Glenn Whelan moved to Aston Villa from Stoke City in the summer and, while not lighting up the Championship, has done a pretty solid job.
Glenn Whelan has been an Aston Villa player now for seven months.
A £1 million signing from Stoke City in July, the veteran Republic of Ireland international was brought in to provide experience, leadership and reliability in the centre of the park.
Few expected a player who slipped under the radar so often at Stoke City would divide opinions quite so dramatically in claret and blue.
In fact, even when he scored his first league goal in seven years during the 4-2 away win at Sheffield Wednesday late last month, some fans did not waste an opportunity to criticise Whelan once again despite others lauding the impact he has made in Villa’s promotion challenge.
The 34-year-old has made some high-profile errors this season, the 2-0 defeat to Derby County in December comes to mind, but he has also been a regular in a side who have a realistic chance of fighting for automatic promotion this season.
And that alone shows that he deserves some degree of credit, even if the qualities he does bring to the table are not exactly the most eye-catching.
Whelan, on his day, is a solid Championship midfielder who’s know-how in the centre of the park has helped turn Steve Bruce’s side from also-rans into genuine contenders.
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