefil said:
Good luck fella, in life you have to do what you have to do, especially when you have a young family.
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Would any of us turn that offer down?

Reckon Wrexham have an old codger who'll need a wreath laying soon anyway.
 
Doc Brown said:
Not really sure what to make of this sorry saga. The move is best for all parties. Things had got stale for Ben here. And doubling(ish) our money on a 30 y/o is good business.

Whiteman is a good footballer but very limited physically. Too immobile to play any higher than the Championship and can’t put his laces through a ball for toffee.

However, he has a good football brain, a good touch, retains possession well and does pass the ball far more positively than he’s given credit for. Him, Armstrong and Devine combining was enjoyable to watch.

I don’t blame the guy for a second for requesting and then “forcing” a move given his age and given how utterly tinpot and unambitious our own club is. Good luck to him. Wrexham’s trajectory is upward. We are destined for League One.

How he orchestrated his exit is perhaps a bit grating. But it’s nothing I will lose sleep over. Players come and go, they use what leverage they have sometimes to make a move. It happens.

Folk slating BW would be better, imo, asking themselves why our captain of 5 years chose to leave us to a team with 0 top flight history, 1 week before the season starts. And ask the people in charge of our own club why Wrexham are a brighter prospect than PNE.

I honestly think some of the responses here/elsewhere to BWs departure are pathetic. That the guy has had to close the replies under his IG farewell is a terrible reflection on our fanbase.

I probably won’t applaud the guy whenever he plays against us. But I certainly won’t boo. I fully expect this post to be deeply unpopular.
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I don't think your post should be unpopular.
There's some good points in there.
I won't lose any sleep that he's gone either, infact i'd welcome a replacement for him.
Seemed a waste of a position for me.
He came here with the reputation of being a good passer of the ball but all we saw in the main were passes between him and the back 3, so why didn't nobody take a risk on him and play him further forward on a regular basis?
I'm sure he was initially something like an 8 at Donny.
If he's pissed off at the lack of recruitment and lack of direction of the club, I can't say I blame him for that.
Pearson an Barky spoke out about similar things.
What I don't like is just buggering off at the earliest opportunity and as captain, saying " this is my last game for the club" without what looks like sittin down at the table first
 
I can't see the point of obsessing about what may or may have happened last week-end. I would say that over the course of his career with PNE Whiteman was solid but rarely inspired - he was good at making interceptions but rarely used the ball to any great effect. Perhaps he should have been used in a more attacking role further forward rather than in a deep-lying more defensive position. But as a captain I thought he was inadequate - he simply did not set an example of high performance that he then made other team members follow by sheer force of character but instead when things went wrong he simply lapsed into the surrounding ineffectiveness.

Whatever this move is now best for everyone. I am certainly not going to wish Whiteman any ill - I will not degrade myself or more importantly the name of Preston North End by doing so and I hope that if he faces us at some point no-one else will do anything to sully the reputation of our club.
 
Skint £20k pw player leaves club for even more money.

Glad he has gone as the Captains Armband seemed - to myself at least- to render him "undroppable" irrespective of form.

Selection should be based upon form and merit, not a piece of cloth attached to ones arm.

We've had Wrexhams pants down on this deal. £3m for a 30 year with less than a year on his contract.

That is a very aging squad that Wrexham have on big wages with next to no resale value throughout. Strange philosophy.

Anyway, a blessing in disguise.
 
raefil said:
Good luck fella, in life you have to do what you have to do, especially when you have a young family.
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TBF Raefil i thought from a lot of your posts that you had a certain moral and ethical stance on things?
Surely you cannot condone the way that Whiteman has conducted himself?
Or am i wrong on the first line?
 
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