Have to give Millward a chance to build his own team, his own way. If he thinks Mathers is surplus to requirements then that's fine with me. At the end of the year we can all look back and see if he was right, but for now it does look like we have more fullbacks than we need and too few centres.

I also think after a bright start to 2011, Mathers fell off a cliff in terms of performance mid-year, and won't really be missed on the field. I've always found him to be a sound bloke though, so I'm glad he's sorted and hope he does well with Wakey... except when we play them.

mathers was hopefully the last of the matterson inspired signings that the club have to sort out. IMO he can go on the list of TM specials along with sherwin, sione faumawuena(sp), hlad, harbricht................... with mcgoldrick edging closer to joining the list each game he plays !!!!!

Nail on head - apart from some straightforward headline grabbers, those stat's (like any stat's) don't mean a thing without an appreciation of the context.

As has been said you can manipulate stats how you like.

Turning back to the actual thread and Richie, I don't think anyone can question his professionalism and certainly his organisational skills. I really thought highly of him for that.

With the criticism of his defence, he did seem a bit lazy towards the end of the year and that's why he was dropped (and then injured).

I do believe, again, that a lot of it comes down to the guys in front of him; it's very hard to hand out criticism to the full-back who has it all to do when there is a line in front of him that had more holes than a colander.

Aye, a bit like blaming the goalie.

Mathers has been named in the Boxing Day squad for Leeds, so we'll get an early indication of his willingness to bend his back in the R,W&B.

Exactly - perfect example is who I support, Ipswich. 7-1 against Peterborough, 4-0 against Burnley yet the goalkeeper has been our best player.