Even during a period of discontent, Steven Whittaker appears unflustered.
Joining up with the Scotland squad provides an opportunity to escape the notion of being made a scapegoat at Norwich City, where he dropped out of the starting line-up following a defeat by Tottenham Hotspur, was recalled for the visit to Manchester City and was then substituted during the interval of a 7-0 loss. Whittaker has endured a troubling spell, but then he is "not the type of player that needs a cuddle, I just get on with it".
The self-assurance is necessary. Whittaker started the season brightly, holding down a place in Chris Hughton's team and scoring twice in the first three games. The full-back had also played a regular role in last season's steady progress towards safety, with Hughton having established solidity in the Norwich back line. The manager is considered conservative in his approach, but that at least provides a strong base for the rest of the team to work from.
Whittaker, an athletic and buccaneering full-back, has often faced doubts about his defensive instincts, but he seemed integral to the way Norwich played. Then they lost 2-0 at White Hart Lane in September, Whittaker was dropped and he made only one substitute appearance in the following five league matches. He remained in the Capital One Cup XI, playing in the 3-2 win over Watford, then the 4-0 defeat by Manchester United. Four days later, he lined up at the Etihad, playing on the right of midfield, but did not return for the second half, with City already 4-0 in front.
The 7-0 scoreline was Norwich's worst defeat for 75 years, and the pressure began to grow on Hughton, with rumours that the club's hierarchy had already been considering his future because they felt he had been too cautious during the summer transfer window. Some of that tension lifted following last weekend's 3-1 victory at home over West Ham United. but the situation remains fragile. For Whittaker, the instinctive reaction has been to concentrate on fighting for his place.
"It is frustrating as I felt I had started the season quite well but I found myself out of the team after one poor result," he said. "I didn't believe I should have been taken off. We couldn't get out of our half. When I was on the ball I felt I was doing all right, but the manager decided to make the change and go a bit more attacking. He put a speedy winger on who could be an out-ball for us. It was more a tactical change, but it was disappointing. Obviously I have had conversations with him [Hughton]. He has explained his reasons. I just need to keep my head down and working hard."
Whittaker can take solace from his international duties, since he has tended to be a first-choice player under Gordon Strachan. As Alan Hutton has found, being ostracised by your club does not mean that the Scotland manager will also cast you adrift. Opinions are formed and decisions made on the basis of training sessions, and Whittaker has performed dependably enough at left-back for his country, despite being naturally right-footed.
Adjustments are constantly made. During his time at Hibernian, Whittaker was part of a thrilling generation of young players who established themselves in the team then moved on to new challenges. His came at Rangers, where he eventually filled a number of roles and was considered a good attacking outlet down either flank and a reliable defender. With the Ibrox club, though, the onus tended to be on attacking teams and breaking them down, whereas the mindset is different at Norwich, where survival is the primary objective.
"That has been the biggest change for me, going from a team that attacks every week to one that defends a lot of the game, especially away from home," Whittaker said. "[But] you learn [from a setback like the defeat to City] that you need to stay in the game as long as you can. We went two down early and that was it. We stopped believing that we had any opportunity to get anything out of the game. You can't do that. You need to keep going. We were four down at half time and it ended up seven. It was tough, but you do learn when you watch the videos back, see where you went wrong and what you can do better."
Playing a part against the United States on Friday at Hampden would ease some of the frustration Whittaker feels. He has contributed to the improving mood around the national team, only to find that his domestic circumstances have become troubling. He is too level-headed to react rashly, but there is a sense that he feels hard done by, not least because he did not feel that he deserved to be dropped.
"Everyone knows when they have played poorly," he said. "There is always a chance you can get dropped but I thought I was doing okay and had scored a couple of goals. It is not like I am out of the picture so I just keep working. I am trying to keep a positive attitude and make sure I'm ready to grab the opportunity when it comes my way."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article