Heitinga

[LTblue]

Heitinga confirms Fener and Fiorentina interest

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/8048994/?
Seems happy to still be a Blue though, think he appreciates our supporters a lot as well as the quality in the squad.

 

[hktoffee]

Johnny has to start against Newcastle.

 

[Brennan]

He needs to start games full stop.

 

[toffeechris]

hes not good enough to displace jags or distin simple as!! great back up mind!

 

[Goat]

He needs to start games full stop.

Instead of who?

 

[LTblue]

Jagielka and Distin are terrific, Heitinga will have to wait for a while and accept he has a battle on to retain his place.

 

[Brennan]

Instead of who?

Phil 'Hoof' Jagielka, or Distin.

If we don't he'll more than likely be off for a small fee as he'll only have a year left on his contract. Then we'll have to replace both him AND Distin, who is in the twilight of his career already.

 

[Brennan]

Jagielka and Distin are terrific, Heitinga will have to wait for a while and accept he has a battle on to retain his place.

Or he could just go to another team who will not only start him every game but also give him access to European competition.

 

[hktoffee]

hes not good enough to displace jags or distin simple as!! great back up mind!

We lost to West Brom so Heitinga will get his chance. And it is too simple to use the word "not good enough" to describe the situation. It depends on what attribute you are referred to. Distin is playing mainly due to his height and strength.

 

[efcgirl]

I would rather have heitinga over distin

 

[Goat]

Phil 'Hoof' Jagielka, or Distin.

If we don't he'll more than likely be off for a small fee as he'll only have a year left on his contract. Then we'll have to replace both him AND Distin, who is in the twilight of his career already.

Jagielka has had to wait for his chance in the past, so Johnny must be willing to wait for his.

1 in 3 games before Saturday, but wouldnt be surprised to see Johnny come in for the Newcastle game.

 

[Brennan]

Jagielka has had to wait for his chance in the past, so Johnny must be willing to wait for his.

1 in 3 games before Saturday, but wouldnt be surprised to see Johnny come in for the Newcastle game.

Jagielka had to wait after being injured, Heitinga was played out of position and was on the bench for years. Hardly the same.

 

[ToxtethBlue]

I rate all our centre backs but it is a bit annoying that Heitinga's always the one to drop out, especially as he finished the season the strongest, and was our player of the year.

 

[Tubey]

He's gone in January. What he said the other day on Twitter was very telling. Frustrated at being on the bench for 90 minutes, couldn't help the team.

I can't blame him either. He was our player of the year, what more can he do?

 

[Brennan]

[TABLE="width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Heitinga[/TD]
[TD]Jagielka[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ground 50/50 win %[/TD]
[TD]56%[/TD]
[TD]75%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Aerial 50/50 win %[/TD]
[TD]51%[/TD]
[TD]72%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Tackle win %[/TD]
[TD]75%[/TD]
[TD]70%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Defensive errors[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Minutes per loss of possession[/TD]
[TD]508[/TD]
[TD]214[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Pass completion[/TD]
[TD]79%[/TD]
[TD]74%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Goals conceded[/TD]
[TD]23[/TD]
[TD]31[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Heitinga wins it for me personally. Playing time was almost exactly the same (Jags played 29 minutes more)

At the end of the day we've let in noticeably less goals with him on the pitch, and the loss of possession stat just proves the 'Hoof' perfectly.