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Titus Bramble
Yes Wigan fans, you've read that correctly, I'm picking my players to watch for the 2007/2008 season club by club and for Chris Hutchings' men I really have plumped for Newcastle United reject Titus Bramble, the most lampooned centre back in Britain, and I've got some very good reasons for doing so.
Is there a player who moved over the summer who has any more or less expectation on his shoulders than the infamous Mr. Bramble? On one hand his new boss has put him forward as a potential England international (we can only assume he was joking, wasn't he?) which could put many players under a severe burden of expectation that could threaten to drown them before their new club career has even begun.
On the other hand, Bramble has been quite rightly picked on by fans and press alike because his obvious talents as a youngster at Ipswich Town have deserted him to such a degree that he now resembles a pub league footballer. The term "schoolboy defending" could be applied to almost any of Bramble's 105 Newcastle appearances and yet I feel that the move to Wigan will be the making of him.
All he has to do is prove that he can head, tackle and mark opposition players and the confidence that has been so clearly lacking from his game could flow back. If so who will be the first to apologise to Chris Hutchings when Bramble makes his first appearance in the white of England?
Is there a player who moved over the summer who has any more or less expectation on his shoulders than the infamous Mr. Bramble? On one hand his new boss has put him forward as a potential England international (we can only assume he was joking, wasn't he?) which could put many players under a severe burden of expectation that could threaten to drown them before their new club career has even begun.
On the other hand, Bramble has been quite rightly picked on by fans and press alike because his obvious talents as a youngster at Ipswich Town have deserted him to such a degree that he now resembles a pub league footballer. The term "schoolboy defending" could be applied to almost any of Bramble's 105 Newcastle appearances and yet I feel that the move to Wigan will be the making of him.
All he has to do is prove that he can head, tackle and mark opposition players and the confidence that has been so clearly lacking from his game could flow back. If so who will be the first to apologise to Chris Hutchings when Bramble makes his first appearance in the white of England?