Subbing a sub

[Rammy03]

2 minutes ago, brady1993 said:

Honestly the whole thing was poor management. It should have been clear that Whittaker wasn't going to have a great time against a physical compact defence especially not on the left. Given the state of the game and how firmly in control we were it was an opportunity to be bold in the substitution with Waghorn being the obvious substitution in order to inject some physicality in the front line in order to disrupt stoke in the box and bring him on as a free kick threat.

I get that but in my opinion it was the right substitution in terms of bringing on a forward player with a bit of pace. You'd think that Whittaker is there for footballing reasons, therefore Rooney trusts him to go out there and be good enough to perform. He wasn't. And to be perfectly honest I've seen nothing over the last season to suggest he should be putting a Derby County shirt on for the first team. He needs a good shake. Not good enough.

[brady1993]

Just now, Rammy03 said:

I get that but in my opinion it was the right substitution in terms of bringing on a forward player with a bit of pace. You'd think that Whittaker is there for footballing reasons, therefore Rooney trusts him to go out there and be good enough to perform. He wasn't. And to be perfectly honest I've seen nothing over the last season to suggest he should be putting a Derby County shirt on for the first team. He needs a good shake. Not good enough.

It was the right substitution in a vacuum but football isn't played in a vacuum and these decisions carry the message that there is zero room for error both to the player and the squad. Thing is it's not a message you should be sending to a squad that you are trying to build back up and especially not an academy player breaking through, especially when you have bunch more in and around the squad. Rooney clearly doesn't trust him or else he would have been given more time, after all you can point to a myriad of other players who have put in a similar level performance and nothing has happened. In terms of his quality I think he's rightfully on the fringes but I think only should be brought on in particular game circumstances and against certain teams but that's immaterial. I agree that he shouldn't have been brought on but once you've made that decision you have to back him more than what happened.

[RoyMac5]

55 minutes ago, brady1993 said:

Of course it depends on how it has been handled after the fact but it's something that I don't think will be easily forgotten and it's the type of nonsense that can seriously ruin players. 

Or maybe it was explained to him. I'm sure it won't ruin him. ?

[S8TY]

Anyone saying it was the wrong call to bring on Whittaker is all hindsight....Young Whittaker has actually looked better in some small cameo appearances this season and he must've impressed enough in training to deserve an appearance.

Rooney therefore wasn't clearing up his own mess as some have said he was being brave enough to make awkward decisions and took the lad off as he was very poor so good brave management calls from Rooney which is what you want to see surely....If this affects Whittaker in a negative way I have no doubt the snowflake society we seem to live in today will think its ruined him....I say...man up ...pick yourself up and show you can play at this level....you have an oppurtunity young lads only dream of.........so lets see a reaction, there were several occasions Stoke players went past him with ease that I don't like to see as a fan....hard work and effort is the minimum any player should give....time to react positively young Morgan....show us what you're all about ....otherwise could easily pass him by 

[Sparkle]

If Whittaker comes back stronger mentally from being subbed then he has a chance of making it in football if not then he simply won’t be able to be a professional footballer - it’s fairly simple 

[Dimmu]

I think the comments about hard work Rooney made after the game was mostly towards Whittaker. I don't think we see him this season anymore, my guess is loan for the rest of the season.

Other part being rest of the team. I like the demand level Rooney is setting, but I'm not sure is throwing youngster under the bus correct way to make it clear to others as well.

[DCFC1388]

2 minutes ago, Dimmu said:

I think the comments about hard work Rooney made after the game was mostly towards Whittaker. I don't think we see him this season anymore, my guess is loan for the rest of the season.

Other part being rest of the team. I like the demand level Rooney is setting, but I'm not sure is throwing youngster under the bus correct way to make it clear to others as well.

Whittaker needs a loan imo. Add Lawrence, Ibe and potentially 1 or 2 attacking players in Jan then Whittaker will be nowhere near the squad. Even more so when the subs go back down to 7